ST. LOUIS— Powered by the largest crowd in the history of the Carl and Deloris Petty SRC, (3) Missouri Baptist men's basketball (27-2, 19-2 AMC) celebrated senior night on Thursday with a 69-49 victory over arch rival Columbia College (15-14, 10-12 AMC).
 
Entering the night, the Spartans sported a perfect 13-0 record on their home floor with all 13 victories coming by double digits. After about 10 minutes of the opening half on Thursday, it was apparent they weren't about to let that streak end against their fiercest rival.
 
MBU made seven of its first 11 shots for an early 15-5 lead. The red-hot shooting paired with suffocating defense at the other end proved too much for the visiting Cougars in the opening half. Columbia shot just 27% (6-22) in the first 20 minutes.
 
10 points from senior Pablo Hernandez led the way in the opening frame for MBU. The home side held an insurmountable 42-18 advantage heading into the intermission.
 
The Cougars found their footing to some degree in the second half but only briefly cut the deficit under 20 points. The Spartans even endured a six-minute scoring drought and still led 55-33 with nine minutes to go in the game.
 
The celebration was on as the clock ticked down in the second half. Senior big man Callum Barker threw down a monstrous two-hand jam and junior Jahmouri Robinson capped off the 20-point win shortly thereafter by burying one last three-pointer.
 
Afterwards, over 1,000 students and fans donning white 'Pack the Petty' t-shirts stuck around to watch their third ranked Spartans cut down the nets in celebration of their AMC-clinching victory last Saturday on the road against Freed-Hardeman.
 
As for the final stat sheet, Pablo Hernandez and Jahmouri Robinson each finished the night with 14 points to lead the home side. Robinson added five assists and three steals as well. James McKelvin also reached double figures with 11 points.
 
Thursday's win was also significant in that it tied the MBU record for wins in a season. The 1989-90 team was the last to win 27 games. The Spartans will now have a chance to break that record when they close the regular season on Saturday on the road against Hannibal-LaGrange. Tip is scheduled for 3 pm.
 
MBU will return to the SRC next Thursday, February 28, to host the first round of the AMC Postseason Tournament. The opponent for that game is still to be determined.