WALESKA, Ga. – Beginning one of the toughest three-game stretches for any NAIA men's lacrosse team on Thursday, Missouri Baptist was unable to record a Top 10 win falling to No. 9-ranked Keiser University, 11-5.
 
The Spartans have now lost four in a row and are 2-6 overall. It marks the first time since 2011 that the team has lost four consecutive games.
 
Missouri Baptist fell behind 2-0 in the earlygoing following back-to-back goals by the Seahawks that were within 30 seconds of one another. Senior attackman Andy Coulter cut Keiser's lead in half with his ninth goal of the year, however, the Seahawks tacked on two more before the end of the first period.
 
The Spartans put a slight pause on Keiser's momentum with an early goal by Alex Todd to start the second quarter. The Top 10 squad answered with a pair of goals to take a 6-2 lead into halftime.
 
MBU started the scoring after the break with a Stephen Vellia goal at the 9:03 mark. Unfortunately, Keiser put together a string of four straight goals to stretch its lead to seven.
 
Alex Todd recorded his second goal of the game on a man-up opportunity five minutes into the fourth quarter. It was the first of two EMO goals for the Spartans with the second being scored by Sean Hess. Going 2-for-4 on the day in extra-man situations, MBU pushed its season total to 19 goals, which currently ranks first in the NAIA.
 
The Spartans kept pace with No. 9-ranked Keiser in several statistical categories including shots (MBU – 32, KU – 33), shots on goal (MBU – 16, KU – 18), faceoffs (MBU – 11, KU – 8), caused turnovers (MBU – 6, KU – 3) and ground balls (MBU – 25, KU – 18).
 
Garett McKelvie and Fisher Nuss paced the Spartans defensively as the duo combined for 9 ground balls and 5 of the team's 6 caused turnovers.
 
Missouri Baptist has a tough test on Saturday taking on No. 2 Reinhardt (Ga.), which is 6-1 overall. After losing in their season opener by one goal to then-No. 3 Cumberlands, the Eagles have rattled off six consecutive wins and are defeating their opponents by an average margin of victory of 15.3.