KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Missouri Baptist's men's lacrosse season came to a close on Friday at the hands of a 9-4 loss to SCAD-Savannah in the Independent Conference Tournament semifinals. The Spartans left it all on the field in the clash between the No. 2 and 3 seeds, however, the Bees used a 3-0 run in the fourth quarter to put it out of reach.
 
Friday's semifinal marked the final game of the collegiate careers for seniors Andy Coulter, Sean Hess, Garett McKelvie and Josh Zion.
 
Missouri Baptist concludes its 2019 season with an overall record of 5-9 winning three of its last four contests.
 
Extremely evenly matched in the first half, the Spartans trailed by just one at halftime, 3-2. Both Jaxon Haas and Josh Zion scored with the latter on a man-up opportunity and his team-best 26^th goal of the season.
 
Following a goal with 45 seconds left in the second quarter, SCAD opened the second half with back-to-back goals to extend their lead to 5-2. The Spartans had back-to-back goals of their own starting with Sean Hess at the 10:41 mark and Andrew Spillars dumping the ball in the crease which amazingly found its way into the net for his first goal of the season.
 
With the Spartans narrowing the gap to one once again near the end of the third, the Bees answered 31 seconds after Spillars' goal. That was the start of a 4-0 run to finish the game.
 
Newly-named Independent Conference Defensive Player of the Year Fisher Nuss led the team Friday in both ground balls (5) and caused turnovers (3) to finish the season with 69 and 45, respectively.