ST. LOUIS—Six players scored in double figures as MBU Men's Basketball edged Missouri Valley 89-79 on Tuesday night at the Petty SRC.
 
Missouri Valley was the fast-starting team but the Spartans began to find their footing at the halfway point of the first half. A 20-5 run for the Spartans turned a nine-point deficit into a five-point lead with three minutes left in the period. Junior Naod Rezene had the hot hand, going 3-3 from beyond the three-point line in route to 11 first half points.
 
The Spartans would hold the lead through halftime (44-31) and maintain a double-digit advantage for the majority of the second half. Missouri Valley only briefly cut it down to eight in the final few minutes.
 
It couldn't have been a more balanced stat sheet for Missouri Baptist as six Spartans finished in double figures. Brendon Hardy led the way with 20 points.
 
Assists were flying all night as juniors Jadis White and Tyrell Andrews each narrowly missed double-doubles. White led MBU with nine assists to complement 10 points. Andrews had six assists in the first half alone and finished the night with eight to go along with 16 points. As a team, the Spartans dished out 24 assists, the most in a game since they posted 25 on January 5, 2019. MBU did not have 20+ assist effort at all last season.
 
Ryan Pollard (10), Naod Rezene (13), and River Reed (12) all made solid contributions. Pollard pulled down six rebounds and blocked two shots as well.
 
The Spartans are back over .500 at 2-1 overall. They'll now hit the road for the six games and won't return to the Petty SRC until January 7. This coming weekend, they'll travel to Iowa for matchups with Mount Mercy and No. 4 William Penn.