ST. LOUIS—Missouri Baptist Men's Basketball (13-8, 9-6 AMC) experienced a letdown on Thursday night in an 88-83 defeat to Lindenwood-Belleville (5-17, 3-12 AMC) inside the Petty SRC.
 
Offense was never an issue in this one. The Spartans shot 54.8% from the field in the first half and 57.1% in the second half. On the other end of the floor, however, the visiting Lynx could not miss from behind the 3PT line. LUB's Brenden Gillman and JC Moll combined to go 13-21 from deep. Both finished with 20+ points.
 
The Spartans did actually lead for most of the first half, even at one point by as many as 11 (23-12). But the Lynx finished strong and finally battled back to tie the game at 31 late. After a steal by Morenke Bettis in the dying seconds, John Yaeger raced the length of the floor and converted a buzzer-beating layup to send Missouri Baptist into halftime ahead 38-35.
 
Just a minute into the second half, though, the lead was officially gone for the final time. Moll hit a three to put LUB ahead 39-38 and what followed was an avalanche of triples by the visitors. They would hit 7-14 in the second half.
 
Lindenwood-Belleville built an 11-point lead of their own before the Spartans then made a run. An 8-2 stretch cut it to 77-75 with four minutes left. That would be as close as MBU could get, however. The clinching sequence included back to back offensive rebounds by LUB after a missed free-throw with 1:25 left. The Lynx escaped with a win in their final ever trip to the SRC.
 
The Spartans tied a season-high with 10 steals but also committed a season-high 18 turnovers.
 
Offensively, four Spartans finished in double-figures. John Yaeger led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds. DeAndre Wynn finished with 18, Brendon Hardy 17, and James McKelvin 15. Yaeger and McKelvin each had three blocks as well.
 
The Spartans will have to right the ship quickly as they visit Harris-Stowe on Saturday afternoon. MBU and HSSU are currently tied for sixth in the AMC at 9-6. Tip time is scheduled for 3 pm.