ST. LOUIS—MBU Men's Basketball (13-9, 9-7 AMC) dropped consecutive games for just the second time this season after a 76-63 defeat at the hands of Harris-Stowe (14-8, 10-6 AMC) on Saturday. The Hornets moved one game ahead in the American Midwest Conference standings.

After knocking the Hornets off at the Petty SRC back on December 21, the Spartans knew they would get everything HSSU had in front of a rowdy home crowd on Saturday afternoon. MBU scored the game's first six points but Harris-Stowe settled in and took their first lead at 11-10. They wouldn't trail for the duration of the remaining 33 minutes.
 
Instead of the offensive track meet the matchup back in December turned into, Saturday's meeting was chock full of fouls, free-throws, and turnovers. The teams combined to shoot 26 free-throws in just the first half. Harris-Stowe briefly led by nine (29-20) but the Spartans were able to cut the deficit to 38-34 heading into the halftime.
 
Out of halftime, however, the offense dried up for the Spartans and Harris-Stowe started the period on a 12-2 run. The lead ballooned to 18 (61-43) with just over 10 minutes left. Though Missouri Baptist would make a run of its own, the Hornets' advantage never dipped back into single digits.
 
Jahmouri Robinson returned from a two-game absence to lead the Spartans with 14 points. The senior was still limited to just 16 minutes. Brendon Hardy was the only other MBU player to reach double figures with 11.
 
As a team, Mo. Bap made just 10-33 FG attempts in the second half, including a 2-10 clip from behind the 3PT line. Harris-Stowe faired moderately better, going 13-33 from the field in the final 20 minutes. DeShawn Munson, the leading scorer in DI NAIA, finished with 33 points, 14 of which came from the free-throw line.
 
The Spartans will try to snap the two-game drought when they travel to Columbia (16-9, 11-6 AMC) on Thursday. Tip time is scheduled for 7:30 pm.