ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Baptist University men's basketball team earned a split in the MBU Classic finishing the weekend with an 82-65 victory over College of the Ozarks (Mo.) on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans used a strong second-half effort to gain separation from the Bobcats and grab win No. 1 for the 2021-22 campaign.
 
Missouri Baptist took advantage of three straight Bobcat turnovers to begin the game and flipped them into an early 7-0 lead. Even with the quick start, the Spartans couldn't seem to put it all together in the earlygoing to break away from the visitors out of Point Lookout, Mo.
 
A four-minute drought for the Spartans prompted C of O to take its first lead of the game at 27-25. The Bobcats' time with the lead was short-lived as they held the advantage over MBU for just 1 minute and 5 seconds. John Yaeger's field goal at the 3:45 mark helped the Spartans recapture the lead for good at 31-30. MBU scored the next four points to head into the locker room up 35-30.
 
In a balanced share of scoring, MoBap's starters accounted for 27 of the team's 35 first-half points with Jadis White leading all scorers with eight (4-of-4). The glaring omission from the box score at halftime, however, was zero trips to the free-throw line as well as another slow start from 3-point range with a 3-for-11 clips (.273).
 
Whatever halftime adjustments head coach Preston Ingram and his staff made, MBU came out of the break with guns blazing on both ends of the court. The Spartans fed big-man Ryan Pollard early in what sparked an 11-2 run to start the half. Also within the 11-2 stretch were six points in transition capped off by an electric dunk from River Reed off a backboard pass dealt by Jadis White.
 
With a little over 10 minutes remaining in the contest, the Spartans began to pull away coinciding with Ray Adams catching fire from beyond the arc. The Culver-Stockton College transfer knocked down four of his five 3-point attempts and with all 14 points coming in the second half.
 
The Spartans more than made up for their first-half deficiencies, making 12 of their 15 free-throw attempts, and shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-10).
 
MBU had four players in double figures and four more with at least six points on the day. Grad student John Yaeger led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while adding seven boards, three blocks, two assists and a steal to his final stat line. Joining Yaeger in double digits was Adams (14), Reed (12 PTS, 4 REB, 3 BLK, 1 STL) and White (12 PTS, 5 AST, 3 STL, 2 BLK).
 
Off the bench, Billy Francis Jr. and Mujtaba Alkhaldi combined to shoot 6-of-10 from the floor with the former hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point distance.
 
Despite a solid day shooting for College of the Ozarks – 47% from both the floor and 3-point range, the Bobcats didn't have enough firepower to hang with the Spartans. Bench player Matt Luebbert led C of O with 14 points.
 
Next weekend, Missouri Baptist Men's Basketball will head to Huntington, Ind. for the Ness Bros. Hall of Fame Tournament, hosted by Huntington University. The Spartans will play East-West University on Friday at 5 p.m. and either Huntington or Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) on Saturday.