ST. LOUIS— Missouri Baptist Men's Basketball (15-8, 10-4 AMC) grinded out a 57-38 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange (4-19, 3-11 AMC) in the AMC Quarterfinals on Thursday night. Next up is a trip to rival (RV) Central Baptist College (17-6, 11-3 AMC) for the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
 
Coming off an 11-day layoff since their last regular season game, the Spartans were slow out of the gate before finally finding a rhythm with about eight minutes to go in the first half.
 
Leading 14-13, the Spartans ended the period on an 11-0 run. The Trojans struggled mightily on the offensive end, only attempting six field goals in the final seven minutes and coming up empty on all of them. Missouri Baptist led 25-13 at the break.
 
Hannibal finally snapped its scoring drought three minutes into the second half but the MBU lead never dipped below 12 from that point on. The Trojans finished just 10-43 from the field. The 38 points allowed by the Spartans was the lowest opponent point total since November 27, 2018 when Lindenwood-Belleville was also held to 38.
 
The Spartans didn't need an all-world performance offensively to earn the victory but they still managed to shoot 46% (19-41). Tyrell Andrews and Billy Francis Jr. combined to account for half of the MBU points. Each finished with 14. John Yaeger came up one rebound shy of a double-double (11 points, nine rebounds). The senior also had a team-high four steals.
 
The task will now get significantly tougher on Saturday. The No. 2 seeded Mustangs of CBC will be out for revenge after the No. 3 seeded Spartans evened the season series with a win on February 13. The home team has won the last five meetings between the two sides.
 
Tip time is scheduled for 3 pm on Saturday afternoon in Conway, Ark. For the full AMC Men's Basketball Postseason Bracket visit https://amcsportsonline.com/tournaments/?id=6.