ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist Men's Basketball completed the first trip around the AMC on Saturday afternoon with an 81-63 home victory over second-place William Woods (12-10, 6-2 AMC). With the win, the Spartans improved to 16-4 overall and 8-0 in conference play (
AMC standings).
In a highly anticipated matchup between the AMC's top two teams, the Spartans blitzed the Owls from the word 'go'. MBU led 18-3 after eight minutes had passed in the opening period.
William Woods took control of the middle portion of the first half and dug themselves out of the early hole. The Owls used a 19-6 run of their own to cut the Mo. Bap lead to 24-22.
The roller coaster continued as the Spartans dominated the final five minutes and took a comfortable advantage into halftime. The trio of
Jadis White,
John Yaeger, and
Brendon Hardy took over for the Spartans, combining for 15 points and leading MBU on a 17-4 stretch to close the period.
William Woods couldn't get closer than 13 points in the second half as the Spartans kept their foot on the gas. A
Tyrell Andrews to
Daishaun Woods alley-oop dunk with a minute left put the exclamation point on a wild Saturday afternoon at the Petty SRC.
"You're never really sure how the guys will respond after a week off," noted Head Coach
Preston Ingram. "We came out and did what we've been doing all year. We hit them right in the mouth from the very beginning."
White (16), Hardy (16), and Yaeger (14) all finished in double figures for Missouri Baptist. Yaeger also pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds to complete the double-double. White added five assists, five rebounds, and five steals.
The Spartans dominated the rebound battle with a 45-27 final margin. In addition to Yaeger's 12 and White's five,
River Reed was also a factor with nine rebounds. WWU's Darius Yohe, the AMC's leading rebounder coming into Saturday, was held to just two.
The first-place Spartans will restart the run through the AMC when the travel to Hannibal (4-15, 2-6 AMC) next Thursday. Tip time is scheduled for 7:30 pm. Missouri Baptist returns home next Saturday for a crosstown matchup with Harris-Stowe.
