COLUMBIA, Mo – Missouri Baptist Men's Basketball improved to 12-4 overall and 4-0 in the AMC with a 72-62 win over Columbia College (8-10, 2-2 AMC) on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans are one of three AMC teams still unbeaten in conference play and the only team with a 4-0 record.
In a battle between two of the preseason conference favorites, it was the visiting Spartans who controlled play from nearly start to finish. Columbia led 2-0 and 6-5 before conceding the lead to MBU for the final 16 minutes of the opening period. Graduate senior
RJ Pair was the catalyst for the Spartan offense early on. Missouri Baptist's second leading scorer, averaging just over 12 points per game, poured in 13 in the first 20 minutes.
The Spartans pushed the first half lead up to as many as 11 (30-19) before a 9-0 Cougar run trimmed it back down to just two. MBU eventually led 34-28 at intermission.
In the second half, Columbia briefly battled all the way back to tie it at 44 with 13:28 to go. The deadlock lasted all of 24 seconds, however, before
John Yaeger put MBU back in front. That would be the last time the Spartans didn't have the lead.
An and-one basket and foul drawn by
River Reed with 4:35 left gave the Spartans a 12-point advantage at 65-53. The Cougars made one final push to get it to 65-60 but MBU drained seven of eight free throws in the final two minutes to salt it away.
Pair's 22 points (8-18 FG, 3-8 3PT) led all MBU scorers. He was followed in double figures by fellow graduate seniors
River Reed (14) and
John Yaeger (13). Yaeger, who returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's win over Lyon, came up one rebound short of his second consecutive double-double.
Tony Burks, the reigning AMC Player of the Year, led Columbia with 23 points. Chima Oduocha was the only other Cougar in double figures (18). The Spartans forced 18 Columbia turnovers while only giving up 11 themselves.
With a major conference roadblock now in their rearview mirror, the Spartans will look to extend their four-game winning streak on Tuesday at home for the first time since December 2. Williams Baptist (9-4, 1-3 AMC) will be in town for 7:30 tip at the Carl and Deloris Petty SRC.
