ST. LOUIS – In a close contest against a motivated opponent, sometimes you need to your senior leaders to step up. Saturday afternoon in the Petty SRC at Missouri Baptist, that's exactly what happened. Seniors Brendon Hardy, Tyrell Andrews and Jadis White scored the final 14 points of the game for the Spartans, leading them to a 70-62 victory over the College of the Ozarks.
 
The game was far tighter than the final score suggests.  With 3:03 left, the game was tied at 56. However, over the next two minutes, MBU went on an 8-0 run with Hardy accounting for six of those 8 points and assisting on the other basket with a steal and a feed to Andrews for a layup.
 
The Bobcats hit a couple of clutch three-pointers but never got closer than five as Hardy and White would be a perfect six for six from the foul line in the closing moments.
 
This was a game in which the Spartans went deep into their bench, including early in the contest. Nine minutes into the game the Spartans had 11 players enter the game. No single player went more than 28 minutes in this game and nine players played more than 14 minutes. Six players were in for either 14 or 15 minutes. It was somewhat of a curious rotation given the fact the Spartans haven't played since last Saturday and won't play again until a week from today. But on this night, it worked.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the Spartans jumping out to a comfortable lead then the Bobcats answering back and holding the for about six minutes late in the half. A Hardy three-pointer about five and a half minutes into the half gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the opening frame at 15-6. The Bobcats would answer with a 13-2 run of their own to take the lead. After the teams traded baskets and the lead multiple times, a Tanner Rogers three-pointer would give the College of the Ozarks the lead again with six minutes remaining in the half. They would hold that lead until about a second remained in the half but when Andrews stole a ball in the backcourt and timed it perfectly to dunk the basketball just before the half-time horn sounded. The basket gave the Spartans a 31-30 lead at the half.
 
The Bobcats got the initial basket of the second half to regain the lead, but MBU scored the next six to go on top again. MBU would hold that lead until there were seven minutes remaining, until guard Tanner Rogers hit a jumper to tie the game at 50.  That would set up the finish by the senior leadership of the Spartans.
 
Hardy led the way for the Spartans with 21 points, with 15 of those coming in the second half.  He was the only Spartan in double figures, due in large part to the mostly even distribution of minutes. Sophomore Bryce Johnson led the Spartans in rebounding with seven.
 
The Bobcats had three players score in double-figures.  Josh Linehan had 14 points, Andrew Mitchell scored 11, and Tanner Rogers chipped in with 10. Garrett Simmerman pulled down 11 rebounds for the College of the Ozarks.
 
As a team, MBU shot 48% from the field to 40% for the College of the Ozarks. More impressively the Spartans were 16 of 18 from the foul line, as they continue to raise their season average.

This is the second time this season the Spartans have beaten the College of the Ozarks. MBU claimed a 78-64 win in Point Lookout, Mo. on November 18.  
 
Today was the final game before finals week at Missouri Baptist. The Spartans are back on the court on Saturday when they host conference-rival Columbia College.  MBU is currently undefeated in the American Midwest Conference at 4-0, with the Cougars close behind at 2-1. It will be a rematch of the classic conference tournament final which the Spartans won 66-65 last March. Before today's game the Spartans held their Ring Ceremony to commemorate the championship. The women's game starts at 1 p.m. next Saturday with the men's getting underway around 3:00 o'clock.