FULTON, Mo. – (RV) Missouri Baptist Men's Basketball weathered the storm inside Anderson Arena on Friday afternoon and came away with yet another double-digit victory. The Spartans overcame a pesky William Woods squad for a 70-56 win.
 
In a regular season finale that was delayed by a day because of an ice storm, MBU led for 35 of the 40 minutes. Defense dominated the day, especially in the first half. The Spartans forced 11 WWU turnovers in the opening period, eight of which resulted in steals.
 
A buzzer-beating three by Jadis White gave the Spartans a double-digit lead (33-21) at halftime. The Owls were contained to just 7-21 from the field in the first 20. The Spartans, meanwhile, got points from nine of 11 players who touched the court.
 
A rowdy Friday afternoon crowd in Fulton gave the Owls a boost coming out of the break, but the visitors absorbed the blow. WWU quickly made it a six-point game two minutes into the half before buckets from White, John Yaeger, and Brendon Hardy returned the lead right back to double digits.
 
William Woods made one more push but could never cut the deficit below six. Nine points apiece from Hardy and RJ Pair in the second half helped secure the win down the stretch.
 
Hardy finished with a team-high 14 on 5-9 FG. Pair had 12, followed by 11 from White, and 10 from Yaeger. Yaeger added another seven rebounds, bringing his career total to 664 (fifth all-time).
 
The Spartans also protected another halftime lead, making it a perfect 21-0 this season when they hold the advantage after 20 minutes.
 
At 23-5 overall and 15-1 in the AMC, Missouri Baptist will enter the conference postseason tournament as the number one seed. Currently just outside the NAIA Top 25, the only way for the Spartans to guarantee a birth in the National Tournament Opening Round is to win the AMC Tournament.
 
The Spartans will host the winner of Tuesday's 8/9 play-in game in the quarterfinal round. It all tips off at the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC next Thursday, February 24, at 7 pm.