ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist University Men's Basketball Coach Preston Ingram knew his team needed a jolt to shake them out of the offensive doldrums they have been in lately. He decided to give Breven McMullen a look in the starting lineup. It was a good decision. Behind a career-high 24 points from the sophomore from Park Hills, Mo. the Spartans dismantled the Eutectics of the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy, 103-68.
 
To say McMullen and the Spartans got off to a hot start would be akin to saying Michael Jordan and Lebron James are pretty decent basketball players. McMullen opened the scoring with a steal and a layup followed by a three-pointer from senior Brendon Hardy as the Spartans scored the game's first five points. UHSP was able to get a basket just over two minutes into the game to make it 5-2 before McMullen would hit back-to-back-to-back triples on successive possessions. The score three minutes into the game was 14-2 in favor of the Spartans.
 
But the Spartans were just getting warmed up.
 
The Eutectics would go seven minutes between their first field goal of the game and their second. In that time the Spartans built a 30-point lead. That lead would balloon to as many as 41 before the Spartans settled for a 57-23 half-time edge. At one point midway through the half the Spartans were shooting over 70% from the field and over 80% from behind the three-point arc. MBU finished the half 23 of 44 (52.2%) from the field, and eight of 13 (61.5%) from distance. Conversely the Eutectics came in at 24% and 18%, respectively. The Spartans made two fewer shots than UHSP attempted in the half.
 
Both teams shot the basketball better in the second half than they did in the first. UHSP raised their rate to 45.2% in the second half and got it back to a more respectable 36% for the game. Meanwhile the Spartans shot a higher percentage (60%) but took fewer shots in the second half. When Hardy scored a layup with 8:02 remaining, MBU had its largest lead of the evening at 86-42.  UHSP was unable to get any closer than 35 points at any moment in the second half.
 
McMullen, who entered the game averaging 6.6 points per game, finished six of eight from behind the arc, with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. He was not the only Spartan to achieve a new career high in scoring. Included among the other four Spartans in double-figures was freshman Nick Wasilewski, who finished with 12 points. Hardy, the leading scorer on the season for MBU, finished with 15 points, while senior Jadis White and sophomore Bryce Johnson both had 13.
 
Eutectics big man Jason Udolisa had a double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds. He leads UHSP in both of those categories this season. Sophomore Trae Meny was the only other player in double figures with 11 points.
 
The 103 points is the highest offensive output of the season for MBU, surpassing the 92 they scored in an overtime win over Grand View University on November 11. It is also 33 points more than their season average of 70 points per game. The 35-point margin of victory far surpasses the previous season record of 15 set against Lyon College on November 19.
 
The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the Spartans and keeps them atop the American Midwest Conference standings with a 5-1 record. They are now 9-9 overall on the season.
 
MBU will be back in the friendly confines of the Petty SRC when they host Hannibal-LaGrange University for women's and men's basketball action on Tuesday night. The women's game will tip at 5:30 p.m. with the men's game to follow.