ST. LOUIS- The Missouri Baptist Spartans kicked off their season yesterday (Oct 31), on Halloween night. Victory against Baptist Bible College seemed out of reach as the Spartans were down 15 points early in the first half. After fighting their way back MBU ended the first half on top, 48-42. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be as the Spartans were unable to maintain their lead, ultimately losing to the Patriots, 86-92.
The first half was off to a little bit of a rocky start with the Patriots scoring a layup almost immediately.
Breven McMullen came back with an answer, draining a three with the Spartans next possession. This didn't deter Baptist Bible. The Patriots were unrelenting in their pressure and started pulling ahead. MBU wouldn't go down without a fight. Head Coach
Preston Ingram was utilizing his bench, subbing throughout the game, keeping the Patriots on their toes. The likes of
Kristian Davis and
Connor Redrow were making their mark coming off the bench. Both were making key plays and putting points on the board. Nearing the end of the quarter, the Spartans had chipped away at the Patriots lead and found themselves back in it.
With seven minutes left in the half, Redrow used his length to his advantage to earn a steal. This marked the start of the Spartans comeback as MBU took this opportunity to put more points on the board. Redrow shortly after scored on the rebound from a jumper by
Courtland Soll.
Kristian Davis and
D'Mari Wiltz soon followed up with baskets of their own. The energy in the gym was electric as the Spartans were starting to come out on top. This was fueled by the Spartans making not one, not two, but three dunks in under three minutes. They came by way of
Mujtaba Alkhaldi,
Nico Hill, and
Evan Palmquist. With a final push, MBU made their way on top, ending the half 48-42. In the last seven minutes MBU outscored BBC 22-8. Davis was leading the Spartans in points, posting ten on the board while
Evan Palmquist wasn't far behind with seven.
During the second half the Spartans were once again slow on the uptake, succumbing to Patriots full court press. MBU found themselves down by ten early in the half for the second time. This time MBU was unable to find that run that would put them on top. Little moments kept adding up allowing the Spartans to slowly chip away at the Patriots lead. With the addition of Wiltz, the Spartans were finally in a place where they could handle BBC's full court press that had been giving them so much trouble. The New Orleans, La. native later on swatted the ball away from a Patriots guard, resulting in a layup on a fastbreak. Hill also recorded a steal on a BBC inbound, taking the ball up the court and drawing a foul. The senior was able to put a point on the board, making one of his free throws.
Keyyaun Batchman secured the ball on a defensive rebound, pushing it up the court to go in for a layup. The senior was able to sink the layup while drawing the foul, earning himself an and one free throw situation, which he just missed.
Missouri Baptist was down by three with only two and a half minutes remaining in the game. With the clock counting down, the Spartans were trying to speed things up to get the necessary points to secure the win. MBU were able to add another two points to the board, but BBC put up four of their own. The final score came out 86-92 with the Spartans suffering the loss in their first game of the season.
McMullen led the Spartans in points this go around, earning 14 with 12 of those coming by way of three-pointers. Palmquist was a point behind McMullen, posting a total of 13 and Batchman was just behind that with 12.
Up next the Spartans will be hitting the road as they take on Wayland Baptist University on Friday, Nov 3.
