ST. LOUIS—Men's Basketball entered their matchup against St. Ambrose with confidence following their 84-55 victory over the team on Nov 15. The Fighting Bees were better prepared this time, but that didn't deter the Spartans as they secured their second win against SAU.
             
St. Ambrose managed to take an early lead, but the Spartans weren't far behind. In those first few minutes, the ball just wasn't going into the basket how the Spartans would like. We did get to see some familiar faces back on the court after some time off due to injuries. With Nico Hill and Courtland Soll out for a couple weeks they were getting back into the swing of things.
 
Hill, along with Evan Palmquist and Mujtaba Alkhaldi, kept the team in the ball game. Hill came out and drained his very first attempt at a three since being back. The Opunake, New Zealand native stayed aggressive, drawing fouls and went four of four from the free throw line. Palmquist had a steady presence the entire half, scoring the first jump shot of the game for the Spartans. Ten minutes in, the sophomore was able to go on a fastbreak after taking the ball right out of the hands of a SAU player, making the layup. Alkhaldi pulled one on his defender with a spin move. The O'Fallon, Mo. product then scored a dunk in the face of another defender coming in to help. After drawing a foul on the play, Alkhaldi stepped up to the free throw line and made the and one.  
 
While the first half wasn't exactly how the Spartans wanted it to go, with the team shooting 43% from the field, the team stayed resilient. Coming into the second half after fighting their way back to only a two-point ball game, the team was determined to take the lead.
 
The Spartans' lead came just a minute and a half into the period. After Sterling Benjamin tied it with a couple of good free throws, Palmquist netted a three in the corner securing the lead for the Spartans. MBU was able to hold onto their lead, despite St. Ambrose tying the game up a couple of times.
 
Missouri Baptist really built up their momentum coming out in the second half with a multitude of plays spurring them on. One such play came from Keyyaun Batchman. The junior was able to swat away a pass, stealing the ball to then make the layup on the fast break. Not even twenty seconds later, Palmquist went in for a layup, but proceeded to dump the ball to Conner Redrow who was coming up the middle of the paint. Redrow then made it look easy, slamming the ball through the hoop for the Spartans second dunk of the game.
 
Both teams were relentless ­in their pursuit of victory, but the Spartans were determined to hold onto their lead. With the Spartans up by 13 after Palmquist weaved his way through the defense to sink a layup, all they had to do was stay the course to secure the win. The last four and a half minutes, it was almost point for point with SAU squeaking by with an extra free throw. Regardless, the Spartans ended on a high with Hill landing the third dunk of the game for MBU with under two minutes left. After receiving a long pass from D'Mari Wiltz, Batchman lobbed the ball to the basket and with well-timed coordination, Nico Hill was there to score a thrilling alley-oop dunk.
 
The Spartans with their gritty comeback, clinched another victory against SAU, 92-82. Evan Palmquist not only scored the most points in the game for the Spartans, but he also secured his second double-double of the season. 17 points and ten rebounds earned Palmquist the coveted accomplishment. Nico Hill and Mujtaba Alkhaldi both had a great showing this time around, scoring 15 points each.
 
MBU will be back at it against College of the Ozarks next weekend (Dec 16), looking for a repeat performance of their 103-76 win over the Wildcats.