ST. LOUIS – For about the first 30 minutes of the Missouri Baptist Spartans American Midwest Conference Tournament Semifinal against the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy Thursday night at the Petty SRC, it looked like the MBU playoff run was going to be short-lived. The seventh-seeded Eutectics were holding the second-seeded Spartans at bay each time they mounted a threat. But with their season on the line, the Spartans were able to muster a late-game push and turn back the Eutectics 74-63 to earn a spot in the AMC Semifinals.
 
Senior Tyrell Andrews had a huge role in the Spartans finishing the last nine minutes on a 28-10 run, as the guard/forward from Wichita, Kan. had 17 of this team-high 19 points and seven of his eight rebounds in the second half. Five of those eight rebounds were pivotal on the offensive end to keep possession of the ball for the Spartans.
 
MBU found themselves in a big hole early in this one. The combination of cold early shooting for the Spartans and a hot start by UHSP meant the Eutectics would lead the game 12-2 before Brendon Hardy would hit the first field goal of the game for MBU with almost five minutes gone in the first half. UHSP would grow the lead for the majority of the first half and led by as many as 19 points with 5:55 left in the first half. It was at that point the Spartan offense showed signs that it was starting to click. MBU would close the first half on a 14-2 run to get back within seven before half-time.
 
The momentum of the first half didn't carry over for the Spartans. Similar to the first half, it took the Spartans 3:38 into the second half before Hardy once again broke the lid on the basket with a three-pointer. UHSP had started the second half on a 6-0 run. Possibly the biggest contributing factor in the Spartans comeback and eventual victory occurred with 12:34 remaining in the game when Eutectics big man Jason Udolisa picked up his fourth personal foul and had to check out of the game. At the time, UHSP led by nine at 48-39. Up until that point Eutectics head coach Danny Brown had tried to get by with mostly a six-man rotation. When Udolisa went to the bench the Eutectics had to mix and match with less experienced players to find the right combinations. With the center from Houston sitting for seven minutes, the Spartans took advantage of the additional space in the paint and opportunities for rebounds and turned a nine-point deficit into a five-point lead at 61-56 with 5:21 remaining. Andrews was especially effective as he hit three three-pointers and had a tip-in to score 11 points in those seven minutes. MBU would maintain that advantage until the final moments when UHSP was forced to foul and the Spartans got the 11-point victory, 74-63.
 
The Spartans shot the ball just 40% (26 of 65) from the field in the game, compared to 41.5% for UHSP. MBU turned the ball over a season-low four times and was a stellar 14 of 16 (87.5%) from the foul line on the night.
 
Hardy, Bryce Johnson, and Jadis White joined Andrews in scoring double-figures. The newly minted AMC Player of the Year, Hardy finished with 18 points. Johnson had 13 points and seven rebounds while White finished with 10 points, six assists, and five rebounds. For the third game this season, Udolisa had a double-double against the Spartans, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes.
 
The victory moves the Spartans into the semifinals of the AMC Tournament where they will host the Central Baptist College Mustangs on Saturday.  CBC slipped by Harris-Stowe State University by a score of 60-59 on Thursday night.  The Mustangs and Spartans split their regular season-series with each team winning on the opponent's home floor. This will be the fifth consecutive year that CBC and MBU have met in the AMC Tournament with CBC winning three of the previous four. However, the Mustangs have not won a tournament game in St. Louis since 2019. Saturday will also mark the fourth time in five years that two teams have met in the semifinals of the tournament. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.