HANNIBAL, Mo. – The game wasn't supposed to go like this. Coming off an emotional and exciting last second win on Saturday to keep their conference championship hopes alive and playing a Hannibal-LaGrange University Trojans team that currently sits in ninth place in the nine-team American Midwest Conference, the Missouri Baptist University Spartans weren't supposed to find themselves trailing throughout this game and down by 18 points with under 14 minutes to play. But here they were. Something good came out of it though. The Spartans dug deep and showed a ton of heart in battling back to defeat the Trojans 78-72 Tuesday night at the Mabee Sports Complex in Hannibal, Mo.
 
The Trojans' Bryce Stark scored a layup with 13:53 left to give HLG a 55-37 lead. However, the Spartans would close the game on a 41-17 run, including holding the Trojans scoreless for the final 3:19. The Spartans actually took their first lead of the game at 73-72 when senior Tyrell Andrews hit two free throws with 2:15 left. Andrews would go on to score three more points and paired with a couple of Jadis White free throws gave the Spartans their six-point victory.
 
HLGU took the lead 25 seconds into the game and really never looked back until they went cold late in the game. The Spartans would tie the game at eight but for the majority of the first half the lead would hover between four and eight points. The Trojans closed the first half on a 10-0 run to lead the game 41-28 at the break.
 
The Trojan lead would grow as large as 19 in the second half before the Spartans started to methodically claw their way back into contention. It would take over 10 and a half minutes of the second half for the Spartans to get back within single digits of HLGU. The Trojans weren't giving it away easy though. Janssen Flotow nailed a three-pointer with 5:35 remaining in the game to get the HLGU lead back to 10, and it looked like the Spartan comeback might run out of steam. Instead MBU outscored the Trojans 18-2 the rest of the game.
 
The Spartans had a rare big advantage from the foul line tonight, going 19 of 24 (84%) from the stripe to just 9 of 12 (75%) for the Trojans. HGLU held an 11 to five advantage in success from behind the arc. Shooting percentages were almost identical with the Spartans going 27-57 (47%) to the Trojans 26-56 (46%). MBU held a 11 to five advantage in steals.
 
Andrews and Nico Hill both led the Spartans in scoring with 14 points each. It is the second straight game that Hill has led the Spartan offense in scoring. Coming off his big shot to beat Columbia on Saturday, White finished with 13 points.
 
The win improves the Spartans to 14-12 overall and 10-4 in the American Midwest Conference. Hannibal-LaGrange drops to 7-14, 2-11 in the AMC. A loss by Williams Baptist University on Tuesday night places the Spartans all alone in second place in the AMC, one game behind first-place Columbia College in the loss column.
 
MBU returns to the court on Saturday when they make the short journey to the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy. Tip-off with the Eutectics is 3:00 p.m.