ST. LOUIS - Missouri Baptist University played host to the #13 MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers on Homecoming at Spartan Field, and the Pioneers took control of the contest in the second half on their way to a 58-21 victory over the Spartans.

The first quarter was all Pioneers as they got out to a 13-0 lead with a pair of field goals and a 44-yard touchdown pass following a couple of backbreaking penalties by the Spartans.

MidAmerica Nazarene tacked on another touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter, and a fumble on the following kickoff led to another Pioneer touchdown to make it 27-0.

The Spartans were in need of a scoring drive and that is just what they got as they went 66 yards on a long 12 play drive that was capped off with a Jordan Simpson pass to Joseph White for a touchdown. Missouri Baptist's defense stood strong on their next drive and got the ball back for the offense leading to a Jared Steward touchdown run to make it 27-14 with the Spartans receiving the ball after halftime.

The Pioneers were able to tack on a field goal before the halftime break to make it 30-14, and the turnover bug bit the Spartans again after halftime with another fumble on the kickoff leading to another touchdown for MNU.

#13 MidAmerica Nazarene took control of the game for the second half as they found the endzone three more times and limited the Spartans to just one more touchdown to soil Missouri Baptist's Homecoming, 58-21.

The Spartans defensive backs played strong despite the 37 point loss as they forced six pass breakups, recovered a fumble, and had the top two leading tacklers in Kaden Lutjen-Williams and Zeppelin Velder.

Turnovers plagued the Spartans throughout the night as they threw two interceptions and lost a pair of fumbles all leading to points for the Pioneers.

The Spartans will return to Spartan Field next Saturday when they take on Missouri Valley at 1:00 PM.