PARAGOULD, ARK. - On the road taking on the Pioneers in an AMC matchup the Spartans overcame a small deficit in the fourth quarter to win 66-63.

The early portion of the contest was full of offense as the Pioneers outpaced the Spartans in the first frame, 21-17. Missouri Baptist had a handful of scoring contributors in the first frame.

MBU fell behind by nine points in that quarter, but were able to trim their deficit to just four points before the start of the second. The Spartans fought back in the second quarter and were able to take the lead before heading into halftime. Kayleigh Winch's eight points in the second quarter helped give the Spartans their 37-34 lead at the break. Sophia Horton was doing a bit of everything on the offensive end with seven points and seven assists.

Early in the second half the Spartans jumped out to an eight point lead, but the Pioneers fired back with a 15-2 run to make it 51-46, in their favor.

Down by five at the start of the fourth quarter, the Spartans defense came to play as they limited Crowley's Ridge to just seven points in the final 10 minutes. Missouri Baptist outscored the Pioneers 8-3 in the final five minutes to come away with a 66-63 victory.

Horton finished the AMC contest with 14 points, nine assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Winch and Mariana Cubero also finished with double digit points with 12 and 10, respectively. 

Spartan Stat Leaders

Points: Horton (14)

Rebounds: Riley Jansen (7)

Assists: Horton (9)

Steals: Horton (2)

Blocks: Cubero (2)

Records

Missouri Baptist: 3-10 (3-4 AMC)

Crowley's RIdge: 6-7 (1-7 AMC)

Next Game

The Spartans continue their AMC schedule with a road game on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 1 p.m. at Williams Baptist.