ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Baptist University men's lacrosse team earned its first win of the season convincingly Saturday night, pulling away early and never looking back in an 18-5 victory over Columbia College at Spartan Field.

Joe Busselman headlined the Spartans' offensive explosion with seven goals and one assist, consistently finding space around the crease. Jake Cordes followed with a five-goal, five-assist performance, while John Dahl added four goals and Ryan Metcalf chipped in a goal and two assists to round out a balanced scoring effort.

Missouri Baptist settled in after Columbia scored first, ripping off four straight goals in the opening quarter to take control. Busselman scored twice during the early run, and Cordes added a strike to give the Spartans a 4-1 lead after one.

The Spartans kept their foot on the gas in the second period, scoring five more times to stretch the margin to 9-3 at halftime. Cordes scored twice in 37 seconds midway through the quarter, and Busselman added two more goals as Missouri Baptist's attack overwhelmed the Cougars' defense.

Columbia briefly cut into the deficit early in the third. Still, Missouri Baptist responded with three straight goals, including tallies from Dahl, Cordes, and Alex Reyes, to push the lead to 12-5 heading into the fourth.

The Spartans closed strong with six fourth-quarter goals, highlighted by three man-up scores from Dahl and Cordes. Missouri Baptist dominated possession all night, winning 19 of 24 faceoffs, collecting 49 ground balls, and converting 6 of 7 extra-man opportunities while outshooting Columbia 53-28. Goalkeeper Daniel Heinrich finished with six saves in the win.

Missouri Baptist (1-1) looks to build on this early-season momentum as they hit the road next week, Feb. 27, at Indiana Tech. Face off is set for 3 p.m.