Second-Half Slide Dooms Wildcats in 73-61 Loss to Pioneers

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – After starting the conference season by winning nine of its first 10 games, the Baker men's basketball team fell for just the second time in Heart of America play with a 73-61 loss against MidAmerica Nazarene on Wednesday night in the Collins Center.

Playing their first game of 2024, the Wildcats shot over 50 percent in the first half to take a four-point lead at the break before the Pioneers stormed back with a 43-point outing in the second half, while holding BU to a season-low 61 points for the game.

Noah Rigatuso led Baker's balanced scoring effort with 12 points, while guards Nick Whittick and Dylan Smith reached double figures as well with 11 points and 10 points, respectively. Ahmed Mahgoub and Keynan Russell each chipped in eight points with Mahgoub collecting a team-high eight rebounds.

With both teams shooting over 50 percent from the three-point line for the game, the midweek matchup began with three straight triples after MNU opened things up with back-to-back treys and Ty Henry countered with a corner three in a quick first minute of play.

The two sides traded punches for most of the first half with a Mahgoub three putting Baker in front, 13-12 before the Pioneers went ahead on a three of their own midway through the period. Then, Whittick splashed in a triple as part of five straight points for the junior transfer from Allen County CC to push BU back on top, 21-19.

Another three by Mahgoub was matched by MNU to draw the game even before things cooled off in the final seven minutes of the first half. Rigatuso knocked down a jumper to put the Wildcats up by four which is how much they would lead by at the break as the first half came to a close with BU holding a 34-30 advantage.

After the Pioneers tied things up in the second half, they used a 14-5 run, fueled by three 3-pointers, to take a 55-46 lead with 7:41 remaining. A couple of Russell free throws and a bucket by Rigatuso got the 'Cats within seven, but MNU would stretch its lead back out to double digits with less than three minutes left to play.

Henry tried to spark some late-game theatrics by knocking down another trey to make it an eight-point ballgame, but the Pioneers held on from there to come away with their fourth straight conference victory.

Wednesday's matchup featured two of the Heart's top-four teams as Baker moved to 9-2 against league teams this year, while MNU improved to 7-2.

Up next, Baker welcomes another marquee conference battle to Collins with a game against Culver-Stockton on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 2 p.m. in Baldwin City.

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