Free-Throw Shooting Haunts Wildcats in 73-66 Setback at Park

PARKVILLE, Mo. – Trailing by three with less than a minute left, Baker men's basketball team couldn't overcome a Park squad that made 12 straight free throws down the stretch as the Wildcats fell to the Pirates, 73-66 on Wednesday night in Parkville, Mo.

The Wildcats made just two threes in the game and shot a woeful 56 percent from the free-throw line where the game's key margin came from. Baker went 18-for-32 in its trips to the charity stripe, while the Pirates went 18-for-21, including a perfect 12-for-12 in the final four minutes of the game.

Noah Rigatuso poured in a game-high 27 points for his third outing of the season with at least 25 points. Rigatuso's 27 points highlighted a BU side that struggled to score for most of the night with Keynan Russell and Dylan Smith chipping in 11 points apiece.

Rigatuso, Russell and Smith each had early buckets for the Wildcats to start things off with Rigatuso finishing off a three-point play. After Rigatuso's layup put BU up, 14-11, the Pirates rattled off 10 straight points and built up a 23-17 lead with just under five minutes left in the opening half.

Ty Henry added an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a two-point ballgame in the final minute, but the Pirates were able to get a second-chance bucket to go into halftime with a 33-29 lead.

The Wildcats looked to have things corrected pretty quickly out of the intermission, firing off six straight points with Russell's stick-back putting Baker back ahead, 35-33. After the Pirates retook the lead with seven unanswered points, a layup by Korey Jones swung the advantage back to BU, only to have the Pirates reclaim the lead for the final time.

Down by eight with under seven minutes to go, the Wildcats worked their way back to get within five and found themselves still trailing by that much heading into the final three minutes. Baker would have to try and fight its way back against a Pirates side that was automatic at the line with baskets by Rigatuso and Smith being canceled out by Park free throws.

A couple of free throws by Rigatuso though made it 67-64 with 48 seconds left, but a turnover on their next possession dashed the Wildcats' hope of some late-game magic as the Pirates held on to win, 73-66 to split the season series.

After winning at Graceland to start the new year, the Wildcats have dropped back-to-back road games and sit at 12-4 in conference play. BU is one of four Heart teams to have at least 12 conference wins this season with MidAmerica Nazarene (13-2), Central Methodist (12-3) and the Yellowjackets (12-3) all battling inside the top-four of the standings.

Up next, Baker heads to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to take on Mount Mercy on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m.

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