Wildcats Fall Short in Conference Showdown at No. 15 MNU

OLATHE, Kan. – (RV) Baker men's basketball put up a massive 60-point second half in its Heart showdown at No. 15 MidAmerica Nazarene, but couldn't erase a 25-point deficit and fell to the Pioneers, 100-90 on Wednesday night in a thrilling matchup between the top-two conference teams.

The battle between the two conference frontrunners didn't disappoint with both clubs shooting over 47 percent from the floor (47.8%/56.1%), over 40 percent from three (43.5%/52.2%) and over 80 percent from the free throw line (82.4%/85.7%).

The Pioneers connected on two more triples than the Wildcats with 12 total in the game and went 24-for-28 from the line, sealing the game by making 11 of their final 13 free throws. Baker held a significant advantage in the turnover margin (+8) after forcing 14 MNU turnovers.

Noah Rigatuso led the Wildcats with 18 of his team-high 25 points coming in the second half to mark the second time in the past three games the junior forward has scored at least 25 points after going for 30 points against Graceland last week.

Quentin Harvey shot over 50 percent from the floor for the game to finish with 18 points and Ahmed Mahgoub added a 12-point effort off the bench.

Before posting their red-hot second half, the Wildcats struggled getting shots to fall in the early going after starting 3-for-11 from the floor, while the Pioneers used a couple of treys and a three-point play to build a quick 20-8 lead in the first six minutes of play.

Rigatuso picked up a three-point play for himself and had teammates Harvey and Mahgoub follow with a pair of buckets as well with Mahgoub's first three of the game bringing BU within four.

Midway thru the opening period is when MNU really started to heat up from deep, sinking a string of three straight 3-pointers with Braden Griffiths adding one for BU during the sudden barrage.

After the Pioneers pushed their lead out to 17 points, Cason Richardson drained a three for the Wildcats and Dylan Smith added a bucket to get things closer to single digits before halftime. The Pioneers would hit one final three though to go into the break with a 45-30 lead.

The Wildcats struggled to gain much traction out of halftime, while MNU padded its lead by opening things up with an 8-0 run to start the second half.

With the Pioneers taking their largest lead of the day at 58-33 at the 16:15 mark, Baker began its daunting comeback by getting a lift from Mahgoub, who drilled his second three of the game, and going on a 15-2 run to make it a 12-point ballgame in a span of just three minutes.

After Rigatuso and Harvey connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to continue BU's momentous rally, the Pioneers hit a set of threes of their own to squelch the run and maintain a 16-point lead with 10 minutes left to play.

Brock Burling scored five straight points for BU and Griffiths added another three to get the 'Cats within 10 again, but the Pioneers wouldn't let their lead slip under single digits for the rest of the way as they traded free throws for buckets with BU down the stretch to come out on top of the high-scoring affair, 100-90.

Snapping their five-game winning streak, the Wildcats move to 17-5 in conference play and remain in second place in the standings with two games remaining in the regular season.

Baker will play its final road game of the regular season with a matchup at Culver-Stockton on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. in Canton, Mo. before returning to Collins for the regular-season finale on Wednesday, Feb. 21.

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