No. 15 Baker Wins Sixth Straight, Takes Down MNU, 84-72

OLATHE, Kan. - No. 15 Baker kept its perfect Heart of America record (6-0) intact with an 84-72 victory over MidAmerica Nazarene on the road on Saturday for the Wildcats' sixth straight win.

BU scored 43 points in the opening half, while holding the Pioneers to 30 points and outlasted the hosts in the second half to win by double digits for the eighth time this season.

Ty Henry led the Wildcats in scoring with 19 points and Ahmed Mahgoub had another solid night defensively with five steals to go along with his 16 points. Quentin Harvey (15) and Kaimen Lennox (12) reached double figures as well with Harvey adding seven rebounds to his name.

Korey Jones began the night with an offensive stick-back and Harvey sank a couple of threes to push Baker out in front early. A three by Lennox made it a 19-4 lead for BU before MNU responded with a 12-2 run to pull within five points.

A couple of tough buckets from Keynan Russell got the Wildcats going again as they reclaimed the double-digit lead on a fastbreak layup from Henry.

After a Pioneers 3-pointer at the 6:46 mark, the BU defense held them to just two field goals for the rest of the half with another layup by Henry capping the first half and sending the Wildcats into the break with a 43-30 lead.

Both teams traded punches to start the second half with Mahgoub scoring a quick five points for BU and MNU countering with a 9-3 stretch to get within single digits. The Pioneers connected on a three a little bit later later to make it a four-point ballgame at 55-51.

Lennox, Mahgoub and Russell each chipped in on a string of eight straight points from BU and Henry followed with seven consecutive points all on his own to keep the double-digit lead going.

The Pioneers got as close as seven points down the stretch, trailing 78-71 with two minutes left to play, but Baker forced them to just a mere free throw the rest of the way as the Wildcats finished off their conference road win, 84-72.

With double-digit victories in all six of its conference games, BU was dealt its closest margin of victory against a Heart opponent this year with a 15-point win against Park being the next closest. The Wildcats have won four of their league games by 19 or more points, including a 43-point blowout at Culver-Stockton last weekend.

Baker will head out on the road again with a midweek matchup at Central Methodist on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Fayette, Mo.

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