Big Second Half Lifts No. 12 Baker to Home Win over Grand View, 75-61

BALDWIN CITY - After trailing at the half for the first time all year, No. 12 Baker fired back with a 20-point advantage in the second half to take down a tough Grand View squad, 75-61 on Saturday in the final home game at the Collins Center of 2024.

The Wildcats went into halftime down by six before outscoring the Vikings 41-21 in the second half to come away with the double-digit victory and keep BU perfect both at home (5-0) and in Heart play (8-0) this season.

Noah Rigatuso posted his second straight game in double figures with a game-high 19 points, while BU got a nice boost from its bench with Korey Jones (11), Keynan Russell (11) and Ty Henry (10) all reaching double-digit scoring as well. Jones had an active night defensively with five steals and five rebounds.

The Vikings opened up the game by claiming the first seven points, while the Wildcats struggled to score through most of the first eight minutes of action. A corner-three from Nick Whittick was the lone highlight early on for BU until a jumper by Henry sparked a 13-4 run that saw the Wildcats go in front, 26-25 on a three from Jones.

Rigatuso followed with a trey and a stick-back to keep Baker's lead at three points. However, a layup by Kaimen Lennox with 5:33 left in the first half went down as the final field goal for the hosts as GVU used the drought to go into the break with a 40-34 lead.

A one-handed jam from Quentin Harvey set the tone for the second half with his dunk pulling the 'Cats within one. Rigatuso hit a tough driving basket to put Baker on top, 46-45 just over six minutes into the frame.

From there, BU stepped things up defensively with the Vikings going on a five-minute scoring drought, while a steal from Jones led to a breakaway dunk for the senior guard to make it a 59-51 advantage.

GVU got within four points with less than six minutes left to play, but Russell, Rigatuso and Ahmed Mahgoub each chipped in points to keep Baker in control down the stretch. The Wildcats closed out with the last six points to chalk up its seventh double-digit win of the conference season.

Closing out the first half of the conference season, Baker heads to Mount Mercy on Monday, Dec. 16 to take on the Mustangs starting at 6 p.m. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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