Wildcats Stay Perfect in Heart Play, Close Out 2024 With 84-58 Win Over Mount Mercy

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The No. 12 Baker men's basketball team stayed hot on Monday evening, defeating Mount Mercy by a score of 84-58 to close out the first part of the season and take a perfect 9-0 conference record into the break.

Baker had five players reach double figures in the game with four of the five starters scoring at least 10 points. Ty Henry led Baker in scoring with 14 points, but was followed closely by Quentin Harvey with 13, Noah Rigatuso with 12, Kaimen Lennox with 11 and Keynan Russell with 10. Baker was able to out-rebound the Mustangs, 51-38 as Russell fell just one rebound short of a double-double with nine boards.

Both teams traded baskets for the first seven minutes of the game and with 13:20 left in the first half, Baker trailed by one, 16-15. Over the next four minutes, the Wildcats would go on a strong 11-0 run to take a 26-18 lead.

With 1:20 left in the half, the Mustangs were able to bring that lead back within one, but Baker would hold Mount Mercy scoreless for the rest of the have, rattling off six unanswered points to carry a 41-34 lead into halftime.

On the very first possession of the second half, Ty Henry set the tone by knocking down a big three and extending Baker's lead to 44-34 just 10 seconds into the half. It took nearly four minutes for Mount Mercy to score in the second half and Baker continued to add to their lead throughout the half.

With just over six minutes to play in the game and Baker leading, 69-47, the highlight play of the game came as Nick Whittick drove down the right side of the lane, passing it off the backboard to Noah Rigatuso for the alley-oop slam to extend the Baker lead to 71-47.

The Baker defense continued to lock down the Mustangs for the rest of the game, holding them to just 11 points in the final six minutes as Baker went on to win the game, 84-58.

Baker is now 12-1 on the season and a perfect 9-0 in Heart of America play. With the Wildcats sitting in first place in the Heart, Baker will next host second place Graceland on Thursday, January 2^nd, at 4:00 p.m., inside the Collins Center.

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