No. 8 Baker Earns 16th Straight Win, Defeats Pirates on the Road, 86-76

PARKVILLE, Mo. - After coming out on top of a tough road contest at William Penn on Monday, No. 8 Baker survived another conference road battle with an 86-76 victory over Park here Wednesday night in Parkville, Mo.

After trailing by three at the half, the Wildcats outscored the Pirates 42-29 in the second half to earn their 16th straight win - the longest active winning streak in the NAIA. All 16 of their wins during the streak have come against Heart of America teams.

BU shot exactly 50 percent from the floor (15-for-30) and boasted a 7-2 advantage on the turnover margin in the second half.

Five different players reached double figures for the Wildcats with Noah Rigatuso's 19 points leading the way. Kaimen Lennox scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half, while Keynan Russell chipped in 13 points off the bench. Ahmed Mahgoub recorded 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

The first half featured a back-and-forth brawl between the two conference teams with neither side leading by more than three points in the first 20 minutes of play.

A Mahgoub dunk made it level at 10-10 in the early going and a couple of free throws from Ty Henry were matched by a Park layup as the score remained tied at 20-20 through the first 10 minutes of the game.

Lennox got to the rim on back-to-back layups and Henry hit a set of baskets as well to give BU a three-point advantage. Lennox continued to provide the spark offensively for the Wildcats with a pair of threes in the final four minutes to keep BU out in front.

The Pirates scored five unanswered points to close things out with their third 3-pointer of the half giving them a 47-44 halftime lead.

A quick bucket from Quentin Harvey, followed by a three from Rigatuso got Baker going in the second half as the seesaw battle continued. Nick Whittick swished in a triple and another easy layup for Harvey gave BU its first four-point lead of the game.

After Park reclaimed the lead on a three, Russell scored on back-to-back trips and set up a smooth dunk from Korey Jones on a backdoor play to make it a 66-64 lead for BU with 9:32 left to play.

Mahgoub banked in a three and slammed one home on an offensive rebound to give the Wildcats a five-point lead heading down the stretch.

Then, with the shot clock expiring, Rigatuso delivered the final knockout punch with a deep three to seal the double-digit victory for Baker and give them a season sweep over the Pirates.

Getting a well-deserved breather, the Wildcats will be back in action next week with a matchup at Peru State on Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Peru, Neb.

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