Wildcats Suffer Second Straight Setback, Knocked Off by Vikings

DES MOINES, Iowa - After winning 16 games in a row to start the Heart of America season, No. 6 Baker men's basketball dropped its second straight conference game with a 72-70 setback at Grand View on Saturday.

Trailing by seven with less than two minutes left, the Wildcats cut it to a two-point game and had a chance to tie it with 3.8 seconds left, but Ty Henry's contested shot at the end couldn't save BU from an upset in its final game of a four-game road stretch.

It was another tough shooting night from beyond-the-arc for BU with Henry (1) and Noah Rigatuso (2) knocking down the only threes in the game. Meanwhile, GVU shot lights out from deep, boasting a 10-for-22 (46%) line with six of them coming in the first half.

Rigatuso led the charge in a big way for Baker, racking up a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double since the season opener at Ottawa. Quentin Harvey and Nick Whittick each had nine points apiece.

The Vikings set the tone right out of the gate, jumping out to a 19-3 burst in the game's first eight minutes. Henry's three cooled things off and triggered an 11-0 response from BU with back-to-back steals from Rigatuso and Kaimen Lennox leading to transition buckets.

GVU connected on four straight 3-pointers to keep its advantage, but a three-point play from Ahmed Mahgoub pulled the Wildcats within three at 28-25 with about five minutes left in the first half.

After the hosts pushed the lead back out to nine points, Rigatuso closed out the half with a three-point play, followed by back-to-back layups to make it a 36-35 halftime deficit for BU.

A three by Rigatuso on the opening possession of the second half gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game as the senior from Omaha, Neb. tallied BU's first 14 points out of the intermission.

Midway through the second half, a free throw by Lennox tied the game at 50-all before the two teams jockeyed for advantage down the home stretch. Harvey kept things knotted up and then pulled BU within one on a dunk off of a nice dish from Rigatuso.

Keynan Russell's layup brought Baker within one again at 61-60 with 3:47 left, but GVU delivered two more back-breaking threes to push the lead out to seven with two minutes left to play.

The Wildcats fought back to make it a one-score game yet again with Whittick converting a three-point play to make it 71-70 with just a few seconds left.

After a missed free throw from GVU, BU had one final play to draw up some late theatrics, but came up short as the Vikings held on for the conference upset.

Heading into the final month of regular-season action, the Wildcats moved to 19-3 overall and 16-2 in Heart play. BU continues to lead the conference standings, owning a one-game lead over Graceland, who sits at 15-3.

Following the midseason road stand, Baker returns home for a matchup against Central Methodist on Wednesday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Collins Center.

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