Patterson's 30-Point Outburst Propels Wildcats to 88-80 Win Over Park

PARKVILLE, Mo. – Highlighted by a huge 30-point performance from Jalen Patterson, the Baker men's basketball team came from behind on Saturday afternoon to take down the Park Pirates by a score of 88-80.

Patterson had a huge night in the scoring column, rattling off 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting. He also filled up the stat sheet with four rebounds, four assists and four steals. With 30 points on Saturday, Patterson now has 1,537 points in his career and needs just 195 points to move into sixth place all-time in scoring at Baker University. Baker's only other scorer in double figures was Noah Rigatuso who had 16 points on the night.

Baker was able to win the rebounding battle on Saturday, out-rebounding Park, 42-29. Baker had 10 different players pull down at least one rebound with Korey Jones grabbing a team-high eight boards.

The Wildcats got off to a slow start on Saturday as Park pulled out to a strong 16-2 lead over the first four minutes of the game. With 10:48 left to play in the first half, the Wildcats had cut the lead down to just six points on a dunk from Rigatuso and forced the Pirates to call a timeout.

Park finished the half on another run, pushing their lead back to double digits, but a free throw from Justin Batts II late in the half cut the lead down to 45-36 at the break.

Quentin Harvey changed the tides to start the second half and hit a huge three-pointer, cutting the lead to just six points. Baker gave up just six points throughout the first eight minutes of the second half as they fought their way back and took the lead on a huge three from Braden Griffiths, 52-51.

With the score tied at 60 with just under eight minutes to play, a free throw from Jones and a big three from Patterson gave Baker the lead back, 64-60 with 7:55 to play. Baker held the Pirates scoreless over the next two minutes and stretched their lead to 10 points with 6:29 top play.

Baker continued to add to their lead and with 4:40 left in the game, another three from Patterson gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game at 16 points, 78-62. The Wildcats then were able to hold Park at arm's length for the rest of the game and went on to win, 88-80.

With the win, the Wildcats are now 13-3 on the season and 8-2 in Heart of America play. They will be back in action on Monday, Jan. 16, for a big matchup against (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene in Olathe, Kan., at 7:30 p.m.

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