Balanced Scoring Boosts ‘Cats to Third Straight Heart Victory

BALDWIN CITY - No. 19 Baker men's basketball etched out its third straight double-digit win over a conference opponent, defeating Park, 84-69 at home on Wednesday night to keep BU undefeated (3-0) in Heart of America play this season.

The Wildcats had nearly identical halves, offensively, with 41 points in the first half and 43 in the second, but after only leading by two at halftime, BU held the Pirates to 30 points in the latter frame to come away with a win in the rematch of last year's Heart Quarterfinals game.

Five different players reached double figures for Baker with Ty Henry leading the pack with 16 points, while Ahmed Mahgoub turned in his second straight double-double performance with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Whittick did a little bit of everything with 10 points, eight assists, five rebounds, a couple of steals and a block.

Whittick and Henry opened up the game for BU with a couple of treys before Kaimen Lennox started slashing his way to the rim with three early layups.

The Pirates started to pull ahead midway through the first half though, eventually leading by 12 points with a little under seven minutes remaining. A string of three straight triples pulled Baker back within one with Whittick, Henry and Mahgoub all splashing in one from deep.

Cason Richardson's 3-pointer tied the game at 35-all and a leaping stick-back from Mahgoub at the buzzer gave the Wildcats a 41-39 halftime lead.

After the back-and-forth first half, Baker began to take control in the second half with Korey Jones scoring five quick points on a three and a transition layup. Mahgoub's three gave BU its first double-digit lead of the game and a couple of second-chance buckets from Lennox and Keynan Russell kept it at that margin through the halfway point of the half.

Jones buried another three to push the lead out to 14 points as the Wildcats started to pull away with Quentin Harvey scoring six straight points for BU to make it 79-63 with just under three minutes left to go. One last three from Mahgoub capped out Baker's night with the final score settling at 84-69.

With three straight wins, the Wildcats are off to a 3-0 start in conference play for the third straight year after earning double-digit victories in its first three games last year as well and a 2022-23 season where BU won its first four league games.

Up next, Baker will square off against Culver-Stockton on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 4 p.m. in Canton, Mo.

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