No. 6 Baker Rolls at Home, Defeats Mustangs, 89-56

BALDWIN CITY - After winning by more than 30 points on Wednesday, No. 6 Baker men's basketball earned its second straight blowout at home, cruising past visiting Mount Mercy, 89-56 on Saturday afternoon in the Collins Center.

The Wildcats shot nearly 50 percent from the floor (35-for-74) and tallied 10 threes in the game to complete the season sweep over the Mustangs. In their two matchups this season, Baker outscored Mount Mercy by almost a 60-point margin (173-114) after BU won, 84-58 in Oskaloosa, Iowa back in December.

Ahmed Mahgoub led a balanced scoring effort for BU with 17 points, while also grabbing six rebounds. Quentin Harvey hit three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points, while Noah Rigatuso (13) and Keynan Russell (10) both reached double figures as well.

Baker was able to score off the opening tip with Rigatuso finding Mahgoub for an alley-oop jam to set the tone right from the get-go. Harvey and Rigatuso followed with a set of threes with Harvey drilling a couple of shots from downtown to give the Wildcats a double-digit lead just three minutes into the contest.

A steal on the defensive end led to another dunk for BU with Rigatuso flushing home a jam after a steal from Korey Jones.

Mahgoub and Kaimen Lennox buried back-to-back threes to make it a 31-14 lead for BU midway through the first half. Rigatuso converted a three-point play and Russell chipped in points down the stretch as the Wildcats took a commanding 46-28 lead into the break.

In the second half, Baker pushed its lead out to 20 points with Ty Henry knocking down a jumper in the early going. Harvey swished another triple on a BU fast break and then set up an easy bucket for Russell before Henry hit a three to give the Wildcats a 65-39 lead.

A second-chance opportunity from Mahgoub gave BU a 32-point lead with less than 10 minutes left to play as the Wildcats put things in cruise control for the rest of the way.

Russell found a streaking Jones for another thunderous dunk before the Wildcats started to empty their bench. Tommy Faseru, Lucas Lyons and Jimmy Dorsey each came in the game and knocked down a three for BU to give the team double-digit 3-pointers for the second straight game.

Dorsey's three capped the scoring for BU as the final score settled at 89-56 in the Wildcats' favor and kickstarted a new winning streak for them after having their 16-game streak snapped at the end of January.

With an 18-2 record in conference play, the Wildcats still sit in first place in the Heart of America standings with a one-game lead over Graceland (16-3) with only a couple of weeks left in the regular season.

Up next, Baker will host a rivalry showdown with MidAmerica Nazarene on Wednesday, February 12 with tipoff from the Collins Center set for 7:30 p.m.

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