Second-Half Push Lifts No. 3 Baker to 72-58 Victory over No. 14 Texas Wesleyan in NAIA First Round

BALDWIN CITY - Making its third straight postseason appearance but first time as a host site, No. 3 Baker men's basketball overcame a back-and-forth first half to defeat No. 14 Texas Wesleyan, 72-58 in the 2025 NAIA Men's Basketball Championship First Round here Friday night in the Collins Center.

The victory tonight marked the program's second NAIA Tournament win after the Wildcats earned their first-ever one in last year's opening round. BU moves on to the NAIA Second Round where they will face No. 6 Concordia tomorrow night in Collins.

After leading by one at the break, the Wildcats outscored the Rams, 41-28 in the second half, while clamping down on defense to hold TWU to just 10 points in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Ahmed Mahgoub led a balanced-scoring effort for BU with some timely 3-pointers to finish with 17 points. Three other Wildcats reached double figures as well with Noah Rigatuso scoring 14 points, followed by Korey Jones and Kaimen Lennox with 13 and 12, respectively.

The game got off to a sluggish start with the first points of the game coming nearly four minutes in with Jones burying his first three of the night.

The Rams took control early though, leading by five before BU punched back with a Mahgoub three, followed by a layup from Keynan Russell to tie things at 13 apiece. TWU once again created a five-point separation midway through the first half, but Lennox swished in another big shot from deep for the Wildcats.

Trailing by four, Jones rifled a great pass to Rigatuso underneath the basket, who slammed it home to bring the home crowd to its feet and ignite a solid close to the half for the 'Cats.

The two teams jockeyed for advantage down the stretch with Nick Whittick getting a runner in the lane to drop and seal the halftime score at 31-30 in favor of BU.

In the second half, the Wildcats built a little cushion right out of the gate with Mahgoub and Rigatuso scoring a couple of buckets, followed by another 3-pointer from Jones.

Texas Wesleyan tied the game at 41-41 with one of its three triples in the second half, but that would end up being as close as the visitors would get as a basket from Russell quickly put Baker back in front.

Jones buried his final trey of the game to make it an eight-point lead for BU with less than 10 minutes left to play and Lennox scored on back-to-back possessions to stretch the lead out to double digits a little bit later.

Ty Henry converted a nifty up-and-under play to give the Wildcats a 63-49 lead with under five minutes remaining as they started to slow the tempo down in the late stages.

One final three and a runaway jam from Mahgoub put the icing on the cake as Baker notched its 10th straight win of the season and advanced to the Second Round with a 72-58 victory.

Tomorrow's NAIA Second Round matchup against the Bulldogs will tip off at 6 p.m. in the Collins Center.

Tickets will be available for purchase both at the gate and online. Online tickets can be purchased via HomeTownTicketing.

Admission prices:
Adults - $10
Senior Citizens/Military Veterans - $5
College Students - $5
Children (Ages 12-18) - $5
Children (12 and Under) - FREE

A live stream of the game will be available for free on the Heart Conference Network.

A tournament central page with additional information and links can be found here.

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