Wildcats Top Trojans, 65-56, to Split Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic

COLUMBIA, Mo. - After falling on Friday night to the host Cougars, Baker men's basketball bounced back to defeat Hannibal-LaGrange, 65-56, on Saturday afternoon in the final game of Columbia's Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic.

The Wildcats, who struggled offensively in the tournament opener, came out on top of a defensive slugfest in Saturday's finale, holding the Trojans to just 24 points in the second half. BU was held to a season-low 61 points against the Cougars.

Jimmy Dorsey (27) and Cam Jones (25) led Baker in scoring between the two matchups in Columbia. Dorsey matched his season high with four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points on Friday, while Jones had 15 points and eight rebounds in the win over the Trojans.

CC 79, BU 61
(RV) Columbia turned its seven-point halftime lead into a comfortable victory in the final game of Friday's opening night of the tournament.

The Wildcats were able to hang around with the hot-shooting Cougars in the first half, going 7-for-14 from three-point range to keep pace with a CC side that sank nine 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Things cooled off significantly in the second half, though, with neither side shooting over 37 percent from the field, but Columbia went 16-for-18 from the free throw line to finish off its double-digit win.

The Cougars marked their first double-digit advantage midway through the first half, taking a 21-10 lead before Alex Gunnels and Carter Trumbore connected on back-to-back treys to pull BU back in it. The Wildcats reeled off 10 unanswered points to lead by three late in the half, but the hosts closed on a 12-2 run to swing the halftime score in their favor at 40-33.

In the second half, Baker got a mix of scoring to stay within reach, with a three from Gunnels making it a six-point deficit with just under 13 minutes left to play. The Cougars held BU without a field goal for the next seven minutes with a three-point play from Jones snapping the drought that saw Columbia push its lead out to 68-53.

Gunnels' final triple got the Wildcats within 12, but that's the closest they would get as Baker fell in its first non-conference matchup in two weeks.

BU 65, HLGU 56
The Wildcats overcame a tough night from behind the arc (1-for-10) by limiting Hannibal-LaGrange to a mere one field goal in the final nine minutes for BU's first neutral-site win of the season.

Baker (24-for-55) outshot the Trojans (19-for-52) by a seven-percent margin and held a strong 34-16 advantage on points in the paint. The Trojans only made eight field goals and five free throws in the second half.

Hannibal-LaGrange took control early on in the afternoon matchup, jumping out to an 11-point lead through the first eight minutes. A couple of buckets from Lucas Lyons and back-to-back tallies from Tucker pulled BU within one at 21-20 with 7:22 left in the first half.

After the Trojans pushed their lead back out to six points, the Wildcats closed on a 9-2 run to reclaim the lead, with BU's full-court press resulting in a breakaway layup from Tucker in the final seconds to seal a 33-32 halftime lead.

The two squads went back and forth to start the second half as well until a Trumbore trey gave the Wildcats a slight six-point cushion. The Trojans nailed a three to pull within one at 52-51 with 9:41 remaining in what would be their only make from the floor for the next nine minutes.

Meanwhile, KJ Odour helped build Baker's lead by tallying five points and then came up with an offensive board that led to a layup for Jones to make it 62-53 with just over three minutes left to play. Jones punctuated the victory with a two-handed jam as the Wildcats earned a split to the weekend.

Picking up a big win in its last conference outing against (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene, Baker will jump back into Heart play with a matchup against Peru State on Wednesday, December 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Collins Center.

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