Wildcats Fall at Home to Pioneers, 81-69

BALDWIN CITY - After back-to-back wins to start the year, Baker men's basketball suffered its fourth straight setback with an 81-69 loss to MidAmerica Nazarene at home on Wednesday night in the Collins Center.

Despite trailing by seven at the break, the Wildcats couldn't gain any traction in a slow-moving second half that saw the Pioneers inch away late to win by a double-digit margin.

Baker shot over 40 percent from the floor (26-of-63), but was barely over 50 percent at the free-throw line, going just 12-for-22 at the line. Meanwhile, MNU racked up 13 3-pointers and finished shooting over 50 percent from the field (29-of-56).

Myles Tucker led a balanced scoring night for BU with 15 points, while Alex Gunnels turned in a complete performance to finish with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Lucas Lyons reached double figures as well with 13 points and six rebounds.

A layup by Lyons helped Baker take an early edge and Gunnels' first three of the game tied things up at 10-10. MNU started to build a slight lead before Gunnels drained a second one from deep to pull BU back within one.

The score would stay at 23-17 in MNU's favor for nearly a four-minute stretch until Cam Jones snapped the drought with a layup. A runout layup from Tucker cut it to a four-point game for BU, but once again the hosts would hit a bit of a scoring wall down the stretch.

Lyons and Luke McDonald tacked on the final points of the half for the Wildcats as MNU swished a three at the buzzer to take a 36-29 halftime lead.

The first three possessions of the second half for MNU offensively all resulted in three-point plays, with back-to-back treys to open up the half, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play to jump out to a 45-33 lead.

Gunnels and Tucker helped the 'Cats work their way back, with Gunnels turning a steal into a breakaway layup to make it a five-point game at 45-40. Lyons swished another three for BU to keep it at a five-point distance, but MNU used a triple of its own to work the lead back out to double digits.

Jimmy Dorsey buried a three to bring the score to 61-53 before things hit a bit of a lull again. Baker remained within single digits until MNU started to pull away in the game's final six minutes. The last push from BU came on a free throw from Gunnels that made it 74-66, but that's as close as they would get as the Pioneers hung on to claim the victory, 81-69.

After playing four of its six games since the break at home, Baker will open up a three-game road stand on Saturday, Jan. 31, as the Wildcats take on Grand View with tip-off from Des Moines, Iowa, set for 4 p.m.

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