Wildcats’ Rally Falls Short in 64-61 Setback to Vikings

BALDWIN CITY - Coming off a thrilling come-from-behind win on Saturday, Baker men's basketball came up short in pulling off another incredible comeback, falling to Missouri Valley, 64-61, on Monday night in the Collins Center.

As a make-up game that was originally postponed in January due to weather, the Vikings led wire-to-wire and were up by as much as 20 in the first half before the Wildcats put together a strong comeback charge in the final five minutes.

Missouri Valley benefited from an efficient shooting night, finishing just under 50 percent overall after going 22-of-46 from the field. BU's defense turned up the intensity late and ended up with a 20-16 edge in the turnover margin.

The Wildcats were led in scoring by Myles Tucker (19 points) and Cam Jones (18 points), who combined for 24 of Baker's 32 points in the second half. Luke McDonald contributed to the offense in a variety of ways throughout the night, recording nine points, four rebounds and three assists.

In a similar start to Saturday's comeback against Park, BU struggled to get going offensively, while the Vikings wasted no time and had a 14-point lead built up just over three minutes into the contest. McDonald came through with a couple of buckets as the Wildcats tried to weather the initial storm, but a four-minute scoring drought would stretch BU's deficit to 28-10.

An old-fashioned three-point play sparked Jones' production and kicked off a 15-2 run for the Wildcats to close the half. Alex Gunnels buried a couple of threes to help fuel the burst and Jones added another couple of buckets as Baker cut the halftime lead to 36-29.

The second half featured a much slower pace through the opening stanza compared to the first half, with each team registering just one field goal through the first eight minutes. An up-and-under layup from McDonald brought Baker all the way back within two, a hump the Wildcats wouldn't be able to overcome despite making it a one-possession game on multiple occasions down the stretch.

The Vikings countered by pushing their lead back out to double digits, taking a 53-42 lead with just under six minutes left to go. Tucker kicked it into high gear in the final five minutes, draining a pair of threes and adding another three-point play the hard way to make it a two-point ballgame again at 55-53 with 1:50 remaining.

MVC came right down and drilled a devastating three to take the wind out of Baker's rally. Eli Obaseki converted another three-point play to bring BU within a possession again, but the Vikings, who started off 7-of-14 from the line, sank all six of their free throws in the final minute to spoil Baker's comeback bid.

Continuing their busy late-season stretch, the Wildcats will host their final home game of the regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 18, with William Woods coming to town for a conference matchup starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Collins Center.

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