Wildcats Clip Owls, 82-79, in Collins Finale

BALDWIN CITY - Playing for the fourth straight time at home, Baker men's basketball closed out its 2025-26 regular-season Collins campaign with an 82-79 victory over William Woods here Wednesday night.

The Wildcats used a solid first half to go into the break leading by eight, only to see the Owls make a strong push late, but BU was able to hold them off and come away with their fourth conference win in February.

Both teams put up practically identical marks from every spot on the floor, with Baker (30-of-58) making literally one more field goal than WWU (29-of-57). Each side shot over 30 percent from three, with the Owls carrying the slight edge in that department at 10 made 3-pointers compared to BU's seven.

Cam Jones turned in an efficient shooting night, making all but two of his 10 shots from the floor and tallying a team-high 22 points. Myles Tucker (16) and Alex Gunnels (12) both reached double-digit scoring, while Eli Obaseki had a productive outing off the bench with eight points and four rebounds.

While things would heat up eventually, the game started off a bit slow offensively, with William Woods snagging early honors on a 12-8 lead. Carter Trumbored looked to jumpstart BU's offense after burying a three, but it wasn't until Ethan Viets swished in one a few minutes later that the Wildcats started to come alive.

Jimmy Dorsey knocked down a three to give Baker a five-point lead before the Owls quickly knotted things back up at 24-24. After a couple of baskets from Jones and a three from Tucker, the duo went on to close the half by scoring the last 10 points unanswered for BU. Tucker tallied the last six, including a breakaway dunk, to give the Wildcats a 41-33 halftime lead.

In the second half, Dorsey tacked on his second triple of the game and Obaseki followed with one a little bit later as BU stretched its lead out to double-digits. Viets followed suit with Dorsey, draining his second 3-pointer to keep things at a 12-point lead for Baker.

The comfortable lead was quickly erased by an 11-0 run from WWU, with a second-chance bucket by Tucker eventually squashing the rally. Baker countered with its own scoring spurt to build a double-digit lead back up heading into the final five minutes.

With BU leading, 73-62, the Owls tried to muster up one last rally to complete their comeback and got as close as six points until a three at the very end, but it only delayed the Collins celebration as Baker held on to close out its 6-6 record at home this season.

Winners of four of its last six, the Wildcats moved to 11-16 overall and 9-10 in conference play, with a chance to finish .500 in the Heart in Saturday's regular-season finale.

Baker will wrap up the regular season on the road, taking on Graceland on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 4 p.m. in Lamoni, Iowa.

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