Park University's men's basketball program took on the competition at the Ernie Stevens Jr Classic hosted by Haskell Indian Nations University on Thursday through Saturday in Lawrence, Kan. Park went 2-1, including two wins against Bacone College and Baptist Bible College and one loss to Southwestern College.

Park is now 2-2 after the weekend and will enter Heart of America Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, November 15 at 7:30pm against Peru State College.

11.9 vs Bacone, W, 99-70 | BOX SCORE

It was a balanced attack from the Pirates to start the game with the first six points coming evenly from DeMarcus Hudson, Augusto Hausmann, and AJ Watson. The combination of a Jaden Robinson lay-in and a three-point bucket from Watson gave Park a 13-4 lead with 14:34 on the first half clock. Both teams doubled their points in the next five minutes as a Jasigha Barnes three-pointer put Park up 27-8 with 9:28 to go in the first half. Hausmann and Watson led the offense in the first half with 11 and 10 points, as the Pirates arrived at a 46-31 halftime lead.

An 8-0 run in the second half from 17:45 to 15:55 for Park gave them a 21-point advantage at 57-36. There was no coming back in this one as Park continued to impose their will on Bacone, building up to a 42-point lead at 6:33 left in the game, 90-48. Both teams were 8-of-15 from beyond the arc in the second half, including 3-of-4 off the bench from three-point range from Savian Edwards. Watson and Edwards had the deep shot for Park tonight, each making three three-point attempts. Watson led all Park scorers with 17 points with Edwards close behind at 15, as Park sailed to a 99-70 victory.

Watson led all Pirates with seven assists as well. Park's forwards consisting of Hausmann and Christian Bradford got it done offensively down low with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Hausmann led the rebounding effort with six, while Robinson and Watson each contributed five.

Park shot 58-percent from the field, while Bacone was at a respectable 42.9-percent.

11.10 vs Southwestern, L, 75-89 | BOX SCORE

Park went out to a 11-3 lead to begin the game with six points coming from DeMarcus Hudson. This forced an early timeout at just 17:22 by Southwestern. AJ Watson's second three-pointer of the game and another Hudson layup put Park up 16-9 on the Moundbuilders. The Pirates continued to hang on to a couple possession lead over Southwestern, but an 8-2 run for Southwestern brought it within one-point to just 26-25 with 8:37 remaining. It continued to be a battle for both teams but at 4:55 remaining, the Moundbuilders held on to a three-point lead, 34-31. An 8-3 run to end the half would give the Moundbuilders the eight-point advantage, 42-34.

Watson and Hudson led the charge in the first half with 10 points apiece. Park shot 34.3-percent from the field, while Southwestern was 44.4-percent of the same. Southwestern outperformed the Pirates from the three-point line in the first half at 36.4-percent, 8-of-22, compared to Park's 27.3-percent at just three-of-11.

In the second half, Park continued to trail through the first several minutes but two layups by Hudson and Augusto Hausmann put Park in a good position down four points at 48-44 with 16:33 remaining. Unfortunately Park was unable to break through with Southwestern regaining a 10-point lead 62-52 at 10:57. As the game came to its conclusion the Moundbuilders earned their largest lead for the game at 14 points as time expired, 89-75.

The Pirates finished with a shooting percentage of 40.6-percent from the field and were at 4-of-18 from beyond the arc. Southwestern, conversely, was at 47.1-percent and 12-of-36 from the same. Park did have the advantage from the line though at 15-of-20, while Southwestern had less opportunities at 11-of-15.

Hudson was the high-scorer for Park with 24 points, his second best performance coming against some of the best competition as he had 25 points to begin the year against No. 5 Georgetown.
Park had another three players in double-figures, including Watson with 16, Hausmann with 13, and Jaden Robinson with 10.,

Robinson also led all Pirates with eight rebounds and Hudson was close to him with six. Park took care of the ball with only seven turnovers, while Southwestern had 10. The Pirates did have the advantage with nine points off of turnovers to only three for the Moundbuilders.

Southwestern edged Park in second chance points though with 12 second chance points to four for Park.

It was also slanted the Moundbuilders way in bench points with 38 compared to only eight for Park.

11.11 vs Baptist Bible, W, 102-82 | BOX SCORE

The Pirates were back at it on Saturday against the Patriots of Bible Baptist College, a repeat NCCAA men's basketball champion the last two years.

Park defeated the Patriots at this same event last year, 88-80, and it was another Pirate victory in 2023 to get Park to a 2-2 record.

Park put up a big number at 102, their second 100 point performance since their 114 point game against Bacone in 2021-22.

The Patriots will be moving to the NAIA within the American Midwest Conference next season.

It was a track meet in this game with both teams jockeying for position at the 11:20 mark in the first half at 22-21, Patriots. Park overtook the Patriots at the 9:16 mark with a Christian Bradford and-one for the 30-27 lead. Neither team could get much separation down the stretch, but Park finally broke through with three three-pointers by Barnes and Watson to take a 13-point halftime lead, 53-40.
Park fended off the second half attacks from the Patriots and at 15:13, Hudson extended the lead to 15-points with an and-one three-pointer, 65-50. The Pirates continued to go with 14 second half points from Hudson and 10 from Hausmann. From 13:33 to 9:59, Park built up a 20-point lead on account of a 12-3 run, 79-59. There was little Baptist Bible could do to get out of that hole and that's the same deficit of the final score 102-82.

Park was 35-percent from beyond the arc at 7-of-20 compared to only 30.3-percent from Baptist Bible at 10-of-33. It was big difference from the field to as Park shot 52.2-percent compared to 38.8-percent from the Patriots.

There were more turnovers in this game with 19 committed by the Pirates and 16 by the Patriots. This amounted to 26 points for Baptist Bible off turnovers to 19 for Park.

The offensive rebounding was similar for both teams with 14 offensive boards for Park to the Patriots 12. Park made better use of those opportunities though with 19 second chance points to only eight for the Patriots.

Watson was the high-scorer with 22 points, while Hudson, Hausmann, Bradford, and Barnes contributed double-figures in scoring as well.

Bradford off the bench earned a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, the first of his Pirate career.

Barnes led the shooting from deep with a four-of-11 performance.

Watson continues to rack up assists with another game of seven and Edwards found open teammates as well with four assists.

Robinson again was just off double-double numbers with 10 rebounds and eight points.

It will be a short turnaround to get ready for Heart conference play on Wednesday, November 15 as Park hosts the Bobcats of Peru State College in Breckon Sports Center at 7:30pm WATCH