Park University's men's basketball program came to play against MidAmerica Nazarene University on Wednesday night in Olathe, Kan. Getting the job done on both ends of the floor for a 74-69 victory over the Pioneers.

Park is now 4-1 in Heart play with only one loss against No. 19 Baker University. The Pirates are 5-4 on the season and have picked up two consecutive wins over William Penn University and now MidAmerica Nazarene. The Pioneers have alternated wins and losses so far this season and don't have consecutive wins yet at 3-5 on the year and 2-3 in conference matchups.
Park now has two consecutive wins in the Cook Center in Olathe, Kan., while the Pioneers have had similar success in Breckon Sports Center in Parkville, Mo. in the last two road contests against Park.

The Pirates were contesting everything the Pioneers put up, as Park had 11 blocks with four coming from Tristan McRoberts. This is the most blocks since 98-88 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange University on February 25, 2017 when Park registered 12 blocks as a team.

The Pirates held MidAmerica Nazarene to their second lowest game of the year as well, while Park was just under its scoring average of 76 points per game.

The Pirates began the game with a 4-0 run on two scores by Jaden Robinson and McRoberts. Another big run soon came shortly after that, as Christian Bradford's free-throw and two-pointer was the start of a 7-0 run to give Park an 11-2 advantage with 14:14 to play in the half. A 13-2 run by MidAmerica Nazarene got themselves right back in the mix with a 15-13 lead, their second to last lead of the game. Shawndale Ross had a great answer with a three-pointer to retake a 16-15 advantage. Ross came back with a two-point bucket at 9:59 to give Park a three-point lead, 18-15. Abubakar Kromah hit from deep, but the Pioneers were gaining ground yet again with a 7-3 run to momentarily grab their last lead of the evening, 22-21. Under seven minutes, Bradford's bucket restored a 23-22 lead and the Pirates closed out the half with a 12-5 run, including an eight-of-eight stretch from the free-throw line. Park led at the half 33-27.

From halftime, both sides played one another tight, as Park mirrored MidAmerica Nazarene scoring to a "T" for the first four scoring possessions. Neither team lit it up from behind the arc, as Park was six-of-20 compared to the Pioneers' nine-of-31, but the Pirates shot it when they needed it to begin the half with three makes from deep from Jacob Barnett, McRoberts, and Jasigha Barnes. Both seniors in Barnett and Barnes have major accomplishments recently, as they have crossed the 1,000 point mark in their collegiate careers. Barnes' three-pointer at the 16:50 mark put Park up 46-39. Robinson would tack on to the lead with a free-throw for an eight-point lead. A 5-2 run for the Pioneers made it a 5-point game at 14:53. There would be a little break in the scoring until MidAmerica Nazarene hit a three-pointer to make it 49-47 with 13:05 to play. Robinson would have a great effort on the evening with a free-throw and a two-point make to get back to a 52-47 lead, and he would have a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. As the game progressed, the Pirates maintained the lead and even when MidAmerica Nazarene threatened, Park always seemed to have the answer like Barnett's three-pointer to put Park up six points with 7:03 left. Another 7-1 run for MidAmerica Nazarene put them down two points, 63-61 with  3:59 to play, but again Robinson delivered with a key two-pointer to keep Park ahead. The Pirates would not give up the lead, as McRoberts, Kromah, and Barnett all hit clutch two-point buckets to prevent a comeback. Park would hold on for a 74-69 victory.

Park shot 45.6-percent from the field, while the Pioneers were at 35.1-percent. A difference came in free-throws as Park got to the line more often and doubled MidAmerica Nazarene's points from the stripe, 16-of-24 to eight-of-10.

Turnovers were about even, nine for Park and eight for MidAmerica Nazarene, as were points off those turnovers with 11 for Park and 12 for the Pioneers.

Park had the edge in second chance points with 16 to MidAmerica Nazarene's 12. Park also had 12 more points in the paint.

Robinson led in scoring with his 18 points and stood out with a double-double, while Barnett was close behind with 16 points.

McRoberts had his highest scoring game of the season so far with 13 points and led Park with five assists and four blocks.

Bradford was a perfect four-of-four from the field with nine points and nine boards.

Kromah and Ross were the only Pirates to score from the bench with seven and six-point nights.

The Pirates will host Benedictine College on Wednesday, December 4 in Breckon Sports Center at 7:30pm. This will also be a Teddy Bear Toss with all teddy bears collected being donated to local emergency responders that con distribute with the work they do in the community. WATCH
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