Park University's men's basketball program came were up to the tall task of a matchup with No. 2 Baker University on Tuesday night in Baldwin City, Kan. for the 2024 Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals. The Wildcats gained a lead in the first half and despite another thrilling second half performance by Park, Baker won in the final seconds, 87-85.

The Park closed out the season at 13-16 on the year and 11-13 in the Heart, while the Wildcats move onto the Heart Semifinals for the second consecutive season.

For Park, this is their second appearance in the Heart Conference Quarterfinals, last reaching this round in 2020-21, their first year in the Heart.

The Pirates jumped on the Wildcats in the opening minutes of the first half with their two forwards, Augusto Hausmann and Jaden Robinson. Hausmann scored four points, while Robinson got a layup to make it 6-1. A 9-0 run gave the Wildcats the lead, a lead they would hold onto the rest of the half. Park's Jasigha Barnes scored seven consecutive points for Park to get the Pirates within two points at the 11:04 mark, but by and large the Wildcats had control of the half. A 5-0 run would reinstate a seven-point lead which grew to Baker's largest lead of 16 points to end the half, 47-31.

The Pirates turned it up a notch in the second half with 54 points scored. Park came on strong, shooting 60.6-percent from the field in the second half, including four-of-six from behind the arc. A combination of the Wildcats being only one-of-six from the three-point line in the second half and having 11 turnovers in that same span opened the door for the Pirates as well.

AJ Watson got the Pirates back within single-digits at the 17:16 mark in the second half with an and-one, 52-43. The Wildcats and Pirates remained at odds throughout the second half and with 7:09 remaining, Park still found themselves down 10, 74-64. Robinson and Watson were workhorses for the Pirates with 18 and 15 points in the second half, respectively. A 7-0 run by the Pirates made things interesting with 2:16 remaining and the Pirates were only down six, 82-76. Two three-pointers and a layup came rolling in by Watson when it counted to keep the pressure up, including a shot that made it 87-85 with 34 seconds remaining. Baker was 0-4 in their last four free-throw attempts to increase the nervous tension in the building. Park would have two more shot opportunities but neither could fall, as the Wildcats held out, 87-85.

Park came from 16 points down in their last game against Culver-Stockton, but this comeback came up short by the narrowest of margins.

Both teams were dead on in field-goal percentage at 50.8-percent for the game. Park shot it better from behind the arc at six-of-14 for the game compared to five-of-19 for the Wildcats.

The Pirates were also more efficient from the stripe, despite having 12 less free-throw attempts, 15-of-18 for Park and 20-of-30 for Baker.

Park had five less turnovers and had five more points than Baker off of 17 Baker turnovers.

Rebounding was were the Wildcats had the upper hand with 37 rebounds to 29 for the Pirates, which helped towards 10 more second chance points for Baker, 20 to 10.

Robinson led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-14 from the field, while Watson scored 20 points, leading from behind the arc on a three-of-seven night. Kelyn Bolton was timely with his shots and was two-of-two from three-point range for the Pirates.

Hausmann was able to find some openings as well with 14 points and was four-of-five from the line.

Bolton, Barnes, and Watson each did their part for the offense with three assists each, while Watson made an impression defensively with a game-high four steals.
Box Score