Park University's men's basketball program hosted Mount Mercy University on Saturday afternoon in Breckon Sports Center, falling in a close game to the Mustangs 81-78.
The Pirates fall to 8-14 and 6-12, while the Mustangs bump up to 7-16 and 6-13. After defeating Baker at home, the Pirates have now dropped their last three games.
The Pirates got on the board with some noise on a dunk by
Jaden Robinson. That was followed up with an
Augusto Hausmann lay-in for a 4-0 run at 18:45. After a Mustang layup, Hausmann again went to work with another bucket in the paint. A 5-0 run brought on by a made three-pointer by the Mustangs made it 7-6.
Jasigha Barnes got on the board with a converted and-one to restore a two-point lead at 16:39, 9-7. The score would be tied two times in the next two minutes, but Mount Mercy eventually got hot behind the arc with a 7-2 run from 14:19 to 13:10 on the clock for a 6-point lead, 19-13. Mount Mercy kept the pressure on and led by as much as 12 points at 30-18 at the 9:01 mark. The Pirates were given a boost by
Kelyn Bolton with a three-point jumper and Barnes with a layup off of
Eli Habighorst's assist. Mount Mercy answered with a score to go back up nine, but Barnes hit a three-pointer to spur on a 9-0 run off the combination of Barnes and Hausmann to tie the game at the 5:33 mark, 32-32. 20 seconds later a three-pointer by the Mustangs broke the silence to retake the lead 37-34.
Christian Bradford came in with four points on consecutive possessions to keep it a one-point spread, 39-38. But the last three minutes heavily favored the Mustangs with a 9-0 run to finish out the half, 48-38. Mount Mercy shot it well at five-of-eight from beyond the arc in the first period compared to just two-of-11 for the Pirates.
The Mustangs earned their largest lead to this point to begin the second half in the first 1:18 of play for a 13-point lead, 51-38. Back-to-back buckets by
DeMarcus Hudson got the team going and soon Hausmann followed suite with a layup to cap off a 6-0 run at 17:05, 51-44. Off of that, Mount Mercy answered with a 4-0 run and went back up by double-digits, 55-44. After trading points, Park went on a 7-0 run, including a three by Barnes and another dunk by Robinson, as the Pirates trailed by four with 11:38 to go, 57-53. Following a media timeout, Mount Mercy splashed a three-pointer to put them up eight points under nine minutes in the game, 65-57.
AJ Watson turned it on at this point and scored on back-to-back Park possessions to get his team within six points at 7:33, 67-61. It continued to look up for Park with some impressive defensive stops and capitalized on the other end with a 6-2 run to come within two points at the 5:48 mark, 69-67. Both sides had free-throw opportunities and Robinson converted both of his to bring Park within one-point with 5:03 to go, 70-69. After Mount Mercy made a pair of free-throws, Bradford had one of his biggest plays of the day with a successful and-one on the lead in pass from Watson for the tie at 4:08, 72-72. Hudson stole the lead from the Mustangs for the first time in the half, but it immediately was answered by an Aidan Yamilkoski three-pointer at 2:52, 75-74. Yamilkoski was five-of-seven from beyond the arc at this point in the game. Bolton had a take away defensively and then fed Hudson for his own put back score to take the lead back 76-75 with 1:47 to go. The lead changed hands back to the Mustangs on a 3-0 run. The Pirates were able to get back within one-point on a Watson layup with six seconds to go, but a pair of free-throws and then a last second three wouldn't go down for the Pirates to end the game, 81-78.
The Mustangs shot 53-percent from the field and Park was at 42-percent. A big difference came in three-point field-goals at seven-of-18 for Mount Mercy and only three-of-18 for the Pirates.
Park was true from the free-throw line at 89-percent, 17-of-19, while the Mustangs were at 75-percent, 12-of-16.
Park took care of the ball with only six turnovers and earned 12 points off of 12 Mustang turnovers.
The Pirates worked hard for five more offensive rebounds than the Mustangs totaling 12 points off turnovers compared to nine for the Mustangs.
The Pirates got a boost from the whole lineup with 25 points off the bench.
It was an even spread of scoring from Barnes, Bradford, Hudson, and Hausmann. Barnes and Bradford led the way with 13 points, while Hudson and Hausmann had 12 points apiece.
Bradford was two rebounds away from a double-double and Robinson was right behind with seven boards. Robinson had a solid day with a couple of dunks for eight points and four offensive rebounds.
Watson besides his eight points, also contributed a team-high seven assists in the game.
The Pirates will be on the road this week in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday, February 7 at 7:30pm against Grand View University.
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