The Park University men's basketball program took on former American Midwest Conference opponent Missouri Baptist University on Friday. Now both are in the Heart and the Spartans bested the Pirates in the matchup in St. Louis, Mo., 74-66.

Park is 9-11 on the year with a 6-6 Heart of America Athletic Conference record, while the Spartans step up to 14-6 on the year with an 8-4 Heart record. The Spartans are looking at the No. 3 spot in the Heart standings right now, while Park is only a half game out of the No. 8 seed.

The Pirates were getting it done from beyond the arc with a season-high of 10 made threes from distance. Park in the first half was shooting a sharp six-of-12 from distance to keep them in the game against Missouri Baptist, including a three-of-three half from Amaire Perkins. Park was the aggressor early with a three by Tyler Burrows followed up by a layup and a set of three free-throws by Abubakar Kromah to go up 15-9 with 14:14 in the first half. Then Kromah struck again with a layup to give Park its largest lead for the entire game of eight points, 17-9. Missouri Baptist started to gain some traction, but still with threes from Tristan McRoberts and Perkins, the Pirates still clung to a 23-20 lead with 8:10 to go.. A 6-0 run changed the momentum of things for the Spartans and they capped it off with a dunk for a 31-26 lead. It was still very much back-and-forth at the half's end and another three by Otavio Armani got Park within five at the break, 39-34.

A 12-2 run was even more momentum garnered by the Spartans just 3:36 into the second half, 51-36. The Pirates were shooting a lower percentage than their 40-percent number from the first half and were 35-percent from the field in the second half, while the Spartans were shooting 50-percent across the board in the second half. The Pirates were playing catchup the rest of the way and Armani played his role to get Park back in it with a three at 10:17 to make it 56-46. On the defensive side, his steal led to a foul and then a three-pointer the next offensive possession to force Park within six, 56-50. Burrows then hit a huge three to make it 56-53 and with eight minutes to play it was anyone's ball game. Park hit shots down the stretch in the game, but with Missouri Baptist sinking shots on the other end, there were no significant scoring runs that took place. The lead never changed hands back to Park, as the Spartans won 74-66.

For the game, Park was 38-percent from the field, while the Spartans were efficient at 48-percent. From three, Park held the advantage at 10-of-27 for 37-percent compared to only six-of-20 for the Spartans.

The Pirates also had the edge in free-throws with 14-of-17 on the day. And in the same amount of attempts, the Spartans were 12-of-17.

Both teams were at 17 turnovers for the game. Park earning five more points off turnovers though with 19.

It was a disparity in the paint though, as 12 offensive rebounds for the Spartans led to 12 second chance points, while Park only had three second chance points. The points in the paint were more than double for the Spartans over Park, 42-20. 

Kromah gave a great effort with 21 points and got to the line for 11-of-13. He was able to contribute all around the court with six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block.

Armani and Burrows were just separated by a point, as Armani put up 15 points and Burrows was at 14. They each sank three three-pointers. 

Armani co-led with six boards, but racked up five steals to lead the defensive effort. Meanwhile, Burrows also co-led with four assists.

The Pirates regroup at Breckon Sports Center on tomorrow, January 28 against Peru State College at 7:30pm. WATCH
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