Culver-Stockton men let 12-point lead in first half slip away in home setback, drop to 2-7 in Heart
CANTON, Mo. — The Culver-Stockton College men’s basketball team led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but the Wildcats scored just 23 points in the second half in a 64-60 loss to MidAmerica Nazarene 64-60 in a Heart of America Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon at Charles Field House.
The Wildcats had a chance to tie the game after the Pioneers’ Jake Alexander missed a 3-pointer with 1:24 to go, but Caleb Kizer missed a five-foot jump shot with 1:03 remaining.
Anthony Brown made a basket with 34 seconds to play to put MidAmerica Nazarene ahead 62-58, and Javon Modester dribbled the ball off his foot on C-SC’s next possession.
Kizer’s dunk with 10 seconds remaining got the Wildcats within 62-60, but Ed Wright made two free throws for the Pioneers with eight seconds left to seal the victory.
Jalen Blaize came off the bench to score all 11 of his points in the opening half to spark the Wildcats to a 37-28 halftime lead. CaRondis Harris-Anderson also scored all nine of his points in the first half.
The Pioneers opened the second half with an 11-3 run during the first six minutes, and they eventually regained the lead at 45-44 with two free throws by Derek Langrehr. C-SC led 53-50 with 6:28 remaining, but MidAmerica Nazarene scored the next eight points to take the lead for good.
Seth Larson scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for C-SC (6-8, 2-7 in the Heart). Kizer added 10 points and eight rebounds. The Wildcats played without leading scorer Robert Fry (14.2 ppg), who was injured in Tuesday’s loss to Grand View.
The Pioneers improved to 7-2 in conference play and are in third place in the Heart, two games behind William Penn. C-SC is tied with Missouri Valley for 12th place in the 14-team league.
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