Bolivar, Mo. – For the second straight game the SBU Men’s Basketball team topped the century mark as they cruised to a 116-70 victory over Ozark Christian on Saturday. With the win SBU improves to 8-4 on the season.
The Bearcats jumped out of the gate quickly, opening up the game on a 19-0 run. Andy Campbell connected on a pair of three’s during the run, while Cartree Pettis and Brian Patterson both had multiple buckets for SBU. After OCC got on the board, SBU used an 8-0 run to push their lead to 27-2 with 12:36 remaining in the half. The Bearcats continued to push, and a free throw from Kai Woodfall with 5:32 left in the half gave SBU a 30 point lead at 47-17. After an Ozark Christian bucket, SBU went on a 9-0 run to push their lead to a first half high of 37 (56-19) before going into the break with a 63-27 lead.
In the second half SBU quickly extended their lead to over 40. After an OCC three, SBU responded with a 10-0 run to take a 73-30 lead with 17:14 left in the game. After exchanging points, a pair of free throws from Logan Hovey capped off another 10-0 to give the Bearcats a 50 point advantage at 85-35 with 13:34 to go. A Campbell Lakatos layup with 7:42 remaining extended SBU’s lead to a game high 54 (103-49) before the Bearcats would cruise to a 116-70 victory.
The Bearcats had 7 players in double figures, led by Brian Patterson’s double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Louis Baltazar added 14 points, Kalund Brown 13 points, Cartier Dean 12 points, Andy Campbell 12 points, Logan Hovey 12 points, and Kai Woodfall chipped in 10 points. SBU collected 29 assists as a team, led by Cartree Pettis‘ 7, while shooting 60.6% from the field, 60.0% from beyond the arc, and 85.7% from the free throw line.
SBU will return to MIAA play on Thursday, January 5 when they travel to Nebraska-Kearney. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. from Kearney, Nebraska.
