27 Feb 2023 CBC advances to AMC championship

Posted at 6:43 PMh in Sports by

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Playing in the American Midwest Conference tournament semifinals for the sixth straight season, Central Baptist College men’s basketball took on the Spartans of Missouri Baptist University on Feb. 25 inside the Petty Student Resources Center. CBC (21-9) dominated MBU (17-13), trailing only once in the game and cruising to an 80-60 win to advance to their fourth American Midwest Conference Championship game.

Photo of Tomas Mikyska

Gabe Johnson led three Mustangs in double figures with 17 points, while Tomas Mikyska contributed 16 off the bench (including 14 in the first half) and Braylon Steen added 13. CBC outshot MBU 50.9 percent to 39.2 percent from the field and made 12 threes compared to only six for the Spartans.

GAME FLOW

A jumper from James Moore at the 19:02 mark opened the scoring before MBU made a free throw and a layup to give them their only lead of the contest at 3-2. A layup from Johnson with 18:12 left in the first half gave CBC a 4-3 lead and that triggered a 7-0 run from there. CBC would lead by as many as 21 in the first half and took a 42-31 lead into the half.

MBU would score the first four points of the second half to cut the lead to seven, but a three from Jalen Adams made it 45-35 and the Mustangs never let the Spartans get within 10 the rest of the contest.

GAME NOTES

  • This is the fifth time these two teams have met in the AMC semis with CBC winning four of five
  • CBC is now 17-4 when leading at the half this season
  • The Mustangs have won at least 21 games for the fifth time since 2016
  • The 12 threes by CBC were their third most in a game this season and the most ever against Missouri Baptist
  • CBC now also leads the all-time series with MBU 11-10
  • The Mustangs have combined to block 121 shots, two shy of the single-season record for a team
  • CBC got to 300 steals in a season tonight for just the fourth time in program history
  • CBC is currently allowing just 65.5 points per game this season, the fewest ever in a season
  • CBC and Columbia will meet in the AMC Tournament for just the third time ever