The Baker University men’s basketball team went up against a one-win team in Harris-Stowe State University Saturday in Collins Center, but the Wildcats’ 82-73 win against the Hornets did not come easy.

The Wildcats built a 30-18 lead with 6:15 remaining before halftime, but the Hornets stung BU with a 18-5 surge to take a 38-35 advantage at the half.

Harris-Stowe State’s Wayne Brown hit three consecutive 3-pointers during the run to lead head coach Sean Dooley to remind the team to lock down defensively to regain momentum. After the game, Dooley credited his team with staying composed after trailing at halftime.

“They didn’t panic,” Dooley said. “We’ve been in situations like that earlier in the season where I think our guys panicked a little bit too much and tried to do more themselves.”

The Hornets still hung on to lead for the majority of the first 10 minutes of the second half, but a 3-pointer from senior Corey Anderson gave the Wildcats a 61-60 advantage with 8:36 to go and BU never looked back.

Anderson’s 3-pointer was part of a 10-0 for the Wildcats and once BU seized control of the game, it went inside to senior Ben Steinlage to ware down the seven-man roster of the Hornets.

“We got Ben going there in the second and they were smart enough to keep going to him, which hadn’t always been the case sometimes,” Dooley said.

Steinlage scored 22 points to lead the Wildcats and knocked down 10 of 11 attempts from the free-throw line. Junior Chris Lockhart also chipped in 13 points and senior Jordan Honore and Anderson rounded out the Wildcats who scored in double figures with 10 apiece.

The Wildcats will look to make it back-to-back wins when they begin conference play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Collins Center against Peru State College.