In a hard-fought game at home on Saturday against the 18th-ranked Crusaders from Evangel University, the Wildcats fell 61-53. This loss puts the ‘Cats at 9-17 on the season and 3-13 in the HAAC. After losing a heartbreaker to Avila on Thursday, 74-60, the Wildcats are not heading toward a happy postseason.

“It stinks we came up short,” head coach Sean Dooley said. “When the game got tight, they were able to make plays on both ends of the floor and I told the guys ‘we’ve got to learn from it.’”

The Crusaders went to the free-throw line 34 times and cashed in on 25 of their attempts, shooting 73.5 percent from the line. Baker had a better free-throw percentage of 87.5, but only came away with 7 free throws for the night.

Freshman guard Gregg Easter had an impressive game with 18 points, shooting 50 percent from the field, 4-of-5 from behind the arc and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. It was obvious that Easter had a good feel for his shooting stroke on Saturday.

“I felt great,” Easter said. “I knew that if I started the game playing good defense, it would transfer to the offensive end.”

Junior forward Manuel Barnes put in 12 points of his own following the Avila game, in which he dropped 20. Senior guard EJ Carter had 11 points as well against the Crusaders and sophomore guard Javeion Gray led Baker with 5 assists.

The Wildcats have two games left this season. On Thursday they will travel to Peru, Nebraska, to face the Peru State Wildcats. Then the ‘Cats will return home for their season finale against the Vikings from Missouri Valley College on Saturday.

“Our guys have been pretty resilient,” Dooley said. “I expect nothing less than our best efforts on Thursday against Peru and then on Saturday versus Valley.”