It all came down to a last-second 3-point shot thrown up by senior Heath Baird from half court.

After hitting the back iron and coming back out, the Wildcats finished their season with a 66-63 loss to MidAmerica Nazarene University.

Reverse one minute.

After matching MidAmerica basket-for-basket during the last three minutes of regulation, Baird charged the lane, spun and laid one up, drawing the foul.<br/>63-62, Baker.63-62, Baker.
63-62, Baker.

After going scoreless for a trip, third team all-conference player Malcolm Greer drove the lane to the block, spun back and went up. 

As the whistle blew, the Baker fans cheered, anticipating a foul call. 

Wrong – Greer was called for traveling.

“I knew I couldn’t have traveled because I made sure I didn’t,” Greer said. “When he called it, I knew we had to get the ball back and make something happen.”

With the clock winding down, Heart of America Athletic Conference first team all-conference player Cal Kiburz twisted around the lane to lay one in with 30 seconds on the clock.

64-63, MidAmerica.

Battling back and forth, the Wildcats put the ball in Greer’s hands. 

Dribbling to the baseline, Greer fumbled the ball, but was fortunate to throw it off a MidAmerica player.

Down by one, head coach Rick Weaver said he still felt the team had an opportunity to pull out a win against the No. 1 team in the HAAC.

“When you have the ball under your own basket with three seconds to go, and down one against a team that was 19-1 in the league, you definitely have a good opportunity,” he said.

With only three seconds left, junior Brock Entner connected to Baird around the 3-point line. 

Driving to the lane, an unexpected whistle blew and Baird was called for double dribbling.

“It was obviously a questionable call,” Baird said. “With the magnitude of the game and the time that was left, it probably shouldn’t have been made.”

With 1.4 seconds left, and a foul from senior Nick Iversen, Brenton Bell for MidAmerica hit both shots from the free-throw line.

Next came a prayer from Baird at half court, which almost was answered when the ball hit iron and the buzzer blew for the biggest heartbreak of the season.

The Wildcats barely made the cut into the tournament with a win over Graceland University.

“We knew going in we were going to have to play the first- or second-best team in the conference,” Baird said. “We also knew if we were going to have success in the tournament, we were going to have to go through the best team at some time, so we thought we might as well knock them off at the beginning.”

Baker will return two starters next season: Entner and Greer. 

Weaver said with the two returning and the addition of a few more, the team will strive to make a run in the conference.

“We’ve got two experienced quality players returning, and we’re working hard to add some inside and perimeter players,” he said.

The Wildcats ended the season 9-22 overall.