ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Harris-Stowe State University men's basketball team was back in action tonight when they played host to the Central Baptist (Ark.) College Mustangs in an AMC matchup. The Hornets were defeated by the Mustangs by a final score of 103-88 to fall to 1-7 on the season and 0-5 in the American Midwest Conference. With the win, CBC improves to 13-4 on the season and 8-1 in the AMC.

Harris-Stowe came out in the first half of the game and were able to jump out to an early 4-0 lead. The Mustangs settled in over the next few minutes of the period and were able to answer with a 10-3 run of their own to take a 10-7 lead in the contest. Neither side was able to gain an advantage over the next couple of minutes, but with the score tied at 16 the Mustangs used a 19-4 run to take a 35-20 lead midway through the half. They continued to hold off the Hornets down the final stretch of the frame and took a 58-44 lead into the locker room.

The Mustangs came out in the second half and were able to grow their lead to 70-49 with 16 minutes to play in the game. The Hornets battled back and were able to cut the score to nine, but another run from the Mustangs put them up 14 points midway through the period. Harris-Stowe continued to stick around as the half progressed and were able to cut the Mustangs lead back to five, but one final run from the Mustangs put them up 17 late in the game. The Hornets did their best to get back into the contest in the final minutes but CBC closed out the game to solidify the win.

Harris-Stowe had one of their better shooting performances in this game as they went 32-for-69 (46.38%) from the floor and 7-for-27 (25.93%) from behind the arc. They were outrebounded 40-30 and turned the ball over 14 times.

Marquis Pepper led the way for the Hornets as he finished with 15 points to go along with a team high six rebounds and a team high six assists. In addition to Pepper, Riley Barnes finished with a team high 19 points, Jamarr Joseph finished with 18 points, and Nick McKenzie finished with 17 points to round out the top performers for the Hornets.

The Hornets will return to the court on Saturday, February 6^th when they play host to William Woods (Mo.) University in an AMC matchup. No spectators will be allowed at the game but live video will be provided. The game is set to start at 1 p.m. in the Emerson Performance Center.