ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Harris-Stowe State University men's basketball fell 86-77 on Saturday afternoon against Central Baptist College at Emerson Performance Center. With the loss, the Hornets fall to 4-16 on the season and 1-8 in American Midwest Conference play while the Mustangs improve to 8-13 on the season and 5-4 in AMC play.

Junior center Dimitrije Stojanovic (Nis, Serbia/Bethel University) gave the Hornets an early 1-0 lead with a free throw. A layup from sophomore guard Umar Lawson (Sumter, S.C./Voorhees University) gave the Hornets a 3-2 lead. An old-fashioned three point play from senior forward Jalen Watson (East St. Louis, Ill./St. Louis Community College) gave the Hornets a 6-4 lead. A layup from freshman forward Nashawn Davis (St. Louis, Mo./Columbia College) and a free throw from Lawson extended the Hornets lead to 9-4. A jumper from senior guard Kevin Jones (Sikeston, Mo./Dakota State University), a layup from Stojanovic and a layup from Davis extended the lead to 15-6 with 13:12 to play in the first half. An 8-0 run by the Mustangs cut the Hornets lead to 15-14. A three from Jones extended the lead to 18-14 with 11:30 to play. 

An 8-3 run by the Mustangs gave them a 22-21 lead. Two free throws from Watson and a layup from sophomore guard Antonio Trotter (Nashville, Tenn./Williams Baptist University) gave the Hornets a 25-24 lead. Two free throws from Watson put the Hornets up 27-26 with 7:00 left to play in the first half. A 9-0 Mustangs run gave them a 35-27 lead. A layup and two free throws from Lawson cut the deficit to 35-31. Two free throws from Stojanovic cut the deficit to 42-33. A layup from Lawson cut the deficit to 42-45. The Mustangs would take a 43-35 lead into halftime.

A layup and a three from Davis cut the Mustangs lead to 46-40 early in the second half. A layup from Lawson cut the deficit to 48-42. A three from junior guard Adolphus Cast (Detroit, Mich./Schoolcraft College) cut the deficit to 51-45. A three by Cast cut the Mustangs lead to 53-48. A layup from Watson trimmed the Mustangs lead to 60-52 with 11:31 to play. A layup from sophomore guard Jason Freeman (Atlanta, Ga./William Woods University) cut the deficit to 66-54. A jumper from Watson made it 68-56 Mustangs. A three from Davis and a free throw from Cast cut the Mustangs lead to 68-60 with 8:27 remaining in the game. Two free throws from Cast and a one-handed dunk from Davis cut the deficit to 70-64. Layups from Stojanovic, Jones, Davis and Trotter cut the Mustangs lead to 76-72 with 2:43 to play. The Mustangs scored nine of the final 14 points to close out their 86-77 win.

Lawson led the way with 20 points while Davis added 17 and Watson added 11. Davis recorded six rebounds. Trotters would dish out four assists. Trotter and Davis recorded four steals apiece.

The Hornets went 28-62 (45.2%) from the field, 5-15 (33.3%) from three and 16-25 (64.0%) from the free throw line. 

The Hornets return to action on Thursday, February 5th at 7:30 pm against Mission at Emerson Performance Center in AMC play.