Leavenworth, Kan.—USM men's basketball would suffer another heart breaker at home as they dropped a back-and-forth battle tonight at home in Ryan Sports Center, falling to the OKWU Eagles with a final score of 75-80.

USM knew it would be a battle against the now 8-1 Eagles, but Damare Smith came ready to play as he nailed a three from deep 30 seconds into the game, capitalizing off an Eagle turnover. Smith would go on to score the first 6 points for USM as he found the bottom of the net in all three free throw attempts after being fouled from behind the arch. Spire teammate Jordan Brown would follow suit as he put the Spires up 9-3 early in the first half. Kaeden Bonner and Terrius Walker would add to the USM efforts on both ends of the floor as Bonner nailed a three and Walker fought his way to the finish around the rim. USM would battle neck and neck with the Eagles until the final few minutes of the first half when unfortunately, their efforts would simply not be enough to thwart the quick scoring of OKWU. The Spires would go into the locker room at the half down 37-46.

The second half would see the Eagles scoring three quick points off a jumper and a free throw. Brown would try his hand at another three and find success, putting his team within 9. After a few threes from Bonner and Smith and hard-fought touches in the paint from Jason Parson, and free throws from Joe Clark, the Spires found their hard work paying off as the scoreboard was an even 52-52. Regardless of the Spires outscoring OKWU in the second half, the Eagles took full advantage of points off turnovers (24 compared to USM's 11) and 34 bench points compared to the Spires 11 points off the bench ending in a Saint Mary loss and putting the conference tally at 3-6.

USM will stay home this Saturday, January 7^th when they host the Bethel College Threshers at 5:00 p.m. in what promises to be another exhilarating contest between two conference foes in the Ryan Sports Center.