The Saints clamped down on the defensive end and scored the final 12 points of the game as Central Christian College of the Bible defeated Union College (Neb.), 74-66, on the road Monday evening.

Central Christian (6-7) led by as many as 14 in the first half after jumping out to a 26-12 advantage with 7:12 remaining. Union (1-15) didn't go away, cutting into the deficit to make it 36-32 by halftime.

The Saints struggled shooting the ball in both halves, but a slow start to the second half allowed the Warriors to go on a 20-5 run and take an 11-point lead with 10:08 left to play.

Central Christian began chipping away at the deficit and tied the game at 66 on a layup by Josh Crawford with 1:19 remaining. A rebound on a missed Union 3-pointer on the other end led to a series of fouls, and the Saints closed out the game by making eight of their final nine attempts from the free throw line.

Crawford led the Saints with 14 points. Rodrigo Nunez scored 13 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Kedron Rollings added 11 points and Caleif Gregg had 10.

Union was led by Tanner Forde with 17 points and Daniel Orosco with 13.

Central Christian shot 36 percent from the field and 23 percent (6-for-26) from behind the arc. They were outrebounded by the hosts, 49-45, but came away with 16 steals on 24 Union turnovers.

The Saints hit the road again on Thursday when they face Midwest Christian College Conference foe Ozark Christian College at 6 p.m. in Joplin.

In perhaps their best start to a game this season, the Saints jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the opening minutes and never trailed as Central Christian College of the Bible downed Faith Baptist Bible College, 85-65, in the Midwest Christian College Conference opener on Monday night at the Ferneau Center.

Central Christian (5-5, 1-0 MCCC) held the early 11-point lead with 15:46 remaining, but allowed Faith Baptist (3-5, 0-1 MCCC) to narrow the gap to four just five minutes later. The Saints responded again with an 8-0 run midway through the second, but poor shooting in the first half led to just a 41-34 advantage at intermission.

After going just 2-for-18 from behind the arc in the first half, Central Christian continued to fire from long range in the second half. Led by Trey Black and Caleif Gregg combining to go 9-for-16 from behind the arc in the game, the Saints hit eight of their 10 3-pointers in the second half.

The Eagles got as close as 44-40 with 18:24 left to play, but a 7-0 run put the Saints back in complete control. Faith Baptist got as close as six midway through the second half, but the Saints answered once again to push their lead back up to 23 by the 2:18 mark.

Black scored a game-high 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field and 5-for-9 from behind the arc. Gregg was an efficient 9-for-12 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range to finish with 23 points.

Josh Crawford added 12 points and Kedron Rollings scored 10. The Saints recorded 15 steals and forced the Eagles into 29 turnovers.

Tanner Van Beek led Faith Baptist with 16 points and matched the team high with six rebounds.

The Saints are off for nearly three weeks until they resume play at Columbia College for an exhibition against the Cougars on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m.

Outside of a three-point deficit to start the game, the Saints led from start to finish as Central Christian College of the Bible defeated visiting Providence University College (Canada), 103-92, on Friday at the Ferneau Center.

The Saints (3-3) used a 19-5 run in the first six minutes of the game to take an 11-point advantage. They went on to hold a 47-42 advantage at halftime, then allowed the Pilots to remain within striking distance through the second half.

Up 2 with with 5:04 remaining, Central Christian went on a 15-4 run over the the next four minutes to regain control and seal their third win on the young season.

Five Saints reached double figures, led by Kedron Rollings with 24 points. Josh Crawford added another 21 points, followed by Trey Black with 18 points, Caleif Gregg with 11, and Ian Denton with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Jordan Lawson scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Pilots.

Central Christian entered the game leading NCCAA DIvision II in free throw percentage at 79.3, but sank just 10 of 24 in the game for a 41.7 percent clip.

The Saints shot 57 percent from the field and outrebounded the guests, 44-37, while forcing 19 turnovers and coming away with nine steals. Providence shot 47 percent from the field and 80 percent (16 of 20) from the free throw line.

Central Christian will have a full 10 days off for Thanksgiving break before the next game at home against Union College (Neb.) on Nov. 26. 

Four days after a combined 212 points were scored in Central Christian College of the Bible's season-opening win over St. Louis College of Pharmacy, the Saints and visiting Patriots combined for 205 in a 107-98 loss to Baptist Bible College on Tuesday.

Central Christian (1-1) was sluggish out of the gate as Baptist Bible (1-0) jumped out to a 13-5 lead just four minutes into play. The Patriots' lead swelled to as many as 18 in the first half until the Saints used a 7-0 spurt just before halftime to make it 59-48 at the break.

A back and forth affair in the second half saw the Saints get as close as two, then behind again by as many as 11. In the end, Central Christian couldn't contain the hot outside shooting of the Patriots, who sank 15 of 34 shots from behind the arc.

The Saints shot 49 percent from the field to the Patriots' 47 percent, and outrebounded their guests, 52-33. However, Central Christian went just 7-for-21 from long range and committed 23 turnovers.

"Baptist Bible came out and simply outplayed us for the first 16 minutes," Central Christian head coach Jack Defreitas said. "We weren't quite ready mentally when the game started. We recovered somewhat, but not enough to overcome what they were doing."

Jamal Clark scored 37 points to lead the Patriots, while Brendan DeRouen added 23 points and Tre Minton scored 11.

The Saints were led by Trey Black with 25 points on 11-for-18 shooting. Kedron Rollings tossed in 15 points, followed by Emmanuel Harris with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Caleif Gregg with 12 points.

The loss to Baptist Bible comes on the heels of a 107-105 win over the Eutectics last Friday. In that game, the Saints shot 59 percent from the field and 58 percent (11-for-19) from 3-point range.

Gregg led the way with 24 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the field and 6-for-6 shooting from behind the arc. Black added 22 points, while Rollings scored 20, Ian Denton added 11 and Harris another 10.

The Saints play their first road game on Saturday in Kansas City when they take on Calvary University at 4 p.m.