After having won two vital district games in the last ten days, the varsity basketball team had positioned themselves to make a run at the regular-season district title and top-seed in the region tournament.
MUS had played two solid games, defeating CBHS 54-53 and Harding 66-62, and had been playing pretty good basketball headed into the tilt against league-leading ECS Tuesday night.
However, the Eagles pounded the Owls from the outset and cruised to a 53-33 victory to maintain its district lead.
MUS began their two-game streak with a one-point road win against CBHS, their 15th win out of the last 17 games in the series.
Ryan Baum led the Owls in scoring with 23, while Philip Blackett added 8 points. However, this see-saw affair was not decided until a Baum basket in the final 10 seconds off of an inbounds pass from John Phillips.
MUS continued their good play last Friday night on Homecoming against Harding.
The Owls jumped on the Lions early and maintained a 27-14 halftime lead on 52.4% shooting in the first half. Yet Harding fought back in the second half as they turned up the defensive pressure and began to turn the Owls over more frequently.
The Lions finally pulled even and forced overtime.
With a standing, cheering crowd packed into the Ross M. Lynn, the Owls were in trouble in the first overtime. But a Baum three-pointer in the last seconds saved MUS and sent the game to a second overtime period.
After not having decided the game in a second extra period, the game went to a third overtime, and the Owls eventually prevailed. Baum finished with a season-high 32 points and added 11 rebounds, while Blackett and Philip Reed each added 10 points. The win moved MUS within one game of league-leading ECS.
However, the Owls could not take advantage of their position against the Eagles.
ECS made 10 of their 11 second-quarter shots to put the game out of reach. The Owls never threatened after having fallen behind at the break 36-15.
MUS shot only 27% from the field for the game, and 14 turnovers hurt as well. Baum tallied 18 points, but the Owls never got any offensive flow, taking quick, bad shots and not getting any offense off of their defense. The loss moved the Owls to 14-10, 4-4 in league play.
MUS has an opportunity to redeem themselves this Friday night at Briarcrest. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.