Wichita, Kan.— The Spires pushed Friends to the final horn, but saw their season end in dramatic fashion Thursday night after a late free throw for the Falcons with five seconds remaining turned out to be the final nail in the Spires season in a 94-95 road loss in the opening round of the KCAC Championship Tournament.

It was an offensive battle from the jump and the Spires spent much of the night playing from behind after Friends used a first-quarter surge to build a 52-44 halftime lead. Bonner briefly put Saint Mary in front with a 3-pointer at 11:33 of the first quarter, but Friends responded with a series of answers, including a late bucket from Owen Evans in the closing minute of the half to stretch the margin.

USM's late surge began in earnest in the final two minutes. With the Spires trailing 92-89, Jason Parson scored a physical bucket inside at the 1:55 mark to trim the margin to three. After a Friends response, Smith buried a 3-pointer with 1:18 to play to cut the deficit to 94-92. The Spire defense stepped up and produced the stops they needed and Saint Mary refused to go away quietly.

Now, after trailing by eight at the half, the Spires rallied behind a big second-half push and 29 points from Kaeden Bonner and clawed their way back to draw even in the closing minute. Bonner calmly knocked down two free throws with 59 seconds left to tie the game at 94-94, capping a determined comeback effort. The Spires' offense began to truly find their rhythm from the perimeter, going 11-for-24 from 3-point range and 28-for-56 overall. Jordan Brown provided a significant boost with 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 5 made from deep.

Frustratingly, Friends answered on the other end, drawing a tough foul that sent Ringo Deng to the line, where he hit the go-ahead free throw for a 95-94 advantage with only five seconds remaining. The Spires still had a final chance. Out of the ensuing possession, USM worked the ball in an attempt to get a shot off from deep behind the arc but to no avail as the Falcons secured the rebound off the missed attempt and ended USM's season.

Over the full 40 minutes, Saint Mary matched Friends statistically despite the one-point margin. The Spires shot an even 50.0 percent (28-of-56) from the field and kept pace on the perimeter with 11 3-pointers to Friends' nine. USM finished with just nine turnovers and turned Friends' 12 giveaways into 17 points, helping fuel the second-half rally. The Falcons, however, held a 35-26 advantage on the glass and used that extra possession margin, along with 36 points in the paint, to stay just in front.

Bonner led the Spires with 29 points on 7-for-14 shooting, including 3-for-7 from beyond the arc and 12-for-13 at the line, while adding three assists and two steals. Brown's 21-point effort gave Saint Mary a potent back court tandem in the narrow defeat. Cam Edwards would post 17 points and 5 rebounds in his final game of the season, Damare Smith would finish with 9 points and an assist, Jason Parson tallied 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 impressive steals, Terrius Walker added an additional 5 points to his teams' tally, Tyler Holmes would claim 4 points and a steal, and Terique Suwareh would end with 2 points and 3 assists in his final game of his senior season.

Your Spire men's basketball team ended their season with an overall record of 19-10 and a KCAC record of 13-10. The Spires largest win streak took place during January 14^th through January 31^st when they knocked off fellow KCAC opponents York University, Tabor College, Ottawa University, Bethany College, #17 Friends University, and Kansas Wesleyan.