John Babb would add a touchdown in the second quarter and Joel Murphy caught a five-yard touchdown pass to cap a 23-point first half for the Wildcats.
BU was assessed a 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff due to excessive celebration, which ultimately set up the Pioneers next drive.
MNU took the ball 51-yards on four plays for a touchdown closing the BU lead to 23-13 heading into the break.
“We gave up the momentum right before the half,” said head coach Mike Grossner. “We had one of our players say something to one of their players after we scored and that totally changed the game. There was an eight minute period where we just gave up the game.”
Coming out of the break MNU took the ball 61-yards on six plays to close the gap to 23-20.
MNU recovered an onside kick following the touchdown and the momentum completely changed.
“I’m a firm believer in momentum,” Grossner added. “We outplayed those guys, but we sure didn’t outsmart them. We played very stupid at times today and that ultimately cost us the game.”
James Tillman’s touchdown following the kick, gave MNU a 26-23 advantage, but BU wasn’t finished.
Jake Morse would add another touchdown via Joel Murphy with 10:59 remaining in regulation, but MNU responded late on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Herl to Brett Houchen to close out the game.
Baker (3-3, 2-3 HAAC) travels to Avila University (0-5, 0-3 HAAC) next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Kansas City, Mo.
View box score here .
