Slow Start Costs Blackburn

Slow Start Costs Blackburn

From the tip of the 3pm contest between Westminster and Blackburn, Westminster made a point to come out strong. "Westminster played harder from the start," said Blackburn head coach Steve Kollar. As the game flow continued, Westminster was able to control the tempo and offensive glass by forcing Blackburn into turning the ball over while they controlled the offensive glass as well. Those offensive rebounds contributed to multiple easy put backs as they were able to climb out to an early lead. "The key factor was offensive rebounds. That's way too many in a game let alone a half," stated Coach Kollar. Foul trouble early meant Blackburn played a majority of the first half without one of their leading scorers, DeAndre Manual. Coach Kollar emphasized that while DeAndre is a great player, in that situation the team needs to step up. "DeAndre missing affects us. He's a great player that contributes in many categories for us. When that happens, we must step up collectively as a group and play through it."

At half, Westminster had a 7-point lead and controlled every major category on the stat sheet. As the second half started, Westminster was able to find open looks on the perimeter as they knocked down three pointers at a 58.8% clip for the game. Coach Kollar mentions how while even though Westminster knocked down shots, they weren't easy. "Defensively, credit to them. I thought they didn't have many open looks but when they did they cashed in on them. They took a lot of contested jumpers which is what we want them to shoot."
Westminster's lead grew to double digits around the 8-minute mark in the second half. After reaching a 20-point deficit, Blackburn had a little comeback left in them. A full court press helped Blackburn as they trimmed the lead down to 9 with under a minute left. "I'm proud of the way our guys fought," said Coach Kollar. We kept making plays and we will be ready for Wednesday."
 

Blackburn returns to action Wednesday night at home against first place Iowa Wesleyan. Tip off is at 8pm.