The Blackburn Men's Basketball team grabbed their second conference win in a row on Saturday January 23rd. The Beavers faced off against the Fontbonne University Griffins and found themselves winning by a score of 80-77. In an action packed game that started out as what would seem to be a blowout, the Griffins would not give up. The Griffins fought their way back from a 14 point defcit to bring the game as close as 3 points coming down the stretch. However, the balanced attack from the Beavers allowed Blackburn to come out on the winning end.
The Beavers were led by DeAndre Manuel, who tallied a team high 17 points. Also, scoring in double figures for the Beavers was Chris Davis with 15, Willie Orange with 12, and Jake Maestranzi and Jamie Moore added 10 points apiece. Leading the Beavers in rebounds was Chris Davis with 10 boards. Maestranzi and Manuel both each added 6 assists. As a team the Beavers shot 41.3% from the field on 31-75 shooting. The Beavers shot 50.0% from 3 point land cashing in on 11 three pointers. The Beavers shot 63.6% from the line making 7-11 free throw attempts. The Beavers as a team grabbed 44 rebounds and dished out 23 assists.
The Griffins were led by Kody Ettinger who came off the bench to keep the Griffins in the game by tallying a game high 22 points on 7-9 shooting and sinking 3, 3 pointers. Also scoring in double figures for the Griffins was Jared Greenlee who had 15 points, and Richard Dorhauer who had 12 points. Leading the Griffins in rebounds was Jared Greenlee who had 7 boards; Greenlee also led the team in assists with 5 assists. The Griffins shot 46.8% from the field on 29-62 shooting, and grabbed 34 team rebounds and dished out 13 assists as a team.
The Beavers look to continue their conference win streak by traveling to MacMurry on Wednesday, January 27th to take on the Highlanders with an 8 pm tip off time.