Article by: Colin Gowin
It was a packed house at the Statham Center in Lebanon, Ill. on Saturday, Nov. 17 where the men’s basketball team traveled to take on NCAA Division II opponents from McKendree University. The Beavers coming off a loss to Washington University were poised to turn it around and steal a win on the road. Blackburn fell just short of taking the game as the fell to McKendree 90-88.
From the tip off, both teams ran high octane, fast paced offense and pushed the ball up and down the court. It was an even fought game which had a total of nine lead changes and a tied score nine times. “We brought great energy and focus from the start and we played for the guy next to us this time,” said head coach Steve Kollar. Blackburn out performed McKendree in several important categories; the Beavers, as a team, shot an impressive 51 percent from the field on the game, brought down 14 offensive rebounds and dished out 19 assists. What seemed to be the game changers were, Blackburn had a total of 29 personal fouls in the game which led to 33 McKendree free throws and the 16 Beaver turnovers. With three of the five Blackburn starters in foul trouble, they were forced to go to the bench for reinforcement early. “I thought everybody that touched the floor made a positive impact. We had a phenomenal bench all game long," said Kollar. The top performer off the bench was junior, Damon Goodloe who had seven points, four assists, three rebounds and one blocked shot in 16 minutes of play.
Blackburn’s top performer was junior DeAndre Manuel who erupted 26 points on 12-19 shooting, four rebounds and two assists. Junior Jake Maestranzi also had a stellar game for the Beavers scoring 16 points on 6-10 shooting, three assists and two steals. “We should be proud of our effort, but disappointed in the outcome,” said Kollar.
Blackburn will travel to Sewanee, Tenn. on Friday, Nov. 20 to play Capital University who is out of Columbus, Ohio. Tip time is scheduled for 5:00 pm. The Beavers will play another game in Sewanne on Nov. 21 at 3:00 against Sewanee University of the South.