Beavers Bounce Back against Blue Jays

Beavers Bounce Back against Blue Jays

On January 17, the Blackburn College Men's Basketball team faced the Westminster College Blue Jays in a conference match up at Blackburn College.  With the Beavers coming off of back to back overtime losses last week, they looked to turn a new corner this week and it all started on a cold Wednesday night in Carlinville, IL.  Coming into the game the Beavers were sitting in a solo seventh place in the conference standing while the Blue Jays sat in third place in the standings.  That did not discourage the Beavers as they came out ready to defend their home court and defend they did.  They Beavers outpaced the Blue Jays by a final score of 65-57.  

Blackburn came out of the gates to a slow start, by allowing the Blue Jays to score the first five points of the game.  Two quick threes by Blackburn point guard Duncan King jump started the Beavers and it was off the races.  At halftime, Blackburn led by a score of 31-23. In the second half, the Beavers led by as many as 16, until the Blue Jays were able to cut into the lead.  However the lead was too large for the Blue Jays as Blackburn came out on top with a final score of 65-57.   In a high pressure defensive game, both teams found it challenging to find the bottom of the basket.  With Blackburn's tough and aggressive defense and Westminster smart and high on ball pressure both teams battled back and forth throughout the game with steals and turnovers.  A total of 36 turnovers were committed by both teams altogether.  

Leading the way for the Beavers in points was Duncan King, who tallied 17 points.  Malcolm Scott led the team in rebounding with eight and King also led the Beavers in assists with 4.  The Beavers grabbed a total of 41 team rebounds and committed 20 turnovers a team.

Leading the way for the Blue Jays was Stu Hollandsworth who scored 18 total points in the contest.  Carter Wands and Cody Shaw led the team in rebounds with five apiece.  Wands also led the team in assists with three.  The Blue Jays tallied 29 total rebounds as a team and committed 16 turnovers as a team.

Looking ahead, the Beavers travel to Jacksonville on Saturday, January 21st to take on the MacMurray College Highlanders in a crucial conference rivalry game.  The game is set to tip off a 3 pm.