Blackburn College men's basketball team trailed by just three points with 0:42 seconds left on the clock against SLIAC opponent Eureka on Saturday afternoon at Blackburn College, but the Red Devils would snatch the 76-73 victory as Chanz Aldridge’s (Hillside, Illinois / St. Joseph's) three-pointer to tie the game would fall short.
Blackburn, which led for over 15 minutes on the night with their largest led of the game of seven points, was once again led by senior Karson Hayes (Little Rock, Arkansas / John L McClellan) who registered 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists. He was followed offensively by freshman guard Chanz Aldridge (11) who also started his first game for the Beavers this season.
The Beavers (now 3-5) jumped out to an early lead on the Red Devils (now 2-8), going on a 6-0 run with 18:37 left in the first half before Eureka brought it back to be 6-5. Blackburn would then go on to lead 14-7 at the 14:33 mark but once again the Red Devils would fight back to take a one-point led with 13:01 minutes left in the half. Eureka would reach a 10-point lead with 4 minutes to go. The Beavers would go into halftime trailing 47-36.
In the first half, the Beavers shot a poor 35.1 percent from the floor while the Red Devils fired at an impressive 59.4 percent. From 3-point range, BC shot 33.3 percent compared to 55.6 for Eureka. Eureka led the battle on the boards 18-16 and the assist game 14-9.
Tim Marston (Murphysboro, Illinois / Murphysboro) put the first two points on the board in the second half for the Beavers with a layup assisted by Nigel Ferrell (St. Louis, Missouri / Lift for Life Academy). Eureka then built an 11 point lead with 16:28 to go in the game before Blackburn fought back to only be down 57-53 with just over 14 minutes left.
With 3:43 left to play and down nine, Blackburn would begin an 8-2 run as three-point maestro Bryson Kirby (Lincoln, Illinois / Lincoln) would hit a clutch three with 42 seconds left to bring the Beavers back within three. A foul by Jamaya Wyatt (Chicago, Illinois / Uplift) forced Alex Wiegand to shoot a free throw with two seconds left on the game. Wiegand missed the shot and BC called the timeout. With only two seconds to work with, Aldridge caught the ball, dribbled just past half court and shot the Hail Mary. The shot missed and the game concluded 76-73 to Eureka.
On the night, BC shot 38.6 percent from the floor compared to 46.2 percent for Eureka while the Red Devils outshot the Beavers from three-point range 40.0 – 31.3 percent. The rebounding game was even with 29 boards apiece whilst the Beavers lead with 10 steals to the Red Devils three.
The Beavers return to action Monday, Dec. 17 as they face Rhodes College in their first of two games at the Rhodes College Tournament in a 4 p.m. match-up.