The Beavers are on the road this weekend for a four team tournament at Illinois College. The tournament features Central College, Blackburn College, Illinois College, and Dominican University. The Beavers started off the Bill Merris Tournament with Central College on Friday, November 12th. The Beavers fell to Central College 63-59.
The Beavers struggled in the first half as they were held to 26 points. Blackburn shot 29 percent from the floor and eight percent from three. Blackburn did have something positive to take away in the first half causing seven turnovers and grabbing six offensive rebounds. Javon Stovall scored eight and dished out three assists in the first half to lead the Beavers. Elliot Harrison scored six points, as he was perfect from the floor and grabbed two rebounds.
With all that being said, the Beavers played much better in the second half. In the second half, the Beavers came out with much more intensity on the defensive end. They forced Central to 10 turnovers while holding them to 34% from the field and 30% from three. This defensive effort led to Blackburn getting back into the game. After a lay-up by Stovall, Blackburn was within five points. The Beavers kept up the great defense and caused another stop which led to a three from Jarrius Burnett. The score was 45-43 with 13:08 left. The Dutch regained the momentum with a few stops increasing the lead to seven with 12:25 left. The Beavers kept the score close as both teams kept trading baskets. With 7:20 left, the score was 52-50 Central College. After a few minutes of slow and sloppy basketball, Central started to run away leading 58-52 with 2:29 left. Payton Krager brought the game within three after a tough lay-up. Beavers trailed 59-56 with 1:40 left. After another Dutch turnover, Stovall scored a lay-up to cut the lead to one with 1:25 left. With 26.8 left on the clock, Central extended the lead to 63-58 converting the two free throws. Next possession for Blackburn, Krager would hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to four with 16.8 seconds left. That would end up being the final score of the game.
The leading scorer for the Beavers was Javon Stovall who put up 18 points on 6 of 18 shooting. Harrison played an overall very solid game as he scored eight points and racked up seven rebounds as well. Additionally, he defended the rim very well as he denied five shots. Bryson Kirby also added to the block party with four blocks of his own. Stovall also added to the Beavers defensive stats with an impressive six steals.
Blackburn will be back in action tomorrow, Saturday, November 13th at Illinois College to play the winner of Illinois College and Dominican University.