ELSAH, IL -- The Blackburn College Men's Basketball team defeated Principia College 79-75 Saturday afternoon in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action. The win also secured the team an appearance in the SLIAC Conference Tournament.
Leading the Beavers was sophomore Darius Duff, who led the way with 24 points, including a 12-14 performance from the free throw line. Senior Izayah Talmadge added 18 points and 11 rebounds to notch his fifth double-double of the year.
Principia started the game with the first basket, but Blackburn rallied and jumped out to a 9-2 lead. Talmadge started the run by converting an and-one opportunity, making a layup and hitting the free throw. Freshman Ayden Kanallakan then hit back to back threes. The hosts answered with four points to make it 9-6 but BC responded with two free throws from sophomore Odis Grissom and two layups from Duff to move ahead 15-6 eight minutes into the game.
Sophomore Tyson Johnson aided the effort by answered three Panther free throws with a three, and senior Zach Kelsey answered a Principia three with his own from behind the arc before two Duff free throws moved the Blackburn lead to 23-12 with just over nine minutes left to go in the half. Principia fought back to narrow it to 26-22 before sophomore Cayden Paquette made a three-pointer and Duff sank three more free throws to put BC ahead 32-22 with 2:36 remaining in the first half. The hosts ended the half on a 4-0 run, but the teams entered halftime with Blackburn leading 32-28.
In the second half, BC would eventually pull ahead 56-42 with 9:30 left in the game. Principia would be able to rally and narrow the gap but clutch free throws from the Beavers helped Blackburn hold on for the 79-75 victory and gave the Beavers a spot in the conference tournament.
With the win, Blackburn improves to 9-14 on the season and 8-8 in the conference. The win also locks the team into the fifth seed of the conference tournament as they hold a three-game lead over three teams fighting for the final seed. Four teams are currently tied for first which means Blackburn likely will not know their tournament opponent until after Saturday's games.
The Beavers will conclude their regular season this week as they head to Fontbonne University Wednesday night, then host Greenville College Saturday for Senior Day. Both Fontbonne and Greenville are tied for first place in the league standings.