Blackburn College junior guard Karson Hayes scored 23 points and Duncan King  added 18, leading Blackburn over Elmhurst College, 81-77 on Tuesday night in Elmhurst.  

It marks the second consecutive victory over the Bluejays for Blackburn.

Both Hayes and King were the only Beavers scoring in double digits as teammates Nigel Ferrell and Jamaya Wyatt would contribute with seven points, five assists, four rebounds, and seven points, five rebounds, and two blocks, respectively.

Jake Rhode scored 21 points to lead Elmhurst. Lavon Thomas added 18 off the bench for the Bluejays.

Blackburn was just 23 of 61 (37.7 percent) from the floor; however, their impressive 17 of 36 (47.2 percent) from three-point range helped significantly as they made ten more three-point field goals than the Bluejays. The Beavers had 12 turnovers, while Elmhurst had 18. Blackburn turned those Elmhurst mistakes into 20 points, while the Bluejays scored only 10 points off of Blackburn’s 12 miscues.

Elmhurst hit 30 of 60 (50.0 percent) from the floor, making a decent 7 of 17 (41.2 percent) from behind the arc. A big story of the game was the Beavers success at the foul line where Blackburn was 18 of 20 to hold a 90 percent measure. 

After making it 41-40 at the half, both teams kept trying to pull away throughout the second half only to be matched point for point by the other. With 8:29 left in the game the Beavers would go on a 15-5 run ignited by a 3-point shot from Junior Forward Bastien Seiller.  King was 4 of 8 from the field while Hayes was 6 of 11 with six rebounds.

Up Next: The Beavers play Wednesday night, Nov. 28, when they play in their first conference matchup against a talented MacMurray College team at their home floor in a 7:30 p.m. matchup.