The Blackburn College Men's Basketball Team defeated Fontbonne University to become the 2021 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament champions. The Beavers won by the score of 77-69 on April 9th, in Carlinville Illinois. Chanz Aldridge was named the SLIAC Tournament MVP. Bryson Kirby was also named to the All-Tournament Team
This is the first conference tournament championship since the 2004-2005 team.
Fontbonne grabbed an early lead thanks to a layup by Caden Clark. Blackburn would then heat up going on a 10-0 run. Blackburn would continue their run as they went up 24-13 with ten minutes left in the half. The Griffins would chip away at the lead by causing turnovers and dominating the offensive glass. Clark would add another layup to tie the game at 27-27 with 5:23 remaining in the half. After trading buckets the score would be 33-33 with 39 seconds left.
Fontbonne would grab their first lead since the 19:32 mark as Cody Mckinney drilled a three as time expired which put the Griffins up 36-33 at half.
In the first half, the Griffins dominated the glass out rebounding Blackburn 24-14 while grabbing 13 offensive rebounds. The Griffins played outstanding defense causing 13 turnovers. The Beavers shot very well in the first half as they shot 43% to the Griffins 35%. Blackburn also out-shot Fontbonne from behind the arc 38.5% to their 31%. The Beavers were led by Chanz Aldridge as he scored 14 points while shooting four of seven from the field while adding four more points from the charity stripe. He also contributed on the glass hauling down four rebounds in the first half. The SLIAC Sixth Man of the Year David Lopez, came off the bench firing as he had six points, shooting two for two from the field. He also added two steals while playing 11 minutes in the half.
Offensively, the Griffins were led by McKinney as he contributed 11 points while shooting four of six from the floor and was also three of four from three point land. The Beavers also had a hard time keeping him off the glass as he picked up three offensive rebounds and created a spark off the bench for the Griffins. Elijah Rice followed with nine points and shot four of six from the field. He also grabbed four and dished out four assists.
"We told them at halftime that they were giving up to many offensive rebounds...lightly. We guarded them very well but they still had 13 offensive rebounds. We held them to under 35% from the field and 30% from 3. "Lightly" we told them at halftime that if you keep doing that we were not going to be on the better end of that after 40 minutes." Coach Kirby when asked about halftime adjustments.
In the second half, both teams heated up as they combined for 77 points. Blackburn had a big second half out-scoring the Griffins, 44-33, while shooting 60% from the field and 43% from three. The Beavers would start the half with a corner three from Aldrige tying the game for the sixth time. McKinney would then connect on a three of his own to give Fontbonne their biggest lead of the game to make the score 55-52. The lead was short lived as Blackburn would heat up and go on a 10-0 run. Freshman Jarrius Burnett would account for six of the ten points on the Beavers run. The Griffins would then go on a mini run of their own to cut the lead to three with 5:09 left in the game. Blackburn would put the nail in the coffin by connecting on consecutive three-pointers by Aldridge and Bryson Kirby to expand the lead to 68-59 with 3:43 left in the contest. The Griffins did not go away as Noah Coddington cut the lead to four with 2:03 remaining. Blackburn would answer back with a three of their own from Kirby. Coddington would then come down and drill another three to bring the lead back to four with 59 seconds left. Aldridge would come up with a clutch layup to expand the lead back to six with 39 seconds left. After a costly turnover, Javon Stovall would finally put the Griffins away, connecting on a layup to make the final score 77-69.
"It is a blessing, all glory to God. Without this none of this is possible. I'm grateful for my teammates, without them none of this would be possible. I'm happy for myself, I have worked so hard for this. I have never been a champion in basketball before." Stovall's reaction to winning the SLIAC Championship
"I just messaged them and they are so proud of me. It has been over two and a half years and no one knows what this feels like. This means a lot to them as well. I talk to them every week and miss them so much. It is just crazy. I just love them and miss them so much. I will luckily see them in a month and cannot wait to see them again." David Lopez on what it means to be a champion for his family
Chanz Aldridge initial thoughts after the game "I do not have any words. We have been talking about this since we got back on campus. It has always been the standard, as I said in previous interviews. This is what we have been working for all year. Now that the job is done, it does not feel real."
"It is really exciting. There are alot of emotions right now. I am super excited and thankful. This is the last time we get to coach this group and a group we will always remember. Getting something like this done for me for the first time means a lot." Coach Kirby on his thoughts after his first SLIAC championship.
Aldridge led all scorers with 29 points as the conference player of the year was also named the tournament Most Valuable Player.
The Beavers finish the season with a record of 9-1.