The Blackburn Beavers came from behind to win over the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers in the 2021 SLIAC Men's Basketball Semi-Final Tournament game. The Beavers won by a final score of 61-59.
The Tigers started scoring early thanks to a pair of buckets from Carver Locke. Locke led the Tigers with 19 points, going 7-14 from the field and 2-4 on three-pointers. He also finished with a double double, collecting 14 rebounds in the game.
The Beavers struck back with Jarrius Burnett knocking down multiple three-pointers early on to give his team momentum. The first half started to slow down for both teams as multiple fouls continued to stop play towards the end of the half. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, the Beavers found themselves down 33-30. Burnett was leading the Beavers in points with eleven. Chanz Aldridge had seven, and Javon Stovall had four.
Beavers head coach Austin Kirby took the halftime break to reinstate confidence in his players, reminding them of their last matchup with Iowa Wesleyan, when the Beavers won by one point. Knowing what was at stake in the tournament, the Beavers took the floor for an exhilarating second half.
Iowa Wesleyan continued to stretch their lead through the beginning of the half, thanks to stellar defense from Locke. Kaleb Cresswell was able to knock down a three pointer that forced a timeout from Blackburn. Cresswell finished shooting 5-15 on field goals, and 2-8 on three-pointers. He also tallied three assists, as well as a steal.
When there was 7:41 left in the game, Blackburn was down 49-45. After another clutch shot from Carver Locke, the Beavers found themselves down 51-45. After a layup from Javon Stovall, followed by a missed free throw, the score was 53-47 with 4:15 left in the game. Bryson Kirby took charge and nailed a three-pointer that made the score 53-50 with 3:45 left in the game. He stayed hot by knocking down yet another three-pointer with 3:00 left, making the score 53-53. After a foul by Blackburn, and a missed free throw from Iowa Wesleyan, Chanz Aldridge went for a layup that resulted in a goaltending call against Iowa Wesleyan. This made the score 55-54 Blackburn leading, with only 1:45 left. Aldridge stayed hot as he nailed a clutch jumpshot with only 1:30 left in the game that put Blackburn on top 57-56.
Stovall drained another clutch shot as he extended Blackburn's lead to 59 with only 45 seconds left. After a layup from Kresswell, the score was 59-58. With under 30 seconds left, Christian Wagner scored his only points of the game by draining a jumpshot that gave Blackburn a three point lead at 61-58. The Beavers fouled to force free throws, and after a missed free throw followed by a deadball rebound by the Tigers with 3 seconds left, a prayer three-pointer from Jett Tjaden off the inbound pass was no good, securing the win for Blackburn.
Javon Stovall finished with eleven points, while Bryson Kirby finished with twelve. Aldridge had thirteen, and Jarrius Burnett finished with eleven. Christian Wagner obtained ten rebounds, with two assists and a block. Burnett was able to block two shots himself. As a team, Blackburn shot 23-55 on field goals, 11-30 on three-pointers, and 4-10 on free throws. The team had 35 rebounds, 15 assists, three blocks and six steals.
Iowa Wesleyan shot 21-55 on field goals, 7-26 on three-pointers, and 10-16 on free throws. The Tigers had 39 rebounds, twelve assists, and five steals.
Blackburn advances to the 2021 SLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament Final, where they will take on Fontbonne University for the championship. The game will be played on Saturday, April 10th at Blackburn College. Tip off is set for 1 p.m.