The Blackburn College Men's Basketball Team will host Iowa Wesleyan University in a semi-final of the 2021 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. The Beavers, regular season champions with a 6-1 conference record and 7-1 overall will take on the Tigers, 3-6 and 5-9 on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Blackburn defeated Iowa Wesleyan twice in the regular season 81-61 in Carlinville on February 27 as Javon Stovall scored 21 points and Chanz Aldridge added 18.  The trip to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa ten days ago resulted in a 77-76 Blackburn victory as Aldridge scored a career-high 38 points.

"We are very excited to be the number one seed and have home court advantage in the tournament," said Blackburn Head Coach Austin Kirby.  "Our goal is to play our unselfish brand of basketball and protect our home floor.  We love our group and couldn't be more proud of the position they have put themselves in," added Kirby.

Iowa Wesleyan went on the road and upset Webster on Tuesday night in a game that was never close. Jarryd Fernandez had 23 points for the Tigers.

The Beavers lead the all-time SLIAC series 11-5 and have won seven straight.  Throw those numbers out the door as the Tigers are playing well late in the season.  Unfortunately what would be a raucous environment in the Dawes Gymnasium will be different as there will not be fans per COVID 19 restrictions.