The last time that Blackburn played against Westminster, the game went down to the final seconds in overtime. This afternoon, the story was no different. The Beavers hosted Westminster for the first game of the second half of conference play, and won in overtime by a final score of 86-84. The game quite literally was determined in the final seconds.

1^st Half: Blackburn played a slow first half. The Beavers were not shooting at the top of their game, and as a result, Westminster was able to jump out to an extended lead late into the first half. With 5:11 left in the first half, Westminster went on a 7-0 scoring run, and with 2:17 in the first half, Westminster had taken their biggest lead of the game with a 12 point advantage over Blackburn. The Beavers were shooting cold, with critical shots being missed inside the paint. With specific players being in foul trouble, the Beavers headed into halftime down 44-34. The second half would prove to be one of the craziest halves of basketball played by the Beavers this season.

2^nd Half: The Beavers needed to close the gap against Westminster, and did so slowly but surely throughout the second half. Trailing by ten out of the locker room, the Beavers immediately shortened the Blue Jays’ lead to five, with Izayah Talmadge beginning to execute inside the paint for Blackburn. Talmadge carried the Beavers inside the paint throughout the half, scoring several contest layups and finishing strong with each attempt. Chanz Aldridge was cold to start the game, but came up in clutch for the Beavers during the second half. He was able to best the Westminster defense with a couple of floaters that found the net at crucial moments in the game. As the Beavers continued to cut down the lead, Tyson Johnson intercepted a full court pass that would have given the ball back to the Beavers and given them a chance to retake the lead. A foul was called on Johnson, however before the ball could be inbounded, two ejections were made due to players stepping on the court during live play. Cayden Paquette for Blackburn and Brysan Jeffries for Westminster were both required to exit the gym with 3:08 left in the game.

As the game started to come to a close, the Beavers were leading 73-71. After a foul committed by the Beavers, Westminster knocked down two free throws to tie the game at 73, which led to overtime.

Overtime: The Beavers won the game in overtime within the last ten seconds. After exchanging shots with each other, Westminster took the lead on a mid-range jump shot, and the score was 84-83 with 24 seconds left. Chanz Aldridge did what he does best and ran the clock down to just under seven seconds left, then drove through the Westminster defense and laid the ball in with ease to take the lead for the Beavers. Westminster inbounded the ball, but the Beavers forced a turnover with under a second left on the clock, and forced the Blue Jays to foul them. Izayah Talmadge knocked down the first of his free throws to give the Beavers an 86-84 lead with three tenths of a second left on the clock, and Westminster simply had no time to score as they were out of timeouts. The Beavers left the court victorious.

Chanz Aldridge and Izayah Talmadge each finished with over 20 points. Talmadge scored 24, and Aldridge had 21. Troy Cole Jr. and Cameron Johnson also finished with double-digit points. Cole Jr. scored eleven and Johnson had twelve. Tyson Johnson added eight of his own to help the Beavers win.

Blackburn shot 31-56 on field goals, and 10-21 on threes. They have a brief break before their next game against Eureka, which will be a crucial game for the Beavers in playoff implications. The game will be played at Eureka College on Wednesday, February 1^st. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. following the women’s game.