CARLINVILLE, IL – Blackburn College Men's Basketball captured victory in their home opener by defeating Knox College 67-59.
The Beavers featured five players in double figures, led by sophomore Darius Duff's 15 points. Seniors Brody Barr and Izayah Talmadge added 13 points each, with Talmadge also grabbing a team best seven rebounds. Sophomore Cayden Paquette and freshman Ayden Kanallakan both tallied 11 points.
Sophomore Tyson Johnson finished the game with seven assists. Senior Zach Kelsey and Kanallakan both posted six rebounds as well.
Defensively, BC kept Knox to just 18% from behind the three-point line.
The game opened with the Prairie Fire jumping out to a 10-0 lead before sophomore Cameron Johnson got the Beavers on the board with a jumper at the 16:25 mark. With 11:10 left in the half, Blackburn called timeout while facing a 15-5 deficit but Knox was able to come out of the time out and push ahead to 19-7 with 7:33 on the clock. Duff answered with a layup and Paquette knocked in a three and followed a Knox bucket with another three to make the score 21-15 to force a Knox timeout with a little over five minutes left in the first half.
The teams continued to trade baskets throughout the rest of the half and saw the teams enter halftime with 30-27 Knox advantage.
In the second half, Talmadge got things started with a layup but the teams continued to trade scores until a Barr three from Johnson gave BC their first lead of the game, 39-38 with 14:03 on the clock. A Duff layup then came before a Knox jumper, but another Barr three followed by a three from Kanallakan gave the Beavers a 49-40 lead midway through the final half. The guests managed to pull within 52-49 at the 6:49 mark, but another Barr triple to answer proved too much for Knox to overcome. Duff and Kanallakan combined for a jumper and a three, and then Duff sank two free throws and Talmadge sank five free throws, while the defense allowed just ten more points to give Blackburn the 67-59 victory.
Blackburn improves to 1-3 on the season and will head to McKendree University Saturday for an exhibition game against the NCAA Division II Bearcats.