Men's Basketball Falls in Heartbreak

FULTON, MO -- Senior Izayah Talmadge sank two free throws with eight seconds left in the game to tie the score 69-69 at Westminster College Saturday afternoon, but the host Blue Jays were able to hit a layup and a free throw with just one second left to capture a 72-69 win in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action. 

Talmadge led the Beavers with 18 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double performance of the season. Sophomore Cayden Paquette added 13 points with senior Brody Barr scoring 12 and sophomore Darius Duff posting 11. Off the bench, sophomore Cameron Johnson tallied eight points while freshman Odis Grissom had seven. 

To start the game, Talmadge hit back to back threes to give BC an early 6-0 lead. Westminster rallied back to tie the game at 9-9, but Duff hit a layup to break the tie then Johnson sank a three and Grissom hit a layup before a Johnson layup to put Blackburn up 18-9 with 12 minutes left in the half. The host Blue Jays stormed back to tie it 18-18 and the teams then would trade leads throughout the first half. With 1:45 to go in the first half, Duff hit a jumper and Talmadge sank two free throws a minute later to give the Beavers a 39-36 into halftime. 

The second half saw Westminster pull ahead and take a 62-53 lead with eight minutes to go in the game. Barr hit a three to stop the Westminster rally and Grissom followed with a free throw and two layups to pull within 62-61 at the six minute mark. A little over a minute later, Talmadge gave BC back the lead, and after a Blue Jay score, Barr moved the game to 65-64 with four minutes to go. 

Westminster was able to score and go ahead 66-65 until a Duff layup with 1:44 gave Blackburn a 67-66 advantage. With 11 seconds to go, Westminsters Jack Fessenden hit a three to make it 69-67. Talmadge tied the score with eight seconds left by hitting two free throws, but a layup from the host's Brennan Jeffries followed by a free throw gave Westminster the 72-69 win.