CARLINVILLE, IL – It took two overtimes but the Blackburn College Men's Basketball team defeated new St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member Lyon College 91-88 in a conference matchup.
Senior Izayah Talmadge collected his second straight double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Beavers. Sophomore Darius Duff added 19 points and grabbed six offensive rebounds while senior Zach Kelsey chipped in with 15 points. Sophomore Tyson Johnson tallied 13 points.
The Beavers jumped out to an 8-1 lead to start the game. Johnson got the game underway with a three, then Duff hit a jumper to answer a Lyon free throw before Talmadge made his first three of the day to give BC the 8-1 lead three minutes into the game. However, the guests responded with a 15-2 rally to move ahead 16-10. Duff stopped the rally with a layup before Kelsey's first three moved the to 16-15.
Lyon managed to pull ahead 30-20 until Duff made another layup. The Scots responded with a layup of their own which Kelsey answered with another three. Senior Brody Barr scored in the paint with a dunk to make it 32-27 with a minute left. Unfortunately, Lyon scored with thirty seconds to go in the half and claimed a 34-27 lead going into halftime.
The second half saw the teams trade baskets for the first ten minutes, with Lyon pulling ahead 55-46 at the 10:16 mark. Kelsey then hit a three followed by a layup and three free throws from freshman Odis Grissom to narrow the gap to 55-54 with 7:21 left. After a Lyon three, Duff hit another layup before Barr hit a three to give Blackburn a 59-58 lead.
However, the Scots answered with a layup. Sophomore Cameron Johnson then gave BC back the lead with a layup, and then answered a Lyon basket with a jumper to move Blackburn ahead 63-62 with three minute to go. After a Scot basket, Duff hit to free throws and a layup and the Beavers were ahead 67-64 with 1:48 to go.
The Scots managed to take a lead but Talmadge hit a jumper and sank the and-one free with 35 seconds left in regulation to give Blackburn a 70-68 lead. Unfortunately, Lyon managed to score with 16 seconds to go to send the game to overtime.
In the first extra period, Talmadge hit two threes around a Lyon basket and free throw. With the score 76-72, Lyon scored but Talmadge made two free throws to make it 78-74 with just 25 seconds to go. Lyon answered with a layup, then sank two free throws with 11 seconds left to tie the game at 78-78. Duff was unsuccessful at the end of the clock and the game went into a second overtime.
Duff got the second overtime started with a layup, then answered a Lyon dunk with another layup before Tyson Johnson scored to make the game 84-81. Lyon responded with a jumper. With 57 seconds on the clock, Kelsey dunked to move it to 86-83 then Duff sank two free throws with 32 seconds remaining to give BC an 88-83 lead.
Lyon narrowed the gap with a layup before Barr made a free throw. On the next possession by the Scots, the visitors hit a three with 19 seconds left, making the score 89-88.
Talmadge was fouled and made two free throws with 11 seconds to go. With two seconds remaining, the Lyon three pointer rimmed out as and Blackburn captured the 91-88 victory.
With the win, the Beavers improved to 8-13 on the year and are now 7-6 in the league while Lyon falls to 13-7 overall and 10-4 in the conference. Blackburn returns to action Wednesday as they visit Webster University in another SLIAC matchup.