Strong Start Not Enough
WEBSTER GROVE, MO – Blackburn College Men’s Basketball visited Webster University for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Quarterfinals and led at the half, but a strong second half from the Gorloks proved too much to overcome as the Beavers fell to Webster 59-50.
WEBSTER GROVE, MO – Blackburn College Men's Basketball visited Webster University for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Quarterfinals and led at the half, but a strong second half from the Gorloks proved too much to overcome as the Beavers fell to Webster 59-50.
Leading the way for BC was sophomore Darius Duff with 13 points and six rebounds. Senior Zach Kelsey added 10 points and two blocks. Senior Izayah Talmadge posted seven points, six rebounds, three blocks and three steals on the night while sophomore Cameron Johnson also tallied seven points.
Duff scored the first points for Blackburn, putting in two layups to answer scores by Webster before Kelsey gave BC a 7-4 lead at the 15:23 mark. Johnson soon added a layup and a three and freshman Ayden Kanallakan knocked in another three followed by a free throw from sophomore Odis Grissom moved Blackburn ahead 16-4 eight minutes into the game.
Webster stopped the 12-0 BC run with five points, but sophomore Cayden Paquette stopped the momentum with a three then Duff added a bucket and Kelsey knocked down another three to move the Beavers ahead 24-8 with seven minutes left in the half. The hosts crawled to within 24-15 but Talmadge made a layup followed by a Kelsey jumper to move Blackburn up 28-15 just under three minutes on the clock. However, the Gorloks rallied to close out the half and sent the game to halftime with BC leading 28-23.
The second half saw Webster jump out to a 41-33 advantage at the 13:30 mark. Duff soon sank two free throws but the hosts answered. Kelsey followed with a layup before sophomore Tyson Johnson made a three and Cameron Johnson sank a jumper to make it 43-42 with ten minutes to go. The teams then traded baskets but Webster still led 51-50 at the 3:08 mark. Unfortunately BC would be unable to find another score as Webster closed out the game to take the 59-51 victory.
With the defeat, the Blackburn season comes to an end but the team reached their third conference tournament in the past four seasons.