As the old adage goes, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Well, both Webster and Spalding went to school in the first meeting and amply applied the knowledge to the rematch.
Neither team allowed the other’s leading scorer to get on track offensively, turning a fluid basketball game into knock down, drag out affair that played into the hands of the more physically gifted home team. The two prolific scorers combined for 54 points, including a career-high 32 from senior Ryan Turk, in the initial match-up of future conference foes. Turk was limited to seven points, while the Eagles’ leading scorer managed just three free throws in the final moments.
With both teams struggling to find its way offensively, it came down to a fast break jumper with eight seconds left that gave Spalding the lead, and the Eagles would hold on for the 47-43 victory Saturday in non-conference action.
It was the lowest scoring output since the Gorloks scored 33 points in a 31-point loss to Transylvania on November 19, 2005. Defensively, it was the lowest the Gorloks held an opponent since shackling Principia to 42 points later in the same season.
Webster was hampered by a stretch late the second half where the Gorloks didn’t convert a single basket for almost seven minutes. Yet, despite the futility a Turk lay-up with 10 seconds helped WU reclaim the lead, 43-42. Instead of calling a timeout, the Eagles raced the ball up the court, where the eight-foot, pull-up jumper was readily available for the winner.
The Gorloks had two chances to reclaim the lead but were forced into back-to-back turnovers and never got a look at the basket.
During the Gorloks’ dry spell, they were able to find open shots but didn’t manage to knock them home. While WU was searching for an answer, Spalding just chipped away at a deficit that was as high as 11 points in the second and eight points when the lid on the basket seemed to close. The Golden Eagle comeback was completed with a three-pointer from the corner with 2:20 left the game.
Neither team scored until Turk’s lay-up in the final minute. For the game, Webster managed to shoot a mere 30 percent (17-of-57) from the field, including 1-of-15 from three-point land. Take out junior Josue Whitcomb’s number, and the offensive numbers get grimmer.
Whitcomb led the way with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds, while sophomore Nick Jones pounded the glass for 12 rebounds.
Webster (10-9 overall) will look to get back into the conference tournament race and wipe from its memory the two-game slide they are currently riding, when the Gorloks travel to Fontbonne 8 p.m. Wednesday for a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference battle.
