Box Score The Webster University men’s basketball team fell to Spalding University, 73-64, on February 7, at Grant Gymnasium. The Gorloks are holding onto fourth place in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference by a thread with an 8-5 record. The SLIAC post-season tournament takes the top four finishers in the conference to play for the right to advance to the NCAA III Championships, so the Gorloks want to hold onto that fourth spot.
Spalding led throughout the first half, grabbing the lead with a hot shooting hand as the Golden Eagles shot 59% (17-29), including 46% (5-11) from the three-point line. Webster was outrebounded, 22-13, for the half and wound up being beat, 43-27, on the boards for the game. Spalding led 44-35 at the half, but a 9-0 Webster run to open the half quickly tied the game at 44-44 all. The Golden Eagles went the first five and a half miinutes in the second half without scoring a point.
The teams were still tied with 12 minutes left in the second, 49-49, when a Spalding three-pointer gave them the lead for good. The Golden Eagles extended the lead quickly to 11 in the next three minutes and although the Gorloks edged to within five several times, it was the closest they would get the rest of the way. Webster shot a cool 38% for the night and were 6-21 from beyond the three-point line.
Dietrick Sooter (Pierce City HS, MO), one of five Gorlok seniors who were honored before the game, came off the bench and scored 17 points, his third highest total on the season. He was 6-10 from the floor and 5-9 from the three-point line. Jarrod Huskey (JR, Hillsboro HS, MO) led Webster with eight rebounds and added nine points.
The other seniors recognized for their careers as Gorloks included Cody Bradfisch (Jerseyville HS, IL), Derrell Lee (Radford HS, MI), Jurgen Rama (Mehlville HS, MO), and Roman Robinson (Angelo Rodriguez HS, CA). While this was originally meant to be their final regular season home game in uniform, the quintuplet will take the floor one more time at Grant, when Webster plays its make up game vs. Principia College (IL) on February 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Webster is 10-11 overall on the season. This was the fourth straight home game for the Gorloks. The Gorloks finally hit the road for a contest, at Dominican University in Chicago on February 9. Webster resumes its 'Battle of Big Bend' series with a game at Fontbonne University on February 13.
