The Webster University men's team won a true basketball battle, defeating Blackburn College, 76-73, in overtime on January 13 at Grant Gymnasium. The SLIAC got its money for its Game of the Week as the two teams battled throughout regulation, but the Gorloks came out on top in the OT. Webster's Josh Johnson helped make it a happy start to a three-game home stand by going 16-16 from the free throw line, and Nigel Wilcox was a defensive force in the contest.
A three-pointer by the Beavers with 0:41 left in regulation made it a four-point Webster lead, 60-56, but Johnson (SO, St. Louis, MO/Clayton), who is fast becoming the FT King, hit a pair of free throws to make it a six point lead, 62-56. The Beavers hit another three at 0:24 to cut the lead to 62-59. A Webster tunover at 0:22 gave Blackburn a chance and the Beavers hit another three, with 5.4 seconds remaining, to tie the game at 62-62. A last chance three-point miss by Webster's Christian Crespo sent the game to overtime.
In the overtime, a ferocious block by Nigel Wilcox (FR, Alpharetta, GA/Centennial) wound up with him sinking a basket off a pass from Enrique Tankins at 3:22 to give Webster a 65-62 lead. Tankins made a layup at 1:41 to make it a five point lead at 67-62. Johnson, who helped secure a Webster win with his free throw shooting at MacMurray in Webster's previous contest, hit another pair of free throws at 1:20 to make it a seven-point lead, 69-62.
But as they did down the stretch in regulation, Blackburn responded with a three pointer to cut the lead to four, before Johnson hit yet another pair of free throws at 1:02 in OT. The relentless Beavers hit another three at 0:22 to pull back within four before Johnson did his magic again, hitting two more. Unbeleivably, Blackburn was able to hit one more three with 0:03 on the clock. Johnson once again was fouled, and once again hit both free throws, making it eight in the final 1:20, as Webster held on, 76-73.
Blackburn took a four-point lead early in the first half, but Webster would take an 11-10 lead on a Rodson Etienne (FR, West Palm Beach, FL/Royal Palm Beach) jumper at 11:33 but the Beavers went on a 12-0 run to pull in front, 24-13 at 4:34. Blackburn kept a double digit lead until Tankins (SO, Wentzville, MO/Timberland) hit a jumper at 1:04 and then gave a nifty pass to Austin Nation (FR, Oklahoma City, OK/Purcell) for a layup at 0:29 in the half and Webster entered the locker room down, 29-23.
Webster shot a chilly 9-33 (27.3%) for the half while Blackburn was shooting at a 40% (12-30) clip. The Gorloks were only 1-7 from beyond the arc while the Beavers hit 5-14. The Gorloks won the rebound battle at 25-18, including a 10-4 advantage on the offensive boards, but was offset by its cold shooting spell. Nation led Webster with five points and Davian Joseph (SR, Philadelphia, PA.Lewis & Clark CC) led with eight rebounds.
A 8-0 run early in the second half pulled Webster into a 33-33 tie at 15:54 as the score began to see-saw back and forth. Joseph had a highlight chase from behind block of a Blackburn layup attempt as Webster came back down the other end to take a 39-37 lead on an Etienne layup at 13:05. But over the next seven minutes there were five lead changes with the Gorloks up 49-48 at 6:10 on a Tankins basket.
A three-pointer by Christian Crespo (FR, Royal Palm Beach, FL/Royal Palm Beach) gave Webster a four-point lead, 54-60, at 4:28 but Blackburn answered with a three-pointer of its own to cut the lead back to one. Back to back baskets Tankins and Crespo made it a 58-53 at 2:47. Johnson hit a pair of free throws at 2:13 to give the Gorloks their largest lead of the game at seven, 60-53, and gave Webster some breathing room before the Beavers late run.
Webster tied the school record for blocked shots in a game with 11, and Wilcox' eight blocked shots is the third highest total in a single game for the Gorloks, with the record of 10 set in 1985 by the 6'11" Steve Pierson. Wilcox' 29 blocks on the season is already the 10th highest total in a single year for Webster.
Lost in the shuffle was Webster's 53-32 edge on the boards, a complete reversal of its win at MacMurray when it was outrebounded by 22. Blackburn was 13-37 from the three point line, just 35%, but most of them were timely bombs.
Johnson had a team-high 20 points and nine assists. His 16 free throws is the third highest total in a single game for Webster. He us now 45-51 (88%) at the charity strip on the season. His nine assists was the second highest total on the season for a Gorlok. Tankins had 18 points and and 10 rebounds for a double double. Wilcox also had a double double with 11 points and a team-high 15 rebounds, also a season-high for Webster. Joseph finished with 10 rebounds and chipped in with four points.
Webster is now 5-3 and tied for third in the SLIAC, and 8-7 overall. Blackburn came into the contest tied with Webster in the SLIAC but falls to 4-4 and 8-7
Webster will host Greenville College in another SLIAC showdown on January 17 at Grant. The Panthers entered the day tied for first place in the SLIAC at 5-2.
