WEBSTER GROVES - A dunk with 14 second left by sophomore forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) here Wednesday evening helped seal Webster University's 72-64 home men's basketball victory over Washington University in St. Louis in front of a raucous crowd of nearly 700 fans at Grant Gymnasium on the Webster campus. 

Etienne's dunk gave the Gorloks a 70-64 lead over the Bears, who entered the game having won six consecutive games against the Gorloks and held a 23-2 edge all-time in the series against the St. Louis Division NCAA Division III programs. After WashU's Jonathan Arenas missed two free throws with 5.9 seconds left, Webster junior guard Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) nailed two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to post the win and improve to 2-0 on the season. 

With the win, Webster opens the season 2-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 season when the Gorloks opened that season with home victories over Sewanee (67-60) and Nebraska Wesleyan (74-60). The 2010-11 squad finished the season with a 20-7 overall record. WashU falls 1-1 with the loss.

The dunk by Etienne, who was celebrating his 20th birthday on Wednesday, was part of a 15-9 run over a span of seven-plus minutes to turn a game that was tied at 55 into an eight point lead by the Gorloks. Etienne scored 10 of his 14 points during the run. 

In addition to Etienne's 14 points, junior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) led the way for Webster with 20 points and added four assists. Johnson scored 12 of his points after halftime as the Gorloks outscored the Bears, 38-26 in the second half. 

Junior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) was the third Gorlok in double figures as he finished with 13 points, had five rebounds and tied a career high with three blocks. Webster finished the night with six blocks and has now recorded at least one blocked shot in 23 consecutive games. 

Trailing 38-34 at the half, Webster opened the second half on an 11-8 run to pull within a point at 46-45 following a basket by Johnson with 13:17 left in the game. The Bears, though, would respond by scoring five straight points, including capping the run with a three-point play from Arenas to push its lead to 51-45 with 11:58 left in the game. 

WashU's lead, though, was short-lived as the Gorloks responded with an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 53-51 following a lay-up by Tankins with 9:23 remaining. Webster tied the game at 51 on a trey from sophomore guard Elijah Macias (San Antonio, Texas/Medina Valley). The trey was one of seven hit by the Gorloks on the night as they shot 53 percent from downtown in the game. 

Arenas would retie the game on two free throws with 8:59 left and after Hopp had a lay-up with 8:16 to give WU a 55-53 lead, Justin Hardy would connect on two free throws to retie the game at 55 with 7:19 left. That tie was the fifth and final tie of the game.

Jack Nolan led the way offensively for the Bears as he finished with 17 points, while Hank Hunter and Arenas each had 11 points and Marcus Meyer added 10 points and seven boards in the loss for the Bears. Hunter tallied 10 rebounds for WashU as the Bears held a 38-27 edge on the glass, including recording 12 offensive boards on the night.

It appeared early on in Wednesday's game as the Bears would run away from the Gorloks as they scored the game's first four points and held a 10 point lead of 18-8 with 12:11 left in the opening half. Nolan led the way with eight of those 18 points. 

Junior guard Blake Ferrell (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway South) stopped WashU's run with a 3-pointer to pull the Gorloks with seven at 18-11. After a free throw by DeVaughn Rucker gave WashU a 19-11 lead, the Gorloks used a 9-2 run to tie the game at 21 with 6:25 left in the half. The run was aided by treys from both Johnson and Tankins and capped by a lay-up from Etienne. 

The Bears would answer with a 17-10 run to take its 38-31 following two free throws by Hunter with 12 seconds left, but Johnson would pull WU within four at the half after drilling a trey with 1.9 seconds left to drop WashU's lead to 38-34 at the half.

After shooting 47 percent and 36 percent from the 3-point line in the first half, WashU shot just 33 percent (9-for-27) from the field and was 0-for-7 from long distance after halftime. WashU finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field and 22 percent from downtown. 

Webster shot 48 percent from the field and 54 percent from the 3-point line in the win. The Gorloks also shot 82 percent (9-for-11) from the free throw line and WashU shot just 67 percent (12-for-18) from the line. 

Sophomore forward Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) fell just short of a double-double as he scored eight points and pulled down a season high 10 rebounds and also blocked two shots to increase his career total to 63 blocks, which is fifth on the school's all-time list.

The Gorloks will have little time to savor Wednesday's win as they travel to Maryville, Tenn., this weekend to play in the Maryville Colege Classic as the Gorloks face Emory & Henry on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. CT and then will face Eastern (Pa.) University on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 12 p.m. CT.