Anders' first big shot came with 1:35 left in regulation as he drilled a trey from the right side to help the Gorloks tie the game with the Griffins at 59 and his second big shot came with about six seconds left in overtime as he drilled another 3-pointer on the right side that gave Webster a 75-74 lead and ultimately seal its win.
With the victory, Webster improves to 5-2 overall and opens league play with a win for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, while Fontbonne falls to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the SLIAC.
In its first of two "Battle of Big Bend" meetings this season between the two schools located within four miles of each other, Anders' two treys proved to be the difference in a game that featured nine ties and eight lead changes and saw the teams shoot a combined 25-for-47 (53.2 percent) from the free throw line.
Anders finished the night with a career high seven points, all of which came over the final two minutes of regulation and overtime.
Webster, who trailed by as much as five points with about six-plus minutes left in regulation, used an 11-6 run over a span of five-plus minutes to turn that deficit into a 59-all tie following Anders' trey. On Fontbonne's ensuing possession, Carter Otwell missed both of his free throws to keep the game tied. Anders, though, would break the tie by hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 1:16 left in regulation.
Webster's lead grew to 62-59 following a dunk by sophomore forward
Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) with 53 seconds remaining. On the Griffins' next trip down court, Luke DeLine dropped WU's lead to 62-61 on his lay-up with 41 seconds left. On the play, DeLine was fouled, but he missed the free throw. The missed free throw, though, was rebounded by FU's Gus Kleekamp. DeLine would eventually return to the line with 19 seconds left in regulation and hit just 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 62 and force overtime.
In the overtime period, Fontbonne jumped out to an 71-66 lead following two free throws by Jared Woodcock with 2:19 left. The free throws came 17 seconds after DeLine drilled a trey to give Fontbonne a 69-66 lead.
On WU's ensuing possession, Anders missed a trey, but his missed was rebounded by junior guard
Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) and Hopp scored a lay-up to drop the Griffins lead to 71-68 with 1:52 left in the extra session. Etienne would bring the Gorloks within a point following a lay-up with 1:20 left in overtime.
Hopp would give Webster the lead 73-72 with 1:06 left in overtime after he collected a steal past halfcourt and drove the floor and scored on a lay-up.
DeLine, who finished with a game high 30 points, helped Fontbonne retake the lead as he drilled a jumper with 36 seconds left. On Webster's next possession, both Hopp and sophomore forward
Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) missed shots and on Wilcox's missed shot, Woodcock drew foul and would make 1-of-2 free throws with 11 seconds left to give the Griffins a 74-72 lead and set up Anders' game winning 3-pointer.
Following Anders' trey, Woodcock had a chance to win the game for the Griffins, but his shot misfired right before the buzzer to set off a wild celebration by Webster's fans that were attendance.
Wilcox led the way offensively for the Gorloks as he tallied 13 points, had eight rebounds and blocked four shots. The four blocks pushed his career total to 78 and he is now just 10 blocks shy of Evan Milligan's school record 88 blocks.
In addition to Wilcox, junior forward
Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) and junior guard
Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) each had 12 points and Etienne added 11 points in the win. Hopp, Anders and freshman forward
Nate Dillinger (Bernie, Mo./Bernie) each had seven points. All seven of Dillinger's points came in the first half.
The Gorloks got off to a fast start in Wednesday's game as they jumped in front 7-0 in the opening two-plus minutes and led 11-6 when Fontbonne responded with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 13.
Webster, though, would answer by scoring nine of the next 14 points to take a 24-18 lead following a trey by Dillinger with 7:04 left in the opening half.
The Griffins would answer with a 14-9 run to pull within 33-32 with 48 seconds left in the half. The run began with a basket from Woodcock and was capped by a trey from Caden Clark.
Johnson would hit 1-of-2 free throws with 36 seconds left to give the Gorloks a 34-32 lead at halftime.
Webster would open the second half on a 10-6 run to push out to a 44-38 advantage with 13:07 left in regulation. The Gorloks would hold onto the lead until Fontbonne used two Woodcock free throws, a trey by DeLine and lay-up by Ian Cochran to take a 48-46 lead with 9:20 left in the regulation.
Along with DeLine's 30 points, he also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, while Woodcock added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Griffins.
Fontbonne finished the game with a 47-41 edge on the glass and committed 16 turnovers on the night that led to 17 points for the Gorloks. Webster finished with 13 turnovers.
Webster shot 42 percent from the field, but was just 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) from the 3-point line, while Fontbonne shot 43 percent from floor and was 5-for-19 (26 percent) from downtown.
The Gorloks will look to open league play 2-0 this coming Saturday, Dec. 1 as they travel to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, for a 3 p.m. SLIAC contest at Iowa Wesleyan. The Tigers opened SLIAC play with a 77-72 loss at Westminster (Mo.) College.
