GREENVILLE, Ill. - Whenever you face off against Greenville University in men's basketball a revision of the school record books is normally necessary and after Wednesday night's performance, Webster University will need to update its record book following its 130-122 upset victory over the Panthers in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Game of the Week at H..L Long Gymnasium on the Greenville campus. 

In Wednesday's game, Webster set a new school record for assists with 42 and came within one point of the school record for combined points as the two teams tallied a total of 252 points and came within four points of the school record for single game points as Webster scored a season high 130 points. 

With the win, Webster improves to 11-4 overall and moves into a tie for first place in the league standings with a 7-1 record, while Greenville had its eight game win streak snapped as they are now 10-5 overall and 7-1 in the league. In addition, Webster improved to 5-2 against Greenville since the Panthers adopted the Grinnell system in 2015.

The 130 points scored by the Gorloks were the most in the game for Webster since scoring 133 points on Nov. 30, 2016, while the 42 assists bettered the old school record of 39, which was also set against Greenville in that same game in 2016. The 42 assists was also a SLIAC record as the previous record was 40 assists by Fontbonne against Greenville on Dec. 16, 2017. 

All nine of the Gorloks that played in Wednesday's game had at least one assist as junior guard Jordan Clay (St. Louis, Mo./Blackburn College) finished with a career high nine assists, while sophomore forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) and sophomore Elijah Macias (San Antonio, Texas/Medina Valley) each had six assists. 

In the game, Webster hit a season high 52 field goals and did not hit a 3-pointer for just the second time this season and shot a season high 62 percent from the field, which is sixth-best in a game in school history. The 52 field goals was four short of the school record of 56 made field goals, which came against Greenville on Dec. 2, 2015. In fact, the top seven made field goal performances in Webster history have all come against Greenville. 

Sophomore forward Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) and Etienne combined to make 32 of those 53 field goals as Wilcox finished the game with 17 field goals and tallied a career high 34 points and added 16 rebounds for his team-best fifth double-double, while Etienne made 15 field goals and scored a career high 31 points. It marked the first time in school history that Webster has two players tally 30 or more points in a game. 

In addition to Wilcox and Etienne, junior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) finished with 18 points, including a 10-for-10 effort at the free throw line, while junior guard Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) tied a career high with 15 points and junior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. 

Webster led for nearly 30 minutes in Wednesday's game as they took the lead for good in the final 21 seconds of the first half on two free throws by Johnson. Johnson's two free throws gave the Gorloks a 61-59 lead at the half. Johnson's two free throws came 12 seconds after Johari Dix tied the game for the seventh and final time.

In the first half, Webster shot 67 percent from the field, but was just 9-for-17 (53 percent) at the free throw line and was paced by a combined 31 points from Etienne (17) and Wilcox (14). The Panthers shot just 40 percent from the floor and 32 percent (8-for-25) from the 3-point line. 

After Greenville's Eric Williams hit 1-for-2 free throws just 84 seconds into the second half to pull the Panthers within three at 65-62, the Gorloks would respond with an 18-11 run to push its lead to 83-73 with 13:42 left in the game. The run began with a dunk by Wilcox and was capped by a lay-up from Etienne. During the run, Wilcox scored six of WU's points and tallied 20 points after halftime. 

Greenville would make another push as they scored eight fo the next 14 points to drop WU's lead to 89-81 with 12:15 remaining in the game. That run by the Panthers seemed to ignite the Gorloks as they responded with a 10-0 run that began with two free throws from Hopp and was capped by two free throws from junior guard Blake Ferrell (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South) with 11:09 left to give WU a 99-81 lead. The 18 point lead was the largest of the game for either team.

The Panthers wouldn't go away as they chipped away at the Gorloks lead as they used an 16-4 run to pull within 103-97 following a lay-up by Williams with 7:48 left in the contest. The Gorloks would reach the century mark on a dunk by Wilcox with 9:40 left in the game. 

Greenville, though, would get no closer as they used a 12-5 run over a span of nearly three minutes to push its lead to 115-102 with 4:49 remaining. WU's run was capped by six straight points from Wilcox. 

Following an 8-3 run by the Panthers that dropped WU's lead to 118-110 with 3:06 left in the game, eight straight points by the Gorloks would push WU's lead to 126-110 with 1:18 remaining and all but seal the victory. Greenville would close the game by outscoring the Gorloks 12-4 over the final 40 seconds of the game to set the final margin at eight points. 

Williams paced Greenville in Wednesday's game with 26 points, while Johari Dix added 22 points in the loss. Four other Panthers finished in double figures as Isiah Price had 15 points, while Rakim Murphy added 14 points and Kodi Badger and Marvin Bateman each chipped in with 12 points. 

Greenville finished the game with 46 made field goals as they shot 38 percent from the field and hit just 14 of its 50 3-point shot attempts as the Panthers shot 28 percent from downtown for the game. 

Webster held a 64-53 edge on the glass, but lost the turnover battle as they committed 31 turnovers that led to 36 points for the Panthers. Greenville had 19 turnovers on the night. 

The game was also marred by a combined 50 fouls being whistled, along with a total of five technical fouls, including three by the Panthers. 

For the night, both teams struggled at the free throw line as Webster went 26-for-40 (65 percent) at the line and Greenville went 16-for-27 (59 percent) at the charity stripe. The 40 free throws attempts were a season high for the Gorloks.   

The Gorloks will return to action this coming Saturday, Jan. 19 as they host Fontbonne in a 3 p.m. SLIAC contest at Grant Gymnasium. The Gorloks earned a 75-74 win in overtime over the Griffins at Fontbonne in its SLIAC opener on Nov. 28.