WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University outscored Iowa Wesleyan 46-27 in the first half here Wednesday evening en route to collecting a 77-49 victory over the Tigers in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Grant Gymnasium. 

With the victory, which came on head coach Chris Bunch's birthday, Webster improves to 13-4 overall and remains in first place in the SLIAC standings with a 9-1 record. The win also extended Webster's home court win streak to five straight games overall and eight straight in SLIAC play. Iowa Wesleyan fell to 5-13 overall and 3-8 in the SLIAC.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Wednesday's win as the Gorloks won without the services of junior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton). Johnson, who is the Gorloks leading scorer on the season at 18.8 points per game, sat out the game as he was battling a case of pneumonia.  With Johnson not in the line-up, Bunch adjusted his starting line-up as he started sophomore guard Elijah Macias (San Antonio, Texas/Medina Valley) in Johnson's place. The start by Macias was the first of collegiate career. 

Macias responded by scoring all 11 of his season high points in the first half as Webster shot 60 percent from the field and 67 percent from the 3-point line to hold a season high 19 point lead at the half.

In the opening half, Webster scored the game's first four points and used a 19-6 run over a span of nearly eight minutes to turn a 10-8 lead into a 29-14 lead. The run began with a basket by Macias and was capped by a fast break lay-up by junior guard Blake Ferrell (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South). Macias and junior guard Jordan Clay (St. Louis, Mo./Blackburn College) combined for nine of the Gorloks' 19 points. 

After the Tigers used a quick 9-2 run to cut WU's lead to 31-23, Webster would answer with a 15-2 run to push in front 46-25 following a lay-up by sophomore forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) with 1:17 left in the half. Jake Neubauer would complete the scoring in the half as his basket with 58 seconds left cut WU's halftime lead to 46-27. 

Etienne, who was named this week's SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week, had his two game streak of scoring 30 or more points snapped as he finished with 12 in the win. 

The closing first half run by the Gorloks was aided a combined nine points from from Macias and junior guard Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland). Tankins led the way offensively for the Gorloks with a game high 23 points and added nine rebounds.

In addition to Tankins, Etienne and sophomore forward Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) each added 12 points. Wilcox also added 15 rebounds for his team leading seven double-double of the season and also blocked four shots. 

Webster opened the second half on an 11-2 run to push its lead to 57-29 just six minutes into the period. Tankins scored seven of WU's 11 points during the run. IWU, though, used an 8-4 run to pull within 61-37 with 11:13 left in the game. 

Tankins would score five straight points to push WU's lead to 66-37 with 8:44 left in the game. The 29 point lead was the largest of the game for the Gorloks. 

IWU would answer right back with back-to-back treys from Neubauer and Alberto Torres to drop WU's lead to 66-43 with 7:34 left in the game. That would be as close as the Tigers would get as the Gorloks scored 11 of the final 17 points, including sophomore guard/forward Marvin Saintolien (North Miami, Fla./North Miami) and freshman guard Clayton Eck (Cobden, Ill./Cobden) combining to score six of WU's final seven points. The basket by Eck was his first two points of his collegiate career as he was playing in his first career game, while Saintolien's four points were a season high.  

Wednesday's game also featured the debut of senior forward Vladimir Radojkovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Lindenwood-Belleville), who played the final three minutes of the game and collected one rebound and was 0-for-3 from the field, including going 0-for-1 from the 3-point line. 

Webster finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line, while IWU shot 29 percent from the floor and 27 percent from long distance. 

The Gorloks held a 53-36 edge on the boards and also blocked six shots and had 23 assists on 35 made baskets. Eteinne led the way with five assists, while junior guard Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) had four. 

Webster will look to make its four straight wins this coming Saturday, Jan. 26 as the Gorloks travel to Jacksonville, Ill., for a 3 p.m. SLIAC game at MacMurray College. The Gorloks earned a 79-63 win over the Highlanders at Grant Gymnasium earlier this season.