WEBSTER GROVES – The top-seeded and regular season St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Webster University Gorloks are set to open play on Friday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. in the semifinal round of the 2019 SLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament at Grant Gymnasium on the Webster campus against No. 4 seeded Blackburn College.

The winner of Friday's semifinal game will advance to Saturday's 7 p.m. championship game against the winner of Friday's first semifinal game that features No. 2 seeded Greenville University (17-8, 14-4 SLIAC) meeting No. 3 seeded Eureka College (11-14, 10-8 SLIAC). The Greenville-Eureka semifinal game is scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m.

Webster, who is making its league-high 19th all-time appearance in the year's SLIAC Tournament and first since 2017, enters the postseason sporting a 19-6 overall record and brought home its league best ninth regular season SLIAC title after posting a 15-3 record in league play. The Gorloks enter the tournament having won two straight games and four of its last five overall with the only loss being an 88-83 setback last Tuesday at Principia College. WU closed out the regular season with back-to-back home wins against both Greenville (128-109) on Saturday and Principia (98-92) on Monday to seal its first regular season title since they shared the title in 2014-15 with MacMurray and Spalding.

Meanwhile, Blackburn, who is the reigning SLIAC Tournament runners-up as they fell 126-119 in last year's championship game to Greenville, enters the postseason also having won two straight games to complete the regular season with a 13-12 overall record. The Beavers went 10-8 in league to finish in a three-way tie for third with Eureka and Spalding. Eureka and Blackburn, though, earned their spots in the SLIAC Tournament due a tiebreaker over Spalding. It marks the second consecutive season that the Beavers have won at least 13 games as they posted a 15-12 record a season ago.

Friday's game will mark the third meeting this season between the two schools and the 57th all-time in the series as Blackburn holds a slight 34-32 edge in the series. The two teams split their regular season meetings this season as Blackburn picked up a 96-92 win in double overtime in Carlinville, Ill., on Jan. 9, while the Gorloks returned the favor on its home court on Feb. 9 as Webster earned a hard-fought 67-62 win over the Beavers. Prior to the 67-62 win on Feb. 9, the previous three games in the series all went to overtime or double overtime. In addition, Webster is facing Blackburn in the SLIAC Tournament for just the fourth time and first since Blackburn picked up a 65-52 win over the Gorloks in the championship game of the 2005 tournament that was hosted by Webster.

Three of the four teams that played in last year's tournament at Greenville are making return trips this season, while Webster is making a return to the postseason event for the first time since 2017. The four teams in this year's tournament have made a combined 45 appearances, won a combined seven titles and have posted a combined record of 31-34. Webster has made the most appearances with 19, while Blackburn is next with 13 appearances. Blackburn has won the most titles among the four teams in this year's tournament with three, while Webster and Greenville have each won two titles and Eureka has not yet won a tournament title.

Webster comes into Friday's semifinal match-up with Blackburn with one of the top defenses in the league as the Gorloks are second in the SLIAC in scoring defense (75.6 ppg), scoring margin (+3.9) and blocks per game (4.5) and they lead the league in field goal percentage defense (42.7 percent) and three-point field goal percentage defense (31.5 percent). Webster's defense has held nine opponents under 70 points this season and allowed just 75 or more points in 11 games, all of which but five came in losses.

While its defense is one of the best in the league, Webster's offense is not too shabby as the Gorloks enter the SLIAC Tournament averaging 79.5 points per game and they lead the league in field goal percentage (48.7 percent) and is fourth in free throw percentage (70.9 percent). WU's offense has scored over 75 points in three consecutive games and 10 times in its last 15 games overall.

Leading the way for Webster is junior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton). Johnson is averaging 17.7 points per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field, 40 percent from the 3-point line and is second in the league in free throw shooting at 90 percent. Johnson, who has scored in double figures in three straight games and 20 times overall on the season, has tallied 20 or more points in seven of his last 15 games, including a career high 31 point effort on Monday against Principia.

In addition to Johnson, three other Gorloks are averaging in double figures, led by junior guard Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland). Tankins is averaging 14.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game and is shooting 48 percent from the field and has recorded nine double-doubles, including two straight double-doubles. One of those two double-doubles was just the second ever triple-double in program history as Tankins had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in last Saturday's win over Greenville.

The other two double-digit scorers are sophomore forwards Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) and Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial). Etienne, who scored a career high 40 points in Saturday's win over Greenville, is averaging 13.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 60 percent from the field, which is second in the league and he has scored in double figures in 13 of his last 16 games and 17 times overall on the season, while Wilcox is averaging 13.4 points and an SLIAC-best 10.0 boards per game and is shooting 53 percent from the field and has recorded four consecutive double-doubles and 11 on the season. Over his last 11 games, Wilcox has scored 192 points and pulled down 145 rebounds and has had nine double-doubles in those 11 game. Wilcox is also second in the league in blocked shots as he averages 2.6 per game, which is also 14th in the latest NCAA Division III statistics.

Webster is coached by Chris Bunch, who is in his 17th season at the helm of the Gorloks. In his 17 years at Webster, Bunch has compiled a 262-178 record and is 201-77 in regular season league games. He has taken home four SLIAC Coach of the Year honors and has led WU to seven regular season SLIAC titles, two SLIAC Tournament titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2011 and 2014 and has led the Gorloks to six 17-plus win seasons, including three 20 win campaigns.

Webster's opponent on Friday, Blackburn, comes into the tournament as one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the league as the Beavers lead the SLIAC in 3-point field goal percentage (39.8 percent) and are second in the league in made 3-pointers (327), steals per game (9.4) and turnovers forced (16.7). Offensively, Blackburn is averaging 82.8 points per game and is shooting 44 percent from the floor and is third in the league in free throw shooting at 73.2 percent.

Leading the way for Blackburn is junior guard Kason Hayes as he is sixth in the league in scoring with a 19.7 points per game average. Hayes, who has scored in double figures in five straight games and nine time in his last 10 games, is shooting 45 percent from the field, 43 percent from the 3-point line and 78 percent at the free throw line.

Along with Hayes, two other Beavers average in double figures as junior Raushaun Amos is averaging 12.4 points per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field and 43 percent from the 3-point line and senior guard Duncan King is averaging 12.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game and is shooting 43 percent from the floor and 42 percent from long distance.

As a team, Blackburn as the top four 3-pointer shooters in the league as sophomore guard Bryson Kirby leads the league with a 43.2 percentage from downtown. On the season, Blackburn is averaging 12.4 made treys per game.

Blackburn head coach Steve Kollar is in his fourth season with the Beavers and has compiled a 50-52 record and has led the team to two straight SLIAC tournament appearances and four straight nine win campaigns in league play and shared the Coach of the Year honor last season with Greenville's Dr. George Barber.

Webster has posted an 8-16 all-time record in the SLIAC Tournament and is making its 13th appearance in the last 14 years in the tournament this season and is also hosting the tournament for the eighth time. Webster won the tournament in both 2011 and 2014 and was the runner-up in 2005. The last time Webster advanced to the tournament was in 2017 as they earned the No. 3 and lost in the semifinals to Westminster, 75-61. In fact, the Gorloks have lost two straight games in the tournament since winning both of its tournament games in 2014 en route to winning the title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Since the tournament was reinstated by the league in 2005, Webster has compiled a 5-10 record in the tournament and has lost in the semifinals in nine of those 13 tournaments.   

Blackburn is making its 13th all-time appearance in the tournament and its second consecutive appearance. The Beavers have posted a 14-9 record in the tournament and won three championships in 1991, 1992, and 2005 and was runners-up in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2018. The 14 tournament wins are tied third most in league history, while the three titles are also third most in the league as only Westminster and Fontbonne have won more. Both Westminster and Fontbonne have each won five tournament titles.

The champion of the SLIAC Tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, which is scheduled to begin play on Friday, March 1. The NCAA will announce the 64 team field selected for this year's championship tournament on Monday, Feb. 25.