LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Webster University sprinted out to a 53-30 lead at the half and cruised from that point as the Gorloks posted a 91-73 road victory here Saturday afternoon over Spalding University in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball action at Columbia Gym on the Spalding campus.

With the win, Webster improves to 9-8 overall and remains in first place in the SLIAC with an 8-2 record, while Spalding falls to 3-14 overall and 3-7 in the league. The Gorloks entered the game sitting in a tie for first place in the league standings with Greenville, but the Panthers suffered a 131-126 loss on Saturday at Westminster and is now one game behind Webster heading into Wednesday night's 7:30 p.m. showdown at Grant Gymnasium. 

The 23 point halftime lead is the largest of the season and 53 points in the first half were a season high and the second most points scored by the Gorloks in a half this season as Webster scored 60 points in its 98-97 loss at Greenville on Dec. 7. 

In Saturday's game, the Gorloks played all 16 of the players that dressed for the game and nine players played 10 or more minutes with no player playing more than 29 minutes logged by freshman guard Wynne Brown, Jr. (Memphis, Tenn./Barltett). In fact, the Gorloks played the final nine minutes of the game with four of its five starters on the bench. 

Brown, Jr., led the way offensively for the Gorloks as he tallied 20 points, while junior forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) added 19 points and seven boards in the win. Brown, Jr. and Etienne combined to score 29 of their 39 points in the first half. 

Along with Brown, Jr., and Etienne, senior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) added nine points, while senior guard Blake Ferrell (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South) tallied eight points in the win. Three other Gorloks finished with six points, including senior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) scoring six points and pulling down a game high 14 rebounds. 

Tankins' 14 rebounds were tied for second most in a game this season and pushed his career total to 549 rebounds, which is fifth on the school's all-time list. In addition, Tankins moved within 115 points of 1,000 career points as his six points pushed his career scoring total to 885 points. 

In the opening half, Webster trailed 4-2 early in the game, before the Gorloks used a 17-4 run over a span of nearly six plus minutes to push out to a 19-8 lead The Golden Eagles, who had only six players in uniform on Saturday, would score five straight points to pull within 19-13 with 12:37 left in half. 

That would be as close as Spalding would get as the Gorloks used a 15-6 run to push out to a 34-19 advantage following a basket in paint from junior forward Ethan Hughes (Union, Mo./Park University). After back-to-back treys from Marcus Montgomery and Clayte Weathers dropped WU's to 34-25, the Gorloks would close out the half on a 19-5 run to take its 53-30 lead at halftime. The closing run was keyed by seven points from Brown, Jr.

Webster, who has now won six of its last seven games, opened the second half on 13-10 run to push its lead to 26 points at 66-40 with 13:43 left in the game. That 26 point lead would be the largest of the game for the Gorloks. 

Following that lead, Spalding would respond with a 15-8 run over the next five-plus minutes to cut Webster's lead to 74-55. Webster, though, would score five straght points, including a trey from junior guard Lance Hatten (Greenacres, Fla./Berean Christian) to push back out in front, 79-55. 

The Golden Eagles would answer by scoring 14 of the next 20 points to drop Webster's lead to 85-69 with 2:46 left in the game, but the Gorloks would score five of the final nine points, including freshman guard Blair Cleare (Plantation, Fla./South Plantation) making the play of the game as he took the ball from halfcourt and drove into the paint and scored on a highlight reel dunk with 49 seconds left in the game. The dunk by Cleare was his first field goal of the season. 

Spalding was paced by 26 points from Montgomery, who tallied 23 of those points in the second half. In addition to Montgomery, Troy Amanor added 22 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. 

The Gorloks finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field, but was just 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) from the 3-point line. In addition, Webster shot a season low 40 percent (4-for-10) from the free throw line. 

Meanwhile, Spalding shot 37 percent from the field and 31 percent from the 3-point line and was 6-for-8 (75 percent) from the free throw line. 

Webster finished with a 53-40 edge on the glass and had 17 assists and blocked six shots, including two blocks by Tankins.

The Gorloks committed eight turnovers and forced Spalding into 11 turnovers. 

Webster, who has won 18 straight home games in SLIAC play, will look to win its third straight game this coming Wednesday, Jan. 29 as they host Greenville for a 7:30 p.m. game at Grant Gymnasium. The Panthers picked up a 98-97 win over the Gorloks in Greenville, Ill., on Dec. 7.