WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University senior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) and junior forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) combined to score 33 second half points en route to helping the Gorloks men's basketball team open the New Year with a 78-65 victory over Fontbonne University in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Grant Gymnasium.

With the victory, Webster extends its win streak to two straight games to improve its record to 4-7 overall and 3-1 in the SLIAC, while Fontbonne falls to 4-7 overall and 2-2 in the league. The victory also extended Webster's home court win streak in league play to 15 consecutive games. 

Tankins scored 19 of 21 points after halftime, while Etienne scored 14 of his game high 23 points in the second half as those two players combined for 33 of Webster's 42 second half points. Tankins' and Etienne's offensive production after halftime helped the Gorloks turn a 36-34 halftime lead into a 13 point victory. 

Saturday's game was the first of the 2020 calendar year for both teams. 

In addition to Etienne and Tankins, the third Gorlok to score in double figures was freshman guard Wynne Brown, Jr. (Memphis, Tenn./Bartlett) as he tallied 13 points, including scoring 11 of those 13 points in the first half. 

The first half was a back-and-forth affair as it featured eight ties and seven lead changes as neither team led by more than five points in the half. In fact, six of the eight ties came in the opening seven-plus minutes of the opening half as neither team led by more than two points until Webster used 6-2 run to take a 19-15 lead with 10:20 left in the opening half. 

Fontbonne, though, would respond with a 9-1 run to take a 24-20 lead, before WU scored five straight points, including senior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) hitting a trey to give WU a 25-24 lead with six minutes left in the opening half. Johnson, who was playing his first game in nearly a month as he had missed Webster's last two games due to a shoulder injury suffered against Spalding on Dec. 5, finished with six points, five boards and four steals. The six points snapped Johnson's 13 game streak of scoring in double figures and pushed his career scoring total to 931 points, which is 12th on the school's all-time list. 

After Johnson's trey, the Griffins used a 10-4 run to take a 34-29 lead following a 3-point play by Anthony Jones, before WU closed the half by scoring the final seven points, including junior forward Ethan Hughes (Union, Mo./Park University) scoring a lay-up with three seconds left to give the Gorloks a 36-34 halftime lead. 

The Griffins would open the second half by scoring four of the first six points to tie the game at 38, but the Gorloks used a 6-2 run to take a 44-40 lead with 15:06 left in the game. FBU, though, would scored four straight points to tie the game at 44. 

That would be as close as Fontbonne would get as Webster responded with a 17-8 run to push out to a 61-52 lead. The Gorloks run was keyed by nine points from Tankins, who added nine rebounds and five steals in the win. 

After Jones scored three straight points on a lay-up and a free throw to pull FBU within 61-55, Etienne scored four straight points to give WU a 65-55 lead with 7:18 remaining in the contest. 

The Griffins would mount another rally as they scored six straight points to drop WU's lead to 65-61, but Webster would close the game by scoring 13 of the final 17 points to set the final margin. Tankins and Etienne combined to score 10 of Webster's final 13 points of the game.

Jones paced Fontboone with 16 points, while Cody McKinney and Elijah Rice added nine points in the loss. 

Webster finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field and 31 percent from the 3-point line, while Fontbonne shot 36 percent from the field and 27 percent from long distance. 

FBU held a 49-45 edge on the boards as Rice and Noah Coddington each had eight rebounds. In addition to Tankins' nine boards, senior guard Jordan Clay (St. Louis, Mo./Blackburn College) also had nine boards in the game. 

The Gorloks committed 10 turnovers and had 13 steals, while FBU had 17 turnovers that led to 15 Webster points. 

Both teams hit nine free throws as Webster was 9-for-13 (69 percent) at the line and FBU was 9-for-11 (82 percent) at the line. 

Webster will look to make its three straight league wins in a row this coming Tuesday, Jan. 7 as the Gorloks travel to Elsah, Ill., for a 7:30 p.m. SLIAC game at Principia College (1-9 overall, 0-4 SLIAC).