FULTON, Mo. - After dropping its first two games of the shortened 2020-21 season, Webster University entered Saturday's game at Westminster in need of a victory and when the final buzzer sounded at the Historic Gym, the Gorloks had come away with that win as they collected a 76-69 win over the Blue Jays.

With the win, Webster improved to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the SLIAC, while Westminster fell to 1-2 overall and 1-2 in the league.

Saturday's win was aided by a change in the starting line-up by head coach Chris Bunch as Bunch inserted sophomore forward Jadis Smith (Little Rock, Ark./Estem Charter) and freshmen guards Markus Becton (Bellwood, Ill./Westchester St. Joseph) and Malcolm Logue (Lebanon, Tenn./Lebanon) into the starting line-up with regular starters - senior forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) and sophomore guard Wynne Brown, Jr. (Memphis, Tenn./Bartlett). 

Once again, Etienne led the Gorloks in scoring as he tallied a game-high 23 points and added six rebounds, while Brown, Jr., chipped in 13 points. WU's two other double-digit scorers came off the bench as senior forward Ethan Hughes (Union, Mo./Park University) tallied 12 points and nine boards after starting the previous two games and freshman guard Mark Moore (Hillsboro, Mo./Hillsboro) added a season-high 10 points. 

The change in the starting line-up seemed to ignite the Gorloks offense as they jumped out to a 17-point lead at 25-8 just a little over eight minutes into the contest. The run was aided by a combined 15 points from Moore and Etienne as Moore had eight points and Etienne tallied seven. 

Westminster, though, would respond with a 17-9 run to cut Webster's lead to 34-25 with 7:07 left in the first half. After WU scored six of the next nine points to push its lead to 40-28, the 'Jays rallied with an 11-2 run to pull within 42-39 with 2:19 remaining in the opening half. 

Hughes, Smith and Brown, Jr., each scored baskets in the final 1:45 of the first half to give the Gorloks a 48-39 halftime lead. 

The 'Jays opened the second half on an 11-5 run to drop WU's lead to 53-50 with 12:33 left in the game. Following that run by Westminster, the Gorloks would respond with a 15-3 scoring burst to push out to a 68-53 lead following a lay-up by Hughes with 6:17 remaining. Etienne (8 points) and Hughes (6 points) combined for 14 of the 15 points during the run. 

Webster would then have to withstand one more run by the Blue Jays as they scored 16 of the next 21 points to cut the Gorloks lead to 73-69 with 32 seconds left. The run began with a basket by Jaxon Althaus and was capped by a lay-up from Devonte Hubbard. Etienne would cap the scoring with a lay-up and ensuing free throw to complete a 3-point play with 15 seconds left. 

Landon Harrison led the Blue Jays offensively with 16 points, while Althaus added 12 points. Emil Spriggs and Braeden Wetrich each had nine points for Westminster. 

Webster finished the game shooting 55 percent from the field, including shooting 70 percent (21-for-30) in the first half, and shot 21 percent from the 3-point line. Westminster shot 39 percent and 37 percent (10-for-27) from the 3-point line. 

The Gorloks held a 36-26 edge on the boards as Hughes had nine boards and Moore and Etienne each had six boards. Webster committed 14 turnovers and Westminster had 12 turnovers. 

Next up for the Gorloks is a 7:30 p.m. SLIAC match-up on Tuesday, March 9 as they host Iowa Wesleyan for a 7:30 p.m. contest in Grant Gymnasium. Per SLIAC rules this season, no fans will be allowed at indoor sporting events in the league during the 2020-21 season due to the oncoming COVID-19 pandemic.