WEBSTER GROVES - The No. 4 seeded and defending St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament champion Webster University are set to open play on Tuesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in the first round of the 2021 SLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament against No. 5 seeded Iowa Wesleyan at Grant Gymnasium on the Webster campus. Per SLIAC rules due to the COVID pandemic, no fans will be allowed to attend any of the SLIAC Tournament games.

Tuesday's winner will advance to a semifinal match-up on Thursday, April 9 at either top-seeded and regular season SLIAC Champion Blackburn College or No. 2 seeded Greenville University. Both Blackburn and Greenville earned first round tournament byes since this year's tournament will have six of the eight schools in the league participating as Eureka and Spalding will miss the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols within their programs. The championship game of the tournament will be held on Saturday, April 10 at 1 p.m. at the highest seeded team remaining in the tournament. 

Webster, who is making its third consecutive and league-best 21st all-time appearance in this year's SLIAC Tournament, enters the postseason sporting a 4-5 overall record and they went 4-4 in league play. The Gorloks, who picked up a 121-112 win over Greenville in the finals of the 2020 SLIAC Tournament, enter Tuesday's action having lost two consecutive games to close the regular season as the Gorloks fell 79-67 at home last Monday to Fontbonne and at home this past Saturday to Westminster, 80-77. 

Meanwhile, Iowa Wesleyan will be making is first and final appearance in the SLIAC Tournament this season as the Tigers will be leaving the NCAA Division III level at the end of the 2020-21 season and dropping down to the NAIA level. The Tigers went 4-9 overall and 3-6 in the SLIAC to earn the No. 5 seed in this year's tournament. IWU comes into the tournament having lost two straight games and three of its last four overall with the only win being an 82-78 win on March 23 at Westminster. 

Tuesday's game will mark the second meeting this season between the two school and the 16th all-time in the series as Webster holds a 9-6 edge in the series. The Gorloks picked up a 72-62 win at Grant Gymnasium over the Tigers on March 9. In that game, the Gorloks led by 10 points at the half, but survived a second half rally by the Tigers to post the win. Sophomore guard Wynne Brown, Jr. (Memphis, Tenn./Bartlett) scored 16 points and senior forward Ethan Hughes (Union, Mo./Park University) added 12 points. The Gorloks also committed a season low four turnovers and forced 17 that led to 18 points. 

The other first round SLIAC Tournament match-up on Tuesday will feature No. 3 seeded Fontbonne hosting No. 6 seeded Westminster in a 7 p.m. at the Mabee Gym on the Fontbonne campus. 

Webster comes into this year's SLIAC Tournament with one of the top offenses in the league as the Gorloks are second in the league in scoring at 84.1 points per game and is shooting a league-best 53.3 percent from the field, which is third-best in NCAA Division III. Along with is strong offense, the Gorloks defense is allowing 87.3 points per game and their opponents are shooting 45 percent from the field and 34 percent from the 3-point line. In addition, Webster is getting outrebounded by 3.1 boards per game and has struggled shooting from both the 3-point line (29.5 percent) and the free throw line (63.1 percent). 

Leading the way offensive for the Webster is the two-heading inside-outside scoring tandem of Brown, Jr., and senior forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) as both of them are averaging 17.9 points per game.

Brown, Jr., leads the team in made 3-pointers (14), assists (39) and is shooting 50 percent from the field, 33 percent from the 3-point line and 76 percent from the free throw line. Brown, Jr. has scored in double figures in all nine games and has had two double-doubles, while Etienne is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 68 percent from the field, which is sixth in Division III and leads the team in steals with 13 and he enters the postseason having scored 1,147 points and is just 20 points shy of tying Hunter Ward for 10th on the school's all-time scoring chart as Ward scored 1,167 points from 2013-17, while his eight boards pushed his career total to 438, which is 11th on the school's career charts.

In addition to Brown, Jr., and Etienne, two other key players for the Gorloks are Hughes and freshman forward Markus Becton (Bellwood, Ill./Westchester St. Joseph). Hughes is averaging 9.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 59 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line and has blocked a team-high 13 shots and has scored in double figures in five games, while Becton is averaging 9.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 61 percent from the field and is tied for second in assists with 20 and has tallied double-digits in scoring in three games, including back-to-back double-doubles of 19 points and 14 rebounds at home against Greenville and 12 points and 10 rebounds at Blackburn.
 

Webster is coached by Chris Bunch, who is in his 19th season at the helm of the Gorloks. In his 19 years at Webster, Bunch has compiled a 287-193 record and is 221-83 in regular season SLIAC games. He has taken home six SLIAC Coach of the Year honors and has led WU to eight regular season SLIAC titles, three SLIAC Tournament titles, three NCAA Tournament appearances in 2011, 2014 and 2020 and has led the Gorloks to seven 17-plus win seasons, including three 20 win campaigns.
 

Iowa Wesleyan comes into the tournament having lost two consecutive games, including suffering a 76-66 loss at Fontbonne to conclude the regular season on Saturday. The Tigers look to slow things down on offense as they are averaging 70.7 points and are allowing 75.1 points per game. In addition, IWU is shooting 44 percent from the field, 35 percent from the 3-point line and are outrebounding its foes by nearly a rebound per game. 

Leading the way offensively for Iowa Wesleyan is senior forward Jarryd Fernandes as he is averaging 15.5 points and 12.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 60 percent from the field and has blocked 11 shots, while junior guard Kaleb Cresswell is averaging 13.4 points and has dished out 50 assists, which is third-most in the league and is shooting 40 percent from the field.

Two other Tigers are averaging in double figures are junior forward Carver Locke and junior guard Alex Dentlinger. Locke, who has only played six of IWU's 13 games, is averaging 13.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 41 percent from the field, 29 percent from the 3-point line78 percent at the free throw line and Dentlinger is averaging 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field, 41 percent from the 3-point line and 85 percent at the free throw line. 
 

Webster has posted an 11-17 all-time record in the SLIAC Tournament and is making its 15th appearance in the last 16 years in the tournament this season. Webster has won the tournament three times in 2011, 2014 and 2020 and were the runners-up in 2005 and 2019. At last year's tournament, the Gorloks opened with an 85-77 win over fourth-seeded Blackburn and then defeated No. 2 seeded Greenville, 121-112 in the championship game. Since the tournament was reinstated by the league in 2005, Webster has compiled an 8-11 record in the tournament and has lost in the semifinals in nine of those 15 tournaments.   

The six teams that are playing in this year's SLIAC Tournament have won a combined 17 championships with Fontbonne and Westminster having won five titles each. In addition to Fontbonne and Westminster, Blackburn and Webster have won three titles, while Greenville has taken home two titles and Iowa Wesleyan has never appeared in the tournament. In addition, the six teams have posted a combined record of 68-54 all-time record in the tournament as Westminster has won the most tournament games with 20 as the Blue Jays are 20-14 in the tournament, while Fontbonne is 16-8, Blackburn is 14-11 and Greenville is 7-6.