FULTON, Mo. – The Webster University men's basketball team was back in action this afternoon when they traveled to Fulton, Missouri, to take on the Westminster (Mo.) College Blue Jays for their first SLIAC game of the season. The Gorloks were defeated by the Blue Jays by a final score of 71-70 to drop to 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in the SLIAC. With the win, Westminster improves to 1-5 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

Webster went 25-for-59 (42.4%) from the floor and 9-for-19 (47.4%) from behind the arc. They were outrebounded by the Blue Jays by a final count of 40-38 with 11 rebounds coming on the offensive end. They forced Westminster to turn the ball over 10 times while blocking four shots and recording five steals.

Webster came out in the first half of the game and found themselves trailing 6-1 in the first three minutes. They quickly tied the score at six and the game remained close for most of the half. With the score tied at 30, Webster would use a 5-0 run to give themselves a five points advantage with just over two minutes to play in the half. The Blue Jays would end the period on a 4-0 run and the Gorloks would take a 35-34 lead into the locker room.

Webster came out of the locker room and extended their lead to six in the first six minutes in the half. The Blue Jays hung around for most of the period and were able to tie the score at 57 with 6:30 left to play. Webster answered with a 5-0 run to extend their lead back out to five and held a four-point advantage with 42 seconds to play. Westminster would cut the lead to two with 26 seconds and then would hit a three pointer at the buzzer to steal one away from Webster.

Jemard Sykes II led the way for Webster as he finished with a team high 19 points and a game high 10 rebounds. Josh Luster and Nate Jones also played well as Luster finished with 11 points while Jones finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. In addition, Jason Coleman and Alpha Diallo each finished with eight points.

The Gorloks will return to the court on Saturday, November 25^th when they travel to Memphis, Tennessee, to take on the Rhodes (Tenn.) College Lynx for a nonconference matchup. The game is set to start at 1 p.m.