Welch on fire; career-high 31 points not enough
St. Louis- Fontbonne freshman Blake Welch shot 52% from the floor, 100% from the free throw line and connected on 7 buckets from behind the arc (42%) to accumulate 31 points against Webster. This is a career-high for Welch, whose previous high was 26 points against Blackburn this season.
Fontbonne let the close-game slip away towards the end of the 1st half to give Webster the 39-28 advantage at halftime.
After nipping at the Gorloks' heels for most of the game, the Griffins finally took the lead at 69-67 with 4:26 remaining when Greg Gentry connected on a 3-pointer.
The final two minutes of the game were nervewracking for in the gym. Ahmad Smith made a 3-pointer with 1:51 to go for the Gorloks. Fontbonne missed a 3-point attempt as the shot clock was about to expire, giving Webster the chance to take the lead.
Each team would miss another shot and Smith got his chance to win the game but missed from long range, when Griffin Darius Rucker pulled in the defensive rebound. Roman Robinson fouled Rucker, now giving Rucker the opportunity to shoot the winning bucket with a 1 and 1 chance.
Rucker missed his free throw and time expired sending the game into overtime.
With 1:34 to go in overtime, Fontbonne led 80-77. Webster would go on a 7-0 run to win the game.
Robinson finished the night with a Gorlok-high 22 points. Griffins Rucker and Jared Greenlee recorded 15 and 14 points respectively. Rucker recorded the only double-double of the night contributing with 11 rebounds for Fontbonne. Gentry's 10 assists also contributed highly in sending the Griffins into overtime.
The Griffins travel to Louisville this Saturday for an 8pm matchup against Spalding University.