Griffins Get Back To .500 Mark After Road Win Against MacMurray

JACKSONVILLE, Ill.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team earned its first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) win on Saturday after defeating MacMurray, 76-62.

The Griffins (3-3; 1-1 SLIAC), shot 53.1 percent from the floor and were led by Luke DeLine. The St. Louis, Mo., native, went 7-of-14 from the floor to finish with a game-high 22 points. Jared Woodcock contributed 11, while Ian Cochran, Alex Movila, and Carter Otwell contributed eight points each.

MacMurray (3-2; 1-1 SLIAC), finished with a 42.6 field goal percentage. The team, though struggled with ball control as they ended with 24 turnovers. Connor Vincent paced the offense with a team-high 19 points on 50.0 percent (8-of-16) shooting, while Wade Fox and Derek Bourke had 11 apiece.

In the first half, the Griffins opened with a 14-12 lead on DeLine's made 3-pointer at 12:14. Later in the half, the Highlanders trimmed the deficit down to 25-21 (4:02) on Bourke's made jumper. Fontbonne closed out the half strong on a 6-3 run to take the 31-24 advantage into the break.

Fontbonne shot 40.0 percent from the field in the first and DeLine led with his eight points. Defensively, the Griffins forced 15 MacMurray turnovers.

In the second, the Griffins scored the first five points on a bucket from Woodcock and a 3-pointer from DeLine to give them a 36-24 lead.

Bourke hit his jumper with 11:13 left to cut it down to 48-36, but a 7-0 run by Fontbonne gave them a commanding 55-36 advantage with 8:53 to go in regulation. From there, the Griffins maintained its double-digit lead the rest of the way for the 14-point win.

The Griffins were in control on both ends of the floor in the second half. The team shot 70.0 percent (14-of-20) and outrebounded the Highlanders, 18-10. DeLine went 5-of-6, including 3-of-4 from downtown to net 14 of his 22 in the second.

The team returns to the floor on Tuesday in an exhibition game on the road against Eastern Illinois. Tip-off goes up at 7 p.m.

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