Men's Basketball Outlasts MacMurray In Final Minute

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team won its second straight and fifth out of its last six on Saturday after fending off MacMurray for the 87-81 win.

Final: Fontbonne 87, MacMurray 81

Location: DSAC

Records: Fontbonne (9-8; 7-3 SLIAC), MacMurray (5-12; 3-7 SLIAC)

How It Happened

In the first half, it was the Highlanders taking the early 22-12 lead on Tanner Payton's layup at the 10:30 mark. Three minutes later, the Highlanders still led by 10 (29-19), but the Griffins got back in it with Anthony Jones' layup capping off an 8-0 run to make it 29-27 with 5:49 on the clock.

The Highlanders held onto that lead up until 3:56 when Elijah Rice made it 33-32 at 3:56. The two teams went back-and-forth on its lead changes, however, the Griffins led 42-40 with 36.0 seconds remaining on Gus Kleekamp's layup. Prior to the half ending, though Drew Burwinkel made his layup to even it up at 42-42 at the break.

MacMurray shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the first and outrebounded Fontbonne, 21-19. The Griffins connected on 43.2 percent of its attempts and forced 16 MacMurray turnovers. Jalen Wadlington led the floor with 11 points off the bench in just eight minutes.

In the second half, the Griffins went on an 8-0 run in three minutes and 50 seconds time to lead 50-42 on Kleekamp's made jumper. The Griffins continued to hold that advantage until the Highlanders grabbed it back at the 12:31 mark on Logan Dorethy's made jumper to give them a 57-56 lead.

The Griffins took the advantage back on the ensuing possession, but the Highlanders hung around as Camron Jamison hit his 3-pointer with 7:09 left in regulation to give them a 70-69 lead.

Over the next six minutes and change it was a battle between the two teams with five different lead changes occurring down the stretch. With 52.0 seconds remaining, Dorethy went 1-of-2 from the line to tie the game at 81-81.

Anthony Jones came racing down the court, put up his shot, banked it home, and got fouled on the play. He went on to drain the free throw to give Fontbonne an 84-81 lead. That proved to be more than enough with the Griffins holding MacMurray scoreless the final 40.0 seconds en route to the 87-81 win.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne finished with a 45.8 field goal percentage and forced 21 MacMurray turnovers.
• The bench was the story for the Griffins as they combined to outscore MacMurray's bench, 47-16.
• The Highlanders shot 45.7 percent from the floor.
• They held a 42-41 advantage against Fontbonne on the glass.

MacMurray Leaders

• Logan Dorethy led the floor with game-high 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting and pulled down 15 boards.
• Camron Jamison added 15 points, while Trevor Voss contributed 14.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Anthony Jones led with a team-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
• Jalen Wadlington finished with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting off the bench.
• Jared Woodcock totaled 13 points and Sean McGee tied his season-high with 10.

Up Next

The Griffins are back in action on Wednesday when they'll travel to Blackburn. Tip-off at 7:30 p.m.   

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the men's basketball team.

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