Three-point shooting propels Griffins to SLIAC Championship game

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne men's basketball returns to SLIAC Championship game for the first time in six years. First year head coach Anthony Hall and the No. 4-seeded Griffins defeated No. 1-seeded host Webster University 67-61. Fontbonne advances to the SLIAC Championship Saturday to take on defending champion Spalding University at 7pm at Webster.

Webster got up to a five-point lead after draining a three-pointer with 13:13 left in the first, their second of only three from long range on the night. Fontbonne's Richard Dorhauer sank three three-pointers in just under two minutes to put the Griffins up by five with 8:03 left in the first. Webster battled back, scoring 12 straight points on their way to a 14-3 run to end the half. Fontbonne did not get to the free throw line once during the first half. At halftime the Gorloks led 32-28.

Webster was held scoreless from three-point range the entire second half.  Fontbonne connected on three consecutive treys by three different Griffins to lead 36-34. Webster tied the game 40-40 after which the Griffins took the lead for the remaining 12 minutes of play, starting off with six straight points. Fontbonne secured a 13-point lead with just over seven minutes to play on yet another three-pointer. With two minutes left in the game, Webster tried to make a comeback, cutting Fontbonne's lead to six points, but the Griffins scored four in a row to go up by 10 again. Webster ended the game with two buckets in the final 45 seconds of play. 

The Griffins shot 71.4% from three-point range connecting on 10 of 14 attempts behind the arc. Blake Welch scored the game-high 19 points going 6-for-8 in the field with three three-pointers and a solid 4-for-4 at the line. Dorhauer made six of seven three-point attempts totaling 18 points on the night while adding five rebounds and two steals. Jared Greenlee brought down 10 rebounds but the forward was held to two points. Greg Gentry scored 11 points off the bench with four assists. Orkan Bakis' seven rebounds were also big for the Griffins.

Ahmad Smith scored 16 points for Webster with CJ Moore recording 12 points and Aaron Griffin grabbing 11 rebounds.

Prior to tonight's game, the SLIAC announced the postseason awards. Greenlee earned Second Team All-Conference while Welch secured the All-Sportsmanship Team honors.