Men's Basketball defeats Spalding on Senior Day

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne University recognized six men's basketball players in their final home game of the 2016-17 season and didn't disappoint family and friends who travelled for the occasion. The Griffins defeated Spalding University 77-71 for the season sweep.

Spalding took an early lead but the Griffins overcame their deficit when senior Orkan Bakis nailed his first three pointer to give Fontbonne a 21-19 lead. The Griffins maintained an advantage at halftime by going on a 10-6 run.

Spalding opened second half play on a 9-2 run to lead 36-33 until the Griffins scored seven unanswered to lead 40-36. Nick Trisko gave Spalding a six-point lead with 9:51 to go, but a 10-2 Fontbonne run gave the hosts the advantage as they held onto the lead for the remainder of the game.

Fontbonne junior Jack Lake scored the game-high 20 points as did Spalding's James Turner. In fall, five Griffins scored in double digits. It came down to free throws as Fontbonne shot 69 percent at the charity stripe compared to Spalding's 53%.

Bakis and fellow senior Rio Justice Chandler each hit three treys. Bakis totaled 14 points and the team-high six rebounds with four assists and two steals. Chandler finished with 13 points while Kris McCann recorded 12 points. Senior Jeff Smith finished the game with 11 points after making five of his six field goal attempts.

The Griffins will finish out the season on the road for two games, first travelling to Iowa Wesleyan on Wednesday, February 22nd.