Griffins Comeback Attempt Comes Up Short Against Westminster

FULTON, Mo.— The Fontbonne University men's basketball team tried to erase a 16-point first half deficit against Westminster in the SLIAC Game of the Week on Saturday, but the Blue Jays hung on for the 86-75 win.

Fontbonne (4-5; 2-2 SLIAC), shot 46.8 percent from the floor but were held to a season-low four made 3-pointers. The team did get it done on the glass with a 43-26 advantage.

Individually, Luke DeLine went 8-of-13 from the floor to finish with a team-high 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Jared Woodcock and Carter Otwell had 12 points each, while Ian Cochran came off the bench to finish with nine points and nine boards.

Westminster (4-5; 3-1 SLIAC), shot 43.1 percent from the field, hit 10 3-pointers, and went 26-of-31 from the free throw line.

Kobe Wands went a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe to lead all scorers with a game-high 33 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Romo Tabb and Nolan Huot had 11 points each, while Steven Brandt contributed 10.

In the first half, a layup from Woodcock at 11:08 put the Griffins down 14-11. After Jalen Wadlington made his jumper with 8:15 to go the Griffins were down 19-13. Then, the Blue Jays went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to expand its advantage out to 29-13.

Westminster held onto its double-digit lead the rest of the way and went into the locker room on top, 41-25.

The Griffins dominated the glass with a 26-16 advantage in the first but connected on just 29.4 percent of its attempts from the floor.

Westminster, meanwhile, got a breakout performance from Kobe Wands who went 6-of-9 to total 18 points. As a team, the Blue Jays shot 43.8 percent and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.

In the second half, the Griffins did everything they could to get back into the game. The team shot 65.5 percent from the floor, went 10-of-14 from the line, and had 18 rebounds compared to the Blue Jays 11.

With 11:35 left in regulation, Cochran made his layup to cut the deficit down to 57-44. At 10:26, Kris McCann scored his layup and the Griffins capitalized from there on a 7-0 run to make it 60-53 on Woodcock's 3-pointer with 8:45 to go.

However, with Westminster going 14-of-15 from the line the final eight minutes and getting a couple of key 3-pointers from Huot, the Blue Jays were able to hang on for the 11-point win.

The Griffins return to action next week in Babson Park, Fla. First up on Tuesday afternoon is a showdown against NAIA school, John Brown University. Tip-off at 3 p.m.

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