Warriors Fend Off Griffins Second Half Rally

BABSON PARK, Fla.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team put up a valiant second-half effort against Webber International on Wednesday, but the Warriors were able to hold on for the 85-81 win.

With the Griffins down 83-79 with 1:41 left, the team got a layup from Jared Woodcock to put the deficit at 83-81 with 41.0 seconds left.

Then, the team had a chance to tie the game with three seconds remaining at the charity stripe, however, they missed both free throws and the Warriors were able to go on for the four-point win.

The Griffins (4-7), shot 43.8 percent from the field and 42.0 percent from downtown. Individually, Luke DeLine filled up the stat sheet going 6-of-15 from the floor to finish with 18 points, to go along with his six boards and four assists.

Jalen Wadlington, Ian Cochran, and Gus Kleekamp had 10 points each. Woodcock also had a strong game with nine points and seven boards.

The Warriors (9-7), shot 41.4 percent and connected on 20-of-23 from the free throw line. Tommie Luke was the story as he came into the game averaging 23.5 points per outing. Today, he put up 35 points on 13-of-23 shooting. Austin Evans (13) and Malik Morrow (10) were the final players to reach double-digits for WIU.

In the first half, the two teams met-up at 10-10 on Wadlington's made jumper at the 14:20 mark. In less than three minutes, the Warriors rattled off an 11-2 run on Morrow's 3-pointer to expand its advantage out to 21-12.

The Griffins trimmed the lead down to eight a couple of times, including with 1:53 left on DeLine's made layup, but another 3-pointer from Morrow gave Webber International the 41-30 lead at the break.

In the second half, the Griffins offense took over. The team shot 58.6 percent from the floor, hit five 3-pointers, went 12-of-17 from the line and had five players total at least seven points in the frame.

The team opened the first two minutes on an 8-2 run to make it 43-38 after Carter Otwell went 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

Later, the Warriors found its shooting touch and expanded its lead back out to 57-44 after Luke made his jumper with just under 14:00 minutes left.

The Warriors were still on top 59-50, but in one minute and 20 seconds, Fontbonne went on a 6-0 run to put them within one possession (59-56) at 10:20.

The Griffins never let WIU's lead get above seven and its hard work eventually paid off as they took its first lead of the game since the opening minutes of the first half on McCann's layup at 3:22 (76-75).

However, the Warriors closed out the three minutes and change going 6-of-6 from the line and hit both of its buckets from inside the arc to hang on for the four-point win.

The Griffins will now get some time off before hitting the court against the top offense in Division III, Greenville University. That match-up is set for January 2^nd with a tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

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