Griffins Struggle From The Line Against Greenville; Panthers And Griffins Combine For NCAA Division III Record In Rebounds

ST. LOUIS, Mo.— The Fontbonne University men's basketball team made 40 shots from the floor and totaled a season-high 72 rebounds, but the Griffins were unable to come away with the win over Greenville as they fell, 111-99.

Fontbonne and Greenville combined to set an NCAA Division III record in rebounds with 144. That breaks the previous mark of 126 the two teams combined for last season.

Fontbonne (4-8; 2-3 SLIAC) shot 51.3 percent from the field but struggled from the free throw line going 17-of-44 (38.6 percent). Kris McCann started for the third time this year and concluded with a season-high 18 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Luke DeLine ended with 17 points, while Gus Kleekamp recorded 12 points and tied his career-high with 14 rebounds.

Jared Woodcock earned his first double-double on the year with 10 points and 10 boards, while Carter Otwell came off the bench to finish with 10 points, seven boards, and four assists.

The Panthers (8-4; 5-0 SLIAC), put up 127 shots, including 67 3-pointers. They pulled down 40 offensive rebounds and forced 37 Griffin turnovers.

Eric Williams led all scorers with a game-high 31 points on 14-of-24 shooting in 19:00 minutes of action. Marvin Bateman ended with 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, Isiah Price (13), and Barry Nixon (11) were the final players in double-digits.

In the first half, the Griffins opened with a 15-13 lead on Ian Cochran's made layup at 15:42 From there, the Griffins went on a 6-0 run in less than two minutes to take an eight-point lead on Anthony Jones' layup.

The up-tempo play continued, and Greenville eventually got the lead at 38-33 on Swade Edwards' bucket with 8:49 on the clock.

Just 31.0 seconds later, the Panthers led 41-35, but Fontbonne stormed back with an 8-2 run of its own as Woodcock hit both of his free throws to tie the game at 43-43 with a little over six minutes left.

The two teams went bucket-for-bucket the rest of the way, though Jalen Wadlington's layup with 3:16 remaining put Fontbonne on top 52-50 and they held onto its lead the rest of the way leading by five (58-53) at halftime.

Fontbonne shot 53.5 percent from the floor in the first half, while the Panthers were held to a 31.7 field goal percentage.

In the second, the Panthers opened with a 9-0 run in just 59.0 seconds to take the 63-58 lead. The Griffins were able to regain the lead and pushed its advantage out to 71-66 on McCann's layup at 16:50.

After Greenville was able to retake the lead, the Griffins got a 3-pointer from DeLine to put them back out in front, 82-81, with 11:48 remaining.

Over the next five minutes, the Panthers took back the lead and expanded it out to 92-85 (6:42) on Eric Williams' layup. Fontbonne tried to stay in it as McCann's layup trimmed the lead down to 99-92, but the Panthers were able to hang on for the 12-point win.

Fontbonne shot 48.6 percent from the field in the second half, but went just 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from the charity stripe.

The Griffins return to the court on Saturday when they'll take on Blackburn. Tip-off at 3 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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