Men's Basketball Falls In Season Opener Against Eutectics

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team opened its 2019-20 season with a tough 71-65 defeat against St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

Final: St. Louis Pharmacy 71, Fontbonne 65

Location: St. Louis, Mo.

Records: St. Louis Pharmacy 1-1, Fontbonne 0-1

How It Happened

In the first half, the Griffins jumped out to a comfortable 13-4 lead on Jared Woodcock's made jumper in the paint at the 13:22 mark.

Later in the half, the Griffins expanded its lead out to 30-18 on Cody McKinney's made 3-pointer with 6:40 remaining. With 2:41 on the clock, Fontbonne was on top by 10 (39-29) on Gabe Duckett's two-pointer.

However, the Eutectics closed out the half on a 7-0 run to trim the deficit down to 39-36 at the break. Fontbonne shot 44.4 percent from the field in the first half. Woodcock led Fontbonne with nine points. STLCOP, meanwhile, connected on 41.7 percent of its attempts and RJ Wright led all scorers with 11.

In the second half, the Eutectics carried its momentum over from the end of the first with a 5-0 run as Jordan Anderson's bucket gave them a 41-39 lead which was its first since 2-0 at the 18:55 mark of the first half.

The Eutectics maintained its marginal lead, though Fontbonne was right there at the 9:39 mark with Caden Clark's bucket cutting the lead down to 49-48.

STLCOP gained some breathing room as the clock ticked away with the home team on top, 64-56, with 4:14 left in regulation.

The Griffins got it down to three (64-61) on Elijah Rice's basket with 2:18 remaining but the Eutectics finished out the final minutes on a 7-4 run en route to the six-point victory.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne shot 37.5 percent from the field, 26.3 percent from downtown, and 37.5 percent from the charity-stripe.
• After going 4-of-8 from 3-point land in the first, the Griffins went just 1-of-11 in the second half.
• STLCOP ended the night with a 40.6 field goal percentage.
• The Eutectics outrebounded Fontbonne, 45-43.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Caden Clark led all scorers with a game-high 14 points and nearly had a double-double with nine boards.
• Jared Woodock, Gus Kleekamp, and Cody McKinney each contributed 11 points.

STLCOP Leaders

• Joran Anderson and RJ Wright tied with a team-high 13 points.
• Devon Howard totaled six points off the bench and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Up Next

The team will now head up to Storm Lake, Iowa this weekend for the A-R-C SLIAC Classic. The Griffins will face Simpson College on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by Buena Vista on Saturday at 2 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.

Make sure to follow us on all our social media accounts: Twitter (@FBUGriffins), Instagram (@fbugriffins) and Facebook (/FontbonneUGriffins).