Men's Basketball Punches Ticket To SLIAC Championship, Sets New Division III Single-Game Record With 59 Assists

GREENVILLE, Ill.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team punched its ticket to the SLIAC Championship on Saturday after coming away with the 152-122 win over Greenville. The Griffins set a Division III single-game record with 59 assists in the victory.

How It Happened

In the first half, the Panthers led 24-13 with 12:54 remaining on Trenton Lee's jumper. The Griffins started to chip away at the deficit and over the next five minutes its efforts paid off with the team taking a 39-37 lead on Caden Clark's layup.

Fontbonne never relinquished its advantage the rest of the way and went into the locker room on top, 67-58.

With 17:46 remaining in regulation, the Griffins led 73-68. Then, Fontbonne broke the game open going on a 17-4 run over the next three minutes leading 90-72 on Cody McKinney's layup.

They stretched it out to a 22-point lead (134-112) with 5:21 remaining on Carter Collins' tip-in and it was all Fontbonne until the clock struck zero with the Griffins winning by 30.

Head-to-Head

• Fontbonne finished with a 60.4 field goal percentage and pulled down a season-high 71 rebounds.
• The 59 assists are a single-game record at Fontbonne and breaks a 26-year record held by Simpson when they handed out 53 assists back in 1995 against Grinnell.
• The two teams combined for 85 assists which is a NCAA Division III single-game record as well.
• It's 126 points in the paint is also a new single-game record at Fontbonne.
• Greenville ended with a 43.0 field goal percentage and connected on 19 3-pointers.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Anthony Jones led Fontbonne with 29 points on 14-of-21 shooting.
• Caden Clark earned his first collegiate triple-double with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high 12 assists.
• Gus Kleekamp also earned his first triple-double with 10 points, 14 rebounds, and a career-high 14 assists.
• Carter Collins had a game to remember off the bench earning his first double-double with a new career-high 27 points and 12 rebounds.
• Trenton Eckert added a career-high 14 points off the bench and eight assists.
• Noah Coddington added 12 points, nine rebounds, and a career-high 11 assists.
• Elijah Rice added 12 points and Cody McKinney finished with 11.

Up Next

The Griffins will now head over to Blackburn on Saturday in search of its first SLIAC Championship since 2009. Tip-off at 1 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.