St. Louis, MO 1/25/2023- The Westminster College men's basketball team traveled to Fontbonne University to take on the Griffins Wednesday night. The Griffins would lead the game from the opening tip till the final whistle, winning the game 89 79-. The Griffins improve to 6-1 in the SLIAC and 10-8 on the season. The Blue Jays fall to 1-6 in the SLIAC and 2-16 in the year.
Westminster would struggle to start the game, not scoring until nearly four minutes into the game. They would find their second basket with 12:43 left in the first half and trailing 17-4. The Blue Jays would go on a run halfway through the half after a Jaxon Althaus (Oak Grove, MO/ Oak Grove) three-pointer put the Blue Jays down four points, 26-22 with 6:55 remaining in the first half. The Griffins would answer with a three of their own to go back up 7 and coast the rest of the way. Fontbonne led at halftime 45-28.
The Blue Jays would cut the deficit to eight points a few different times in the second half after trailing by 26 at one point. They could not get within striking distance and would lose the game 89-79.
Caleb Maassen (Linn, MO/ Linn) led the Blue Jays with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Kaden Eirhart (Altamont, IL / Altamont) would have 13 points off the bench, going 3-5 from three. Althaus would have 11 points and Makygh Galbreath (Fulton, MO/ Fulton) would be the fourth Blue Jay in double figures with 11 points as well. He would have 7 rebounds in the game as well.
The Blue Jays turned the ball over 21 times and would be out-rebounded by the Griffins 41-34, including 11 offensive rebounds. Fontbonne scored 21 points off turnovers and 18 second-chance points.
Westminster will be back in action on Saturday, January 28th when they travel to Carlinville, IL to take on Blackburn College. That game will tip at 3:00 PM.
