GREENVILLE, Ill. - Despite career highs in points in Stu Hollandsworth and Carter Wands, Westminster men's basketball fell to Greenville 118-112.

The Blue Jays fall to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 

"It it always difficult to play against the Greenville system and tonight was no different," said Westminster Head Coach Matt Mitchell. "We did a great job handling the ball and executing our press breaker today but the pressure wore on us and was a primary reason we missed so many freethrows."

Westminster ended the game going 22-38 from behind the charity stripe. 

"This was the first time for many of our guys playing against Greenville and our lack of experience showed periodically throughout the game," continued Mitchell.

Westminster kept up with the fast-paced Greenville offense in the opening minutes on six straight points from Hollandsworth to put the Blue Jays up 14-13 after the first five minutes of play. The first 10 minutes of the game featued nine lead changes and two ties, with the Westminster defense forcing several stops in a row to hold the traditionally high-scoring Panther offense to 25 points midway through the first half. 

The Panthers heated up in the next 10 minutes to score 35 points, making their halftime total up to 60. After a Panther 6-0 run from the 10 minute mark to the 8 minute mark, Westminster matched it with a 8-0 run of their own to tie the score at 30 with 7:27 remaining. 

The last five minutes of the game led to three lead changes and two ties, but the Panthers pulled away in the final minutes to take a 10-point lead at the half, 60-50. 

Greenville opened the half by hitting three straight three-pointers to take a 19-point lead within one minute of the second half. When it appeared Greenville would run away with the game when they took a 25-point lead with 18 minutes left, Westminster continued to play hard to stay in the game and chip away at the large deficit. From the 18 minute mark to the 16 minute mark, Hollandsworth scored 10 straight points for Westminster to keep his team within striking distance of the Panthers. 

Kobe Wands started to heat up with a shot at 14 minutes left in the half. From that point to the midway point of the half, Westminster scored 23 points, including 10 from K. Wands and eight straight made freethrows from Cody Shaw, to make the score 102-89 in favor of Greenville and cut the deficit to just 13 points. 

A Hollandsworth jump shot with eight minutes remaining put Westminster back within single digits for the first time in the half. Despite continuing to hit shots, Westminster couldn't come up with enough stops in the final minutes to seal a comeback win. The Blue Jays came within six points on a Carter Wands freethrow with just under two minutes remaining, but the Panthers would hit six more points to secure their win. 

Hollandsworth scored 28 total in his career high, going 14-18 from the field. C. Wands added a career high in points as well with 19, including five assists, five steals, and five rebounds. Also in double-digits for the Blue Jays was K. Wands (17), Steven Brandt (13) and Cody Shaw (11). 

The Blue Jays travel to Spalding Saturday, December 9 to continue SLIAC play.