Buzzer Beater Gives Blue Jays SLIAC Tournament Championship

St. Louis, Mo. - For the past three years the Westminster College men's basketball squad has played in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Tournament Championship, and for the second time in three years the Blue Jays have come out winners. Sophomore Joe James hit a 3-pointer as time expired to give second-seeded Westminster (17-10) a 58-56 victory over fourth-seeded MacMurray College (14-13) Saturday at Webster University. Westminster, which won tournament titles in 1995 and 2010, advances to the NCAA Division III national tournament.

Westminster trailed 32-30 at halftime, but regained the lead early in the second half and built up a nine-point lead at 45-36 with just over 15 minutes remaining. MacMurray cut into the deficit and the lead changed hands four more times until MacMurray went up 56-55 with 1:29 remaining. The Blue Jays, who hit 44 percent from the field for the game, missed a couple of shots and turned the ball over down the stretch before James scored the game-winner.

Kelsey Weymuth led the Westminster offense, finishing with a season-high 18 points and nine rebounds, and Kurt Kovach contributed 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Verdis Lee scored 11 points, James chipped in nine and Skylar Tolson tallied three points.

Brady Slagle led MacMurray with 13 points and nine rebounds. Clayton Whitlock added 11 points and seven rebounds, and Clint Lee finished with nine points, six rebounds and three assists.

James was named the tournament's most valuable player and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Verdis Lee. MacMurray's Slagle and Lee were also named to the all-tournament team along with Eureka College's Dustin Fritsch and Webster University's Roman Robinson.

Courtesy Westminster College (Mo.) sports information