Bunch Reaches Win #300
The Webster University men's basketball team opened up conference play tonight with a road game in Louisville, Kentucky, against the Spalding (Ky.) University Golden Eagles. The Gorloks defeated the Golden Eagles by a final score of 79-72 to improve to 3-8 on the season and 1-0 in SLIAC play. With the loss, Spalding falls to 1-10 on the year and 0-1 in the conference.
With the win tonight, Head Coach Chris Bunch notched his 300th career win. The all-time winningest head coach in Webster men's basketball history, Bunch has a career record of 300-220 in his 21st year at the helm. He has led the Gorloks to eight SLIAC Regular Season titles, three SLIAC Tournament titles, and three NCAA Division III Men's Basketball National Tournament appearances while being named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year six times.
Webster went 33-for-68 (48.5%) from the floor and 4-for-15 (26.7%) from behind the arc. The Gorloks and the Golden Eagles both pulled down 39 rebounds in the game with Webster pulling down 15 on the offensive end. The Gorloks forced Spalding to turn the ball over 13 times in the contest and turned those turnovers into 15 points on the other end of the floor. Webster also dished out 10 assists.
In the first half of the game, Webster came out and found themselves trailing 16-11 with just over 13 minutes to play in the half. The Gorloks battled back and cut the lead to two, and then went on a 16-7 run over the next few minutes to take a 31-26 lead in the game. The Golden Eagles cut the lead back down to one late in the half, but a three from Mark Moore down the final stretch of the period put the Gorloks up 40-36 at the break.
Webster continued to play well in the second half and pushed their lead to six in the first six minutes of the half. They extended their lead to nine midway through the period, but an 8-0 run from Spalding over the next few minutes and cut the lead to one. The Gorloks responded with an 11-3 run of their own to push their lead back out to nine and held off the Golden Eagles down the stretch to solidify their first SLIAC win of the season.
Wynne Brown Jr. led the way for the Gorloks as he finished with a team-high 19 points. Karl Moore Jr. also had a nice game as he finished with 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds. In addition, Markus Becton finished with 12 points while Mark Moore added 11.
The Gorloks will return to the court on Saturday, January 7th when they host the Fontbonne (Mo.) University Griffins for a SLIAC matchup. The game is set to start at 3 p.m. in Grant Gymnasium.
STORY COURTESY OF WEBSTER UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
