Webster Edges MacMurray in Game of the Week

Webster University Men's Basketball topped 90 points for the second consecutive game here Saturday afternoon as the Gorloks outlasted MacMurray College 93-90 in overtime in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Game of the Week at Grant Gymnasium. 

With the win, Webster improves to 3-7 overall and moves into a six-way tie for first place in the SLIAC with a 2-1 record, while MacMurray falls to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the league. Saturday's win was also Webster's seventh consecutive victory over the Highlanders in the series, including the third time in the last four games that the game was decided by one possession. 

The Gorloks, who trailed 77-72 with 4:13 left in regulation, used a 10-2 run over the next four minutes to take an 82-79 lead with 20 seconds left in regulation after two free throws from freshman guard Wynne Brown, Jr. (Memphis, Tenn./Bartlett). On the ensuing possession, MacMurray's Elijah Powell drilled a trey from the right side with six seconds left to tie the game and force overtime. 

In the overtime session, which was Webster's second overtime game this season, the Gorloks would outscore the Highlanders, 11-8, to seal its three-point victory. In overtime, the teams traded the lead four times in the first four minutes, before the Gorloks would hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 34 seconds, including taking its final lead of the game on 1-of-2 free throws by senior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) with 34 seconds remaining. Brown, Jr., would cap the scoring with two free throws with five seconds left in the contest. 

Brown, Jr., who scored a career-high 24 points in his last outing at Greenville, set another new career-high in scoring on Saturday against MacMurray as he finished the game with 27 points, including scoring 19 of those points in the first half to help give the Gorloks a 42-32 halftime lead. 

Along with the 27 points from Brown, Jr., Tankins added 22 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double this season and 17th in his collegiate career. Tankins is now one double-double shy of tying Nigel Wilcox's school record of 18 career double-doubles. 

The third double-digit scorer for Webster on Saturday was junior forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach), who tallied 19 points and added seven rebounds and a career-high-tying three blocks. Etienne scored 17 of those 19 points after halftime, including tallying 14 points in the second half. 

MacMurray's Logan Dorethy led all scorers in Saturday's game as he finished with 34 points and added 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Dorethy scored 24 of his 34 points after halftime, including tallying 20 of MacMurray's 50 second-half points. The 34 points by Dorethy were the most scored by an opposing player since Principia's Trevaughn Goodman scored 34 points last season. 

Along with Dorethy, Camron Jamison added 25 points, including scoring 14 of those points in the first half. The third double-digit scorer for MacMurray was Drew Burwinkel, who finished with 14 points, five assists and three steals. 

Webster jumped in front 17-6 in the opening six minutes of the game and led 25-14 with 8:38 left in the opening half when MacMurray used a 10-4 run capped by a lay-up from Dorethy to pull within 29-24 with 4:44 left in the half. The Gorloks, though, would respond by scoring 13 of the next 18 points to push its lead to 42-29 following a trey from Brown, Jr., with 1:43 left. Jamison would drill a trey with 1:27 left to cut Webster's lead to 42-32 at the half. 

The Highlanders would open the second half on a 20-14 run to cut Webster's lead to 56-52 following a trey by Jamison with 13:21 left in regulation. Webster, though, used a 9-6 run to push its lead to 65-58 with 10:52 left in the regulation following a lay-up by Etienne. 

MacMurray wouldn't go away as they answered the Gorloks run with a 12-5 run of its own to tie the game at 70-all with 6:31 remaining in regulation. The Highlanders' run was keyed by six points from Ian Smith. After Smith's two free throws tied the game, MacMurray would score seven of the next nine points to take a 77-72 lead. 

For the game, Webster shot 48 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line and was 16-for-18 (89 percent) at the free-throw line, while MacMurray finished the game shooting 51 percent from the field, 47 percent from the 3-point line and 82 percent (9-for-11) at the free-throw line. 

The Gorloks held a 42-33 advantage on the boards as along with Tankins' 11 boards, Etienne and senior guard Jordan Clay (St. Louis, Mo./Blackburn) each had seven boards in the win. The Gorloks had 18 offensive boards that led a 19-15 edge in second-chance points. 

Webster committed 14 turnovers and had 17 assists, while MacMurray had 12 turnovers and 19 assists. 

The Gorloks also blocked a season-high 10 shots as along with Etienne's three blocks, Clay also blocked three shots. The 10 blocks are tied for the fourth-most in a game in school history and the most blocks in a game since recording a school record-tying 11 blocks last season against Blackburn. 

Webster will take nearly 20 days off for first-semester final exams and the Christmas holidays before returning open the New Year on Saturday, Jan. 4 with a 3 p.m. home game at Grant Gymnasium against Fontbonne University, who improved to 2-1 in the league with its 142-129 home win on Saturday over Greenville. 

STORY COURTESY OF WEBSTER UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION