Top Seeds Advance to Men's Basketball Championship Game
The tournament seeds held true for the 2020 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament with #1 seed Webster University and #2 seed Greenville University advancing to the championship game on Saturday. It will mark the first time in SLIAC history that the two programs will meet with the tournament title on the line. The two teams split their regular-season series this year with each team winning at home.
Greenville 164, Fontbonne 148 - BOX SCORE
Greenville picked no better time to snap their two-game losing streak as they won the opening game of the 2020 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament 164-148 over Fontbonne University. The fast-action Greenville offense wasted no time hitting their stride by knocking down eight of their first nine three-point field goals. However, the Griffins kept up on the scoring end thanks to guard Anthony Jones. Jones sped through the Panthers press, scoring six of his team's first 24 points to give them a 24-21 lead. Greenville's Marvin Bateman connected on a three with 13:54 left in the first half, marking the first tie of the game and Sontiago Grady converted a lay-up just 40-seconds later to give the Panthers the lead; a lead they would not relinquish.
- Greenville and Fontbonne combined for the most points in a SLIAC Tournament game with 312 points, with Greenville setting the single team record with 164 points.
- The previous records were 163 points by Eureka, set in last year's championship game in which they and Greenville combined for the previous combined mark of 309 points.
- Greenville is making its 4th championship game appearance in program history and will be playing for its first title since 2018.
Webster 85, Blackburn 77 - BOX SCORE
Webster extended their winning streak to 11 games with a victory over Blackburn College in the nightcap of the SLIAC semifinals. Blackburn worked their way to an early 8-4 lead behind a pair of three's from Christian Wagner. However, the Gorloks grabbed the lead with a 7-0 run on a pair of inside buckets that sandwiched a three from Josh Johnson. After a Bryson Kirby three evened the score at 13-13, the Gorloks' Johnson answered back to give the Gorloks the last lead change of the game. A Nigel Ferrell layup with 16-minutes left in the second-half brought the Beavers to within three at 54-51 but they were never able to get any closer.
- Webster is making its second straight championship game appearance and will be looking for its first title since 2014.
- The Gorloks have a 10-4 record at home this season, going 8-0 against conference opponents.
