Crosstown Championship Set Up in SLIAC Men's Basketball

The regular season Co-Champions both on Friday night setting up a crosstown rivalry championship game for the first time in SLIAC Men's Basketball history. Fontbonne and Webster, just four miles apart, will meet on Saturday at 7 p.m. to determine the 2023 SLIAC Champion. 

Semifinals - #2 Fontbonne University defeated #3 Eureka College, 57-54
BOX SCORE

Fontbonne edged out Eureka in a low-scoring affair on Friday night to advance to their second SLIAC Championship game in three years. The Griffins had no trouble early, hitting on three of their first four shots to take a 7-0 lead just two minutes into the game. But with the score 14-8 at the 12:14 mark, the Griffins would proceed to go just 1-for-14 from the field over the next five minutes. Despite the scoring drought, Eureka could not take advantage, down 20-14 with 6:01 to play. 

Red Devil Austyn Ellison brought his team back into the game though with a three at the 3:41 mark to put his team within one point. Cody Baer was held scoreless in the game until the 1:09 mark of the first half when a jumper put the Red Devils up for the first time in the game. Ellison added to the lead with a three in the final seconds of the half as Eureka took a 26-22 lead into halftime. 

The scoring finally picked up mid-way through the second half when the teams traded baskets on four straight possessions with Fontbonne holding a 37-36 lead after the exchange. The final five minutes would feature two ties and six lead changes including three lead changes in the final 1:04. Jaden Betton converted a layup to give the Griffins the first lead change. After a steal, Noah Persich raced down the court for a Red Devil layup with 23 seconds left giving them the lead 54-53. Elijah Rice swiped the ball with seven seconds and then hit both free-throw attempts to put the Griffins up 57-54. The final play of the game saw the Red Devils race down the floor only to have a last-second shot attempt swatted away by Fontbonne's Cheikh Thiam. 

Thiam finished with just four points and seven rebounds in the game but played a key role on the defensive end and was a large part of the Red Devils shooting 35 percent from the floor. Brent Wagner led the Griffins with 16 points including going 4-of-6 from three-point range while Caden Clark finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. Eureka's Ellison finished with 15 points to lead his team.

Semifinals - #1 Webster University defeated #4 Principia College, 75-60 
BOX SCORE

Principia and Webster both struggled to score the ball in the first half, with both teams shooting 37 percent from the floor. That didn't stop the anticipation for the crowd as they saw the two teams change leads 24 times over the course of the game. Webster led 27-24 at the half as the Gorlok defense kept the long-range shooting Panthers at bay. Principia led the league in three-point shooting this season but failed to connect in the game's first 20 minutes, and in fact, didn't hit their first three until 16:28 of the second half. 

That three brought the Panthers to within two points but Webster's Wynne Brown Jr. stopped any chance at a run when he scored seven straight points over just a 1:28 span. Webster's lead did not last long as Principia rolled off six straight, capped by a Clark Davidson jumper that gave them the lead with 10:46 on the clock. With the game tied at 47-47 and 9:02 left Webster's Karl Moore Jr. knocked down a pair of free throws that put Webster ahead for good. Moore Jr. added a block on the other ensuing possession and the Gorloks were off on a 10-0 run to put the game away.

Webster outrebounded Principia 49-27 and held them to 3-of-10 shooting from three-point range. Brown Jr. finished with a game-high 27 points while Jason Coleman added 24 points. Principia was led by Clark Davidson with 17 points and 9 rebounds.

What's Next

• The 2023 SLIAC Men's Basketball game will be played Saturday, February 25 at 7 p.m. on the campus of Webster University. You can stream the game live with College Casts.
• This marks the third time in conference history that regular-season co-champions will meet in the tournament championship game. Other seasons are 2008-09 and 2010-11.
• This is the first time that Fontbonne and Webster will face each other in the SLIAC Tournament championship game.
• Fontbonne has won 5 SLIAC Championships with their last coming in 2009 while Webster has won 3 with their last in 2020.