Blackburn Punches Ticket to the SLIAC Tournament

Blackburn Men's Basketball won a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon over Spalding in Louisville, Kentucky. The Golden Eagles had a lead at halftime, but the Beavers soared back in the second half to win by the score of 70 to 58.

With this win the Beavers secure a spot in the SLIAC tournament. Blackburn will play in the tournament for the third straight year. The tournament will be held at Webster University on Friday February 29^th.

The Beavers were without Senior guard Karson Hayes, as he is the leading scorer for the Beavers. Hayes averages 19.9 points per game. Hayes suffered an injury in the prior game.

The Golden Eagles started the game on a 12-0 run as they forced three early turnovers and turn those turnovers into points. Blackburn is familiar with starting slow in games, so this was nothing new to the Beavers. With six minutes left in the half the Beavers carved into the lead as Spalding was up 30 to 20. Blackburn went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just three points. The lead never got smaller than that, as the halftime score was 40 to 33.

In the first half Blackburn's offense was Sophomore guard Chanz Aldridge. He played 19 minutes and scored 21 points, shooting nine of 12 from the floor. Junior guard Javon Stovall followed with six points, shooting two of six from the floor and grabbed four rebounds.

The Golden Eagles were led by Marcus Montgomery, who scored 18 points, shooting six of 12 from the floor and four of five beyond the arc. Montgomery also played all 20 minutes in the half.  Troy Amanor followed with eight points, shooting three of six from the field and snagged seven rebounds.

In the second half Blackburn outscored Spalding 37 to 18. The Beavers displayed tremendous defense as they held the Golden Eagles under 32 percent from the field and 18 percent from three-point land. Blackburn shot 43 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arch.

With 15:33 left in the game Blackburn found themselves down 51 to 39. Then Blackburn went on a 15-6 run to take the lead and never looked back. Blackburn did not allow Spalding to regain the lead again.

In the second half the Beavers had three players in double figures. Stovall led the way with 14 points, shooting seven of 10 from the floor. Junior guard Bryson Kirby scored 12 points, shooting four of dour from beyond the arch. Aldridge scored 11 points, shooting 3 of 10 from the floor.

In the second half the Golden Eagles only had two players score a basket. Amanor led Spalding with 12 points, shooting five of six from the field. Montgomery had six points, shooting two of nine from the floor.

GAME TOTALS:

The Beavers had three players in double-digits. Aldridge led the way with a career-high 32 points, shooting 12 of 22 from the floor, grabbing six rebounds, and credited with three steals. Stovall finished with 20 points, shooting nine of 16 from the floor, two of two from behind the arc and collected seven rebounds. Kirby scored 13 points, four of eight from three-point land and grabbed six rebounds.

Spalding was led by Montgomery as he scored 24 points, shooting nine of 21 from the floor and six of 12 from beyond the arc. Amanor was credited with a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The Beavers finish the regular season 13-12, (SLIAC 12-6) and Spalding finishes 4-21, (SLIAC 4-14). Blackburn will play