In basketball, there is nothing more beautiful than watching a team play together as fluidly as the Blackburn men’s basketball team can and on Saturday, Feb. 11, that ability was in full effect. The men traveled to St. Louis to go head-to-head with conference opponent Webster University in a battle for fourth place and a chance to earn a spot in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.
The men have battled all season and had fought their way to an 11-11 record prior to the contest, but they were forced to face an even bigger battle than taking down the team standing between them and the conference tournament. They were forced to replace their senior points leader.
In their previous game, a loss to Westminster, Chris Davis saw his season end when he landed awkwardly on his wrist near the baseline, breaking it in multiple spots and leaving the team without one of their top players. The Westminster game did not go according to plan as they suffered a 68-64 loss.That defeat did not resonate well with the team and they came back with a vengeance as they battled the Gorloks.
The first half seemed to be all Blackburn as they took their biggest lead of the contest – 14 points – with 6:23 left in the half. After the break, however, the Gorloks came out firing on all cylinders and made the Beavers and the fans sweat out the 65-60 victory for Blackburn. The game featured three lead changes and six ties as DeAndre Manuel flirted with a double-double, putting up 10 points and nine rebounds, as Gorlok Evan Milligan contributed 22 points for his team. Other scoring leaders for the Beavers included Jake Maestranzi with 13 and Reed Rusten with 10.
The win was perhaps one of the most important games for the season for the Beavers as it put them in control of their own destiny and gave them a top four position with high hopes of a conference tournament spot.