Westminster men bow at home to MacMurray

Junior forward Matt Murphy led the Blue Jays with 15 points in their 79-71 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss to the Highlanders on Wednesday night at Westminster Gymnasium.

Murphy finished 6-of-13 from the field for Westminster College (4-16, 3-10 SLIAC).

The Blue Jays trailed 38-31 at the break, but cut the deficit to four points twice in the game's final 4 minutes, 1 second before MacMurray (Illinois) College closed the contest out.

Murphy finished 6-of-13 from the field and knocked down 3-of-5 3-pointers. Freshman guard Tanner Cochran finished with 13 points, while junior guard Brandon Drum scored 11 as Westminster shot 42 percent (21-of-50) from the field.

Drum and Murphy led the Blue Jays with four rebounds apiece.

Dylan Guthrie responded with a game-high 27 points for the Highlanders (10-10, 10-3). Clayton Whitlock scored 14 points, while Deavis Johnson and James Williams each tallied 12 as MacMurray shot 43 percent (19-of-44) as a team.

Johnson collected a game-high 10 rebounds as the Highlanders owned a 33-27 edge on the boards.

The Blue Jays continue SLIAC play at Eureka (Illinois) College at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Red Devils downed Westminster 68-65 on Jan. 10 in Fulton.