The Westminster men had not played in a game since Jan. 5 before playing Sunday at Webster.
The offense struggled to a 32.1 shooting percentage and a season-low 44 points in the Blue Jay’s 59-44 loss. Westminster had one score in double figures as Jaxon Althaus scored 16 points on 7-for-19 shooting while the rest of the team shot 27 percent from the field.
Webster (4-10, 2-1 SLIAC) finished with a 39.3 shooting percentage and had a 21-point performance from Rodison Etienne and an 18-point one from Wynne Brown Jr. Karle Moore and Javane Nugent pulled down 14 and 11 rebounds, respectively, to lead a 47-28 rebounding advantage for the Gorloks.
Westminster (4-9, 0-2 SLIAC) began the first half with four missed shots and a turnover and were down 10-0 after about five minutes. Emil Spriggs hit a jumper after a timeout to get the Blue Jays on the scoreboard. He hit the next Blue Jay field goal and picked up a steal along with Ethan Thompson, but they were down 15-5 halfway through the first half.
Althaus scored hit first points with a jumper around the nine-minute mark to cut the deficit to 17-7, but Webster responded with a 10-0 run for a 27-7 lead with 5:16 left until halftime. Althaus knocked down a 3-pointer off a pass from Fulton graduate Makygh Galbreath, making it 27-10 at 4:53, before the Blue Jays trailed 33-15 at the intermission.
Westminster began the second half with a couple of turnovers but converted on its first shot attempt after Althaus made a layup to make it 33-17 with 18:43 to go. Galbreath knocked down a 3-pointer after Webster turned it over, but that was when the Gorloks found their footing again to match Westminster bucket-for-bucket.
Althaus cut the margin to single digits at 40-32 off a Webster turnover with 11:30 left, and Bryce Woolridge answered seconds later with a layup. The Westminster deficit was 47-41 with 4:11 to go after a Devonte Hubbard put in an offensive rebound after a Nugent block and then Althaus stole the ball to set up a Landon Harrison layup. The Blue Jays couldn’t make the shots down the stretch to wittle the deficit down anymore.
Westminster continues the search for its first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory with a 7:30 p.m. meeting today with Principia (5-5, 1-0 SLIAC) at home in a game that was rescheduled from Jan. 8 because of COVID-19 protocols. The Panthers will be playing their first game since Jan. 4, following three straight games that had to be postponed.