Westminster men’s basketball falls short in overtime

The Westminster College men's basketball team took on Blackburn College on Saturday and needed overtime to decide a winner. In the end, the Beavers won the game 86-84. They improve to 3-5 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 7-12 overall. The Blue Jays fall to 1-7 in the SLIAC and 2-17 on the season.

Blackburn started the game with a 6-2 lead. The Blue Jays returned and took a 7-6 lead. This was the start of 40 lead changes and 12 ties in a back-and-forth affair. The Blue Jays led by 12 points, and Blackburn never had a lead larger than four. Westminster led 44-34 at the half.

The Beavers hit a 3 to start the second half and then scored on an offensive rebound put back. The Blue Jays committed a turnover on their next possession, leading to a timeout. Caleb Maassen scored coming out of the timeout off an assist from Brennan Jefferies to go back up seven, 46-39. The Blue Jays held that lead for the next eight minutes of game time. Blackburn hit back-to-back 3s to make 64-62 with 7:18 left to play. The Blue Jays called a timeout to regroup.

Jaxon Althaus hit a 3 after the timeout to go up 67-62. He made a layup to put the Jays up 69-62 with five minutes left in the game. The Beavers took the lead 73-71 after hitting another 3-pointer with 1:28 left. Kaden Eirhart got fouled and made two free throws to tie the game 73-73 and 30 seconds on the clock. However, the Beavers missed a 3 at the buzzer, and the game went into overtime.

They fouled Althaus to start the overtime; he went 2-2 and put the Blue Jays up 75-73. The Beavers regained the lead on their next possession after making their ninth 3-pointer of the game, going up 76-75. The Jays made a layup to take the lead back. However, the Beavers stayed hot from behind the arc and hit their 10th 3 of the game to go up 79-77. Makygh Galbreath answered with a 3-pointer to give Westminster an 80-79 lead with 1:55 left. Blackburn made a layup to go back on top; then they forced a turnover by the Blue Jays that resulted in a foul, sending the Beavers to the line for two free throws. They made both to take an 83-80 lead. Maassen made a layup off an assist from Tre Kempker to put Westminster down one point. The Blue Jays' next possession Coby Williams was wide open near the 3-point line; he nailed the shot. They ruled it a 2-pointer, and he gave Westminster a one-point lead, 84-83, with 24 seconds left. Blackburn answered and went back up 85-84. The Blue Jays turned the ball on their next possession with one second left. A foul was called, sending Blackburn to the line, and they made one free throw and won the game 86-84.

Westminster had five players score in double figures. Althaus led the Blue Jays' attack with 21 points and five rebounds. He was 4-6 from 3. Eirhart had 16 points off the bench. Galbreath had 14 points and was 4-5 from behind the arc. Kempker and Maassen both had 10 points in the game.

The Blue Jays are back in action Tuesday when they host Principia College for the annual Coaches vs. Cancer game. That game will tip off at 7:30 p.m.