Westminster Men's Basketball Ends 2018 With Loss to WashU

Westminster Men's Basketball Ends 2018 With Loss to WashU

FULTON, Mo. - Westminster men's basketball faced WashU in a New Years Eve battle, falling 92-80 to the Bears.

Westminster falls to 4-7 with the nonconference loss. 

"This was yet another one of our tough nonconferenced games," said Westminster Head Coach Matt Mitchell. "We moved the ball well and shot the ball well at times, but WashU's rebounding performance was ultimately the deciding factor of the game."

The Blue Jays opened the game with a lead on a three-pointer from Collin Caywood, holding their lead throughout the opening 10 minutes of play, ending the first 10 minutes ahead 20-17. 

Caywood knocked down another three-pointer at the 9:47 mark to go up 25-17 on the Bears, followed by a Romo Tabb three-pointer to take the largest Blue Jay lead of the game. 

Westminster was never able to take a double-digit lead, allowing the Bears to sneak back in the game and take a 33-32 lead with just over four minutes to play in the half. A three-pointer from WashU to close out the half put Westminster down 43-34 at the half. 

Westminster allowed a double-digit lead at the 17:45 mark of the second half and the Blue Jays weren't able to recover thanks to a strong rebounding performance from the Bears, outrebounding Westminer 43-17. After falling behind by 12, Westminster went on a 9-0 run on freethrows from Tabb, Caywood, and Hollandsworth, capped by a three-pointer from Tabb to pull Westminster back within three points of the lead. 

Despite the attempt to pull ahead, Westminster was unable to recover the lead for the remainer of the game, eventually falling 92-80. 

Caywood was the game's high-scorer with 21 points, going 5-9 from behind the arc. Tabb added 18 while Hollandsworth added 17. 

Westminster continues conference play Jan. 3 at home against Spalding. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.