Fulton, MO, 1/22/22 – The Westminster College men's basketball team hosted the Spalding University Golden Eagles Saturday afternoon in Historic Gym. The Blue Jays turned in a stellar 32-35 performance from the free throw line capitalizing on an attacking offense to earn a 79-70 victory over the Golden Eagles. The Blue Jays placed four players in double figures as the Blue Jays improved to 6-10 overall and 2-3 in the SLIAC.
The game was a back-and-forth affair in the first half with neither team gaining much of a lead. The half saw 3 ties and six lead changes. The Blue Jays took their largest lead of the first half when Emil Spriggs (Kansas City, MO / Lees Summit North) knocked down a corner three-pointer off a nifty Landon Harrison (Jefferson City, MO / Helias) assist to give the Blue Jays a 25-21 lead. Spalding would hit two free throws just before halftime to take the lead 35-34 into the break.
The Blue Jays wasted no time in the second half as Harrison buried a jumper to take the lead 36-34 and Jaxon Althaus extended that lead with a three-pointer with 17:34 left in the game for a 39-35 and the Blue Jays would never trail again.
With 9:01 to play in the game the Blue Jays got out in transition. Brennan Jeffries (Jefferson City, MO / Jefferson City) took an outlet pass and headed down the court. He would fire a fifty foot pass down the court finding Blue Jay sharpshooter Ethan Thompson (Columbia, MO / Hallsville) open on the right wing and he buried the three to give the Jays their biggest lead so far at 57-49 and prompting a Spalding timeout.
The Blue Jays continued to lead late in the game eventually taking their biggest lead of the night at 71-60 on a Makygh Galbreath (Fulton, MO / Fulton) layup off a nice assist from Tre Kempker (Eugene, MO / Eugene) with 3:33 to play. The Blue Jays went 4-4 from the free throw line to seal the victory 79-70.
The Blue Jays were led by Harrison with 19 points. Althaus had 17 points followed by Kempker and Spriggs with 11 points each to round out the double figure scorers. Althaus led the Jays on the boards with eight rebounds. Althaus and Kempker led the team with three assists each.
The Blue Jays will be back in action on Tuesday January 25th when they travel to Carlinville, IL to take on the Blackburn College Beavers. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
