Louisville, KY 1/21/2023- The Westminster College men's basketball team faced off against the Spalding University Golden Eagles in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Eagles would win the game 79-54 and improve to 2-4 in the SLIAC and 3-13 on the season. The loss is the Blue Jays' fifth in a row and drops to 1-5 in the conference and 2-15 on the season.
The Blue Jays would have their only lead of the game at 6 to 5 with 15:00 left in the first half. The Golden Eagle would score nine straight points and take a 14-6 lead and would hold the lead for the rest of the game. Spalding would have a 33-17 lead with a minute to go until halftime. The Blue Jays would end the half by scoring a flurry of baskets in the final minute. They would score nine unanswered points to end the half trailing 33-26.
Starting the second half down just seven points after trailing by sixteen. Makygh Galbreath (Fulton, MO/Fulton) scored the first basket of the second half to get Westminster within five. Spalding would score on their first possession and get back to seven. The two teams would trade baskets for the next five minutes of game time. The momentum seemed to swing Westminster's way, however, at the 15:33 mark, Ben Eberlin (Hardin, IL / Calhoun) was fouled after running the floor on a fastbreak off a defensive rebound by the Blue Jays. After the foul, a technical foul was called on Spalding, resulting in four free throws for the Blue Jays. Jaxon Althaus (Oak Grove, MO/ Oak Grove) would make both technical free throws. Eberlin would make one and miss one to make it 40-35 and put the Jays down five once again. The Golden Eagles would hit a three on the ensuing possession to go back up eight. Both teams would trade turnovers that resulted in a layup from Spalding to go up ten points at 45-35 with 14:32 left to play. Spalding would continue to grow their lead and win the game 79-54.
It was a rough game for the Jays shooting 34% from the field, 28% from three, and committing 23 turnovers. This led to the Golden Eagles getting 27 points off turnovers and shooting 49% from the field. They would also be red hot from behind the arc going 8-14.
Althaus led the offense with 23 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. He would be the only Blue Jay to score in double figures with Tre Kempker (Eugene, MO/ Eugene) scoring 9 points and going 5-6 from the line.
The Blue Jays will be back in action on Wednesday, January 25th when they take on Fontbonne University in St. Louis. That game will tip off at 7:30 PM.
