Louisville, Ky 2/3/2024- The Westminster College men's basketball team took on the Spalding University Golden Eagles on the road in Louisville, Kentucky. The Blue Jays would have a lead for much of the game and held a two-point lead with 2 minutes left to play. The Golden Eagles would rally in the late minutes to win the game 79-70. Spalding improves to 11-9 overall and 10-4 in the SLIAC. Westminster falls to 4-17 on the season and 4-10 in conference play.
The Blue Jays would come out of the gates hot, getting out to an early 7-2 lead. They would have the upper hand for most of the half, holding that five-point lead. The Golden Eagles would come back to tie the game 22-22 after hitting a three-pointer with 7:14 left to play. Westminster would grow their lead back out to four points after Brysan Jeffries made two free throws to make it 28-24. Spalding would take the lead in the final 23 seconds of the half to take a 34-32 lead at the break. It would be their only lead of the half.
Ben Eberlin would score on the Blue Jays' opening possession to tie the game back up, 34-34. The Golden Eagles would hit a three to take the lead back, 37-34. The second half would be a flip of the first, with the Blue Jays trying to come back from behind to take back the lead. Spalding would go up 48-44 with 14 minutes left to play. Westminster would regain the lead after a layup from Brysan Jeffries made it 52-51. Both teams would ping-pong the lead back and forth, with neither team able to stop the other. The Blue Jays would hit back-to-back threes from freshman Walker Gohring and Jack Fessenden to put them on top 70-66 with 2:32 left to play. Spalding would call timeout. After the timeout, the Golden Eagles would go on a 7-0 run to take the lead back to 73-70, with 54 seconds remaining. They would end the game on a 13-0 run to win the game 79-70.
Walker Gohring led the offense with 16 points and 13 rebounds, recording his third straight double-double. Ben Eberlin had 13 points. Brennan Jeffries had 12 points and 7 rebounds. Brysan Jeffries had 9 points, going 3-3 from the field, 2-2 from the free throw line, and went 1-1 from behind the arc.
The Blue Jays will return to Fulton and host Principia College on Tuesday, February 6th. The game is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
