The Golden Eagles won a 64-61 thriller over Fontbonne Tuesday night. Spalding had four players score in double figures. Jametrius Brasher and Thomas Blakemore both recorded double-doubles. Brasher finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Blakemore had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Fontbonne jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before a Jametrius Brasher got Spalding on the board with a jumper to make it 4-2. Spalding tied the game on their next possession when Chris McDonald knocked down two free throws. Spalding took a 5-4 lead on a Brasher free throw, but Fontbonne hit a three pointer retaking the lead 7-5. Dominque Sangester put Spalding up 8-7 with a deep three from the wing.  Fontbonne answered with a jumper in the lane, but a Brasher put back on Spalding’s next possession retook the lead 10-9. Fontbonne went on a 6-2 run leading 16-12 with 11:15 left in the first half. A Thomas Blakemore layup fueled a quick 9-0 Spalding run giving the Golden Eagles a 21-16 lead at the 9:43 mark in the first half. Fontbonne responded with a 5-2 run cutting Spalding lead to 2 at 23-21. Sangester pushed the Golden Eagle lead back to 4 at 25-21, with a nice put back off a missed St. Julian three point attempt. A three point play and fast break layup by Brasher extended Spalding’s lead to 9 with 2:26 left in the first. Fontbonne’s Andrew Chism hit jumper cutting the Golden Eagle lead to 7. Brasher nailed a mid range jumper with the shot clock winding down to put Spalding back up 9. Chris McDonald hit two free throws to put Spalding up 11, but a floater at the buzzer cut the Golden Eagle lead to 9 at the half. Spalding had two players in double figures at halftime, Brasher with 12 points and Sangester with 10.

Chris McDonald hit baseline jumper to put Spalding up 11, but a Fontbonne three cut it back to 8 at 40-32. Spalding went up 42-32 when Chris McDonald got a layup off and offensive rebound. A free throw and Andrew Chism jumper got Fontbonne within 7, but McDonald hit a baseline jumper and transition layup to put the Golden Eagles up 46-35. Fontbonne went on a 12-2 run cutting Spalding’s lead to 1 at 48-47 with 11:19 to play. Thomas Blakemore hit a jumper pushing Spalding’s lead to 3, but Fontebonne responded with a jumper on their next possession. Cutting the Golden Eagles lead to 1 with 8:34 left to play.  Blakemore scored a layup in transition to put Spalding up 52-49 at the 7:43 mark. Fontbonne took the lead on a three pointer, but Spalding regained the lead on a run out layup by Blakemore with 5:05 left. A pair of free throws and a runner by Andrew Chism gave Fontbonne a 3 point lead with 4:03 to play. Tyler St. Julian cut the Fontbonne lead to 1, but the Griffins answered on their next possession to up 3. Spalding tied the game with a free throw by Robert Pittman, and dunk by Brasher.  Robert Pittman made the front in of 1 and 1to give the Golden Eagles a 60-59 lead with 2:15 to play. Blakemore put back an offensive rebound giving Spalding a 3 point lead, but Fontbonne answered with a jumper in the lane to make it 62-61. Sangester hit two clutch free throws to put the Golden Eagles up 3 with 34 seconds remaining to give Spalding the victory. The Golden Eagles next home game is Thursday against Blackburn College at 8:00pm.

Tags: General, Men's Basketball //