Box Score

The Spalding University men's basketball team won their seventh straight game, defeating MacMurray College 63-52 Saturday afternoon. The Golden Eagles improve to 7-5 overall and 5-0 in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) play.

The win moves SU into first place in the SLIAC standings, one game ahead of Greenville, MacMurray, and Webster, who are in a three-way tie for second place with conference records of 3-1.

SU opened the game with seven unanswered points to start the game. Will Barber hit a jumper on Spalding's first possession, Quayshuan Hamilton scored on a put back, and Brandon Goeing knocked down a three-pointer to put SU ahead 7-0 at the 16:25 mark in the first half.

Barber drained a three-pointer at the 7:21 mark, giving SU a 23-11 lead, their largest lead of the first half. The Highlanders outscored SU 8-3 to end the half, but the Golden Eagles went to the half with a 26-19 lead.

Terez Smith hit one-of-two attempts from the free throw line to open the half, but MacMurray responded with a 5-0 run capped off by a Cole Busch layup to cut Spalding's lead to three at 27-24.

MacMurray would keep it within single digits until back-to-back three-pointers by Thomas Blakemore and Brandon Gabriel pushed the SU lead back to 10 points with 11:28 to play and Spalding went on to
win 63-52.

The Golden Eagles connected on 21-of-53 (39.6%) attempts from the field and out rebounded the Highlanders 46-31.

Blakemore paced the Golden Eagles with a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds. Barber also scored in double digits, finishing with 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting.

Brady Slagle scored a team-high 22 points and collected eight rebounds to lead the Highlanders.

Up next, the Golden Eagles will host the 7-4 (3-1 SLIAC) Greenville Tigers Tuesday, January 14. Tipoff is 8:00 p.m., ET at Derek Smith Gymnasium (DSG).