LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Spalding University men's basketball team was held scoreless for the final 4:44 as they fell to MacMurray College, 70-68. The Golden Eagles slip to 14-8 on the season and falls to second place in SLIAC standings at 11-4. MacMurray moves into first place with a 10-3 conference record and 10-10 overall record.

Four Golden Eagles reached double figures, led by Brandon Goeing's 20 points on 5-of-6 three point shooting. Brandon Gabriel finished with 18 points and James Turner added 16. Javonte Lavender pitched in with 10 points off the bench.

Spalding trailed for much of the first half falling behind early after an 8-0 Highlander run gave Mac a 12-5 advantage. The teams essentially traded baskets for the next 10 minutes. Spalding fought back to tie the game at 20 but the Highlanders promptly pulled back ahead by seven points at 27-20 with five minutes left to play in the half. Gabriel scored the next eight points, Javonte Lavender added a jump shot and Brandon Goeing scored eight straight to end the half as Spalding used an 18-9 stretch to close the half. The Eagles led 38-36 at the break.

The momentum carried over into the second half for the Eagles, as they scored the first seven points to take a 45-36 lead a little over a minute into the second half. Spalding would go ahead by as many as 12 points, the first time after back-to-back three pointers by Goeing. The lead wavered between eight and 12 points for the next six minutes. A tip-in by Chris Leon pushed the lead back up to 12 with seven minutes left, 66-54, but Spalding would score only two points the rest of the way while missing five out of seven free throws. The Golden Eagles had a chance to win the game but a three pointer at the buzzer by Lavender was long.  

The Golden Eagles will be back in action Saturday, February 14 versus Principia at Derek Smith Gymnasium at 3:00 p.m. EST.