LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Freshman Cornelius Watts scored a career-high 21 points to help lead Spalding past Fontbonne, 70-58, Saturday afternoon at Derek Smith Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles improved to 8-17 on the season and 6-3 in SLIAC competition, while Fontbonne fell to 8-10 and 4-5 in SLIAC play.

THE BASICS
THE SCORE: Spalding 70 – Fontbonne 58
LOCATION: Derek Smith Gymnasium, Louisville, Ky.
RECORD: Spalding 6-10 (4-4 SLIAC), Fontbonne 3-14 (1-9 SLIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

A Brandon Williams jumper got SU on the board first, but Fontbonne's Jared Woodcock answered with a three-pointer to give the Griffins an early 3-2 advantage, their last of the game. The Golden Eagles answered with a quick 9-2 spurt capped off by a Brendan Holt jumper give SU an 11-5 lead. A Noah Coddington free throw cut SU's lead to one, but Rick Dunnavan had the answer scoring eight points in a 2:20 span to keep the Golden Eagles in front, 27-21. A Logan Kelley-Wolff layup trimmed SU's lead to two points with 2:25 to play in the first, but a Dominique Ellis three-pointer and Braeden Warren free throw helped Spalding maintain a 33-29 lead heading into the break. Watts was on fire to start the second half-scoring 10 points in the first two and a half minutes helping Spalding balloon their lead to 14 points. Another Watts basket with 3:46 would give SU a 16-point lead, their largest of the game, as the Golden Eagles cruised to the 70-58 victory.

Watts paced Spalding with a career-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. Junior Guard Domo Ellis also finished in double figures adding 12 points connecting at a 62.5% clip from the floor.

The Golden Eagles took advantage of 14 Griffin turnovers scoring 21 points off turnovers, a plus-15 margin.

FOR THE FOES

Thomas Ritter and Tristan Baker led Fontbonne with a game-high 12 points apiece, while Noah Coddington added 11 points.

UP NEXT

Up next, the Golden Eagles are on the road Monday, January 22 taking on Greenville University. Tipoff is 9:00 pm EST at H.J. Long Gymnasium.