LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Spalding men's basketball team outlasted Fontbonne, 68-62, Wednesday night at Columbia Gym. With the win, the Golden Eagles improve to 7-9 overall and 6-3 in conference play.
 
THE BASICS
THE SCORE: Spalding 68 – Fontbonne 62
LOCATION: Columbia Gym | Louisville, Ky.
RECORDS: Spalding 7-9 (5-2 SLIAC) | Fontbonne 5-10 (3-5 SLIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
- In a matchup of SLIAC foes, the Griffins opened the game with a 7-2 run jumpstarted by a Jared Woodcock three-pointer on Fontbonne's first possession.  A Brendan Holt jumper and Jacob Coke layup bookended a 6-0 run putting SU in front, 8-7. After a trio of lead exchanges, Fontbonne would edge out to 21-17 lead on a pair of Gus Kleekamp free throws. Over the next 5:50, SU's backcourt combo of Dominique Ellis and Marcus Montgomery took over the game combining for every point in a Golden Eagles 12-0 run putting SU in front, 29-21. Fontbonne's Shawn Leonard got to the rim for a pair of layups to end the half, but Spalding went to the locker room at halftime leading, 29-25.

- Spalding and Fontbonne traded baskets of the first six minutes. With SU leading by four, the Griffins went on a 7-0 run taking a 40-37 lead, and held a 47-45 lead with 8:06 to play. A Holt layup tied it at 47 and the Golden Eagles used a 13-2 run to pull ahead by nine following a Holt and-one. SU looked to be in control leading by eight with under a minute to play, but Holt was whistled for a foul on a Woodcock made layup, followed by a technical foul allowing the Griffins to cut the deficit to four with 44 seconds remaining. A pair of Robert Bendingfield free throws extended SU's lead back to six and Spalding locked the Griffins down on defense on the next possession, but a Jalen Wadlington was able to knockdown a 30-foot double-clutch three-pointer to cut Spalding's lead to three with 24 seconds left to play. After a foul, Bendingfield converted 1-of-2 from the free throw line to make it a two possession game. On Fontbonne's next possession, Wadlington missed the mark twice, air-balling his final attempt and a pair of Ellis free throws following a foul earned SU the win, 68-62.  

NOTABLE STATS
- The Golden Eagles had four players score in double digits. Dominique Ellis would lead all scorers with 16 points while Montgomery dropped 14 points. Holt had an efficient night scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Bendingfield also had a solid outing finishing with 11 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.

- A big factor in the game was SU winning the turnover battle. Despite shooting a lower percentage and being outrebounded 48-31, Spalding was able to force 29 Griffin turnovers resulting in 26 points off turnovers.

FOR THE FOES
- Wadlington and Woodcock led the Griffins with 10 points apiece, while Ian Cochran pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.  
 
UP NEXT
- The Golden Eagles are back in action Saturday, January 17^th at home taking on the Principia Panthers at 3:00 pm EST.