ST. LOUIS, Mo. – On Thursday, Spalding men's basketball traveled to Fontbonne University to take on St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) opponent Greenville in the Semifinals. The Golden Eagles defeated the Panthers 110-95.
SU moved on to the Championship with a 15-11 overall record, while Greenville saw their season end with an overall record of 18-8.
TURNING POINT
It was a slow start for the Golden Eagles as the Panthers started the game on a 24-6 run. A three-pointer by
Charlie Storm started a run by SU. With ten minutes left in the half, Spalding fought the score back within eight with a layup by
Emmanuel Rislin.
Dominic Sanders followed Rislin's scoring with back-to-back layups of his own. Spalding cut the lead to five with eight minutes remaining. The Panthers kept fighting SU away, keeping their comfortable lead until about two minutes remaining. Storm scored nine points of his own to lead the Golden Eagles back before halftime. Greenville took the lead into the half, 58-53.
Spalding carried the momentum over from the first half to start the second half.
Anthony Dillard finished a strong and-one play to cut the Panther lead to just three with just over 16 minutes left in the game. After a few minutes of back and forth action,
Andre Crawford hit a big three to tie the game at 70. From there, Spalding was able to take their first lead of the game with just under 11 minutes remaining via a jumper by Dillard. SU used some stifling defense to keep the Panthers at bay for the remainder of the game, as Spalding cruised to victory and earned a spot in the championship game. The Golden Eagles took this one, 110-95.
GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES
- Caden Bradford and Andre Crawford each had 17 points and 6 rebounds.
- Seven Golden Eagles finished with double-digit points.
- Spalding's defense held Greenville to just 30% from the field in the second half.
NEXT FOR SPALDING
Spalding will travel to Fontbonne University on Saturday, February 24th. This will be the Championship of the SLIAC tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.