Men’s Team Suffers First Conference Loss

The Men’s Basketball Team came into today’s game off their best win of the season as they took down the 7-3 Lions of Mount St. Joseph. Once again Dewhon Mcafee led the way in the last game with his third best point total of the year with 27. The team now prepared to take on conference opponent Webster University.

The first half of play was dominated primarily by the visiting team. The Gorloks shot a season best in the half going 14-29 from the field for a 49% shooting percentage as opposed to Spalding’s 35%. However, it was not all bad news for the Golden Eagles. As Webster was completing a 10-1 run to extend their lead to 12 the Golden Eagles came soaring back and was able to cut the lead to 6.  Once again the front court for Spalding made the difference in the first half as Jamal Bacon, Cody Cutsinger, and Dewhon Mcafee were the 3 leading scorers for the team combining for 15 points. The biggest stat of the first half was that Spalding scored 18 of their 24 first half points in the paint with the only points scored outside the paint came via 3 pointers by Bacon and Cutsinger. The Golden Eagles went into halftime trailing 32-24.

The second half saw Webster continue their hot shooting and they quickly were able to extend their lead. Going into the halfway point of the second half they were shooting a staggering 56% from the field. Spalding on the other hand was only shooting 33% however that does not tell the whole story. It was not the fact that the team was taking bad shots, they were simply getting bad bounces around the rim. The frontcourt of the Golden Eagles often found themselves near and around the basket, but their shots were simply not falling. Spalding played a hard fought game but a barrage of 3 pointers in the second half for Webster was too much to overcome. The Golden Eagles suffered their first defeat in conference play by a score of 72-51

Leading the way for Spalding was point guard Dewhon Mcafee with 19 points, and Phillipe Moune led the team once again in rebounding with 6. Their next game will be at home against preseason favorites Westminster College out of Fulton, MO. The game will be a battle for first place in the conference and will take place at 8:00pm.