Southern Illinois News

Men's basketball captures win over first place Webster

The men's basketball team extended their winning streak to three games with a 86-84 win over first place Webster in H.J. Long Gymnasium on Wednesday night. In their last five conference games, the Panthers are 4-1, and they sit in fourth place overall, tied with Eureka and Spalding for the final three conference tournament positions.

Webster took the early lead in the game, moving ahead by nine points in the first five minutes of the matchup. By halftime, the Panthers closed the deficit to 39-38, and Greenville eventually led by eight in the second half, a 17 point turnaround.

The score was tied at 80-all with two and a half minutes to play, and Jarred Johnson put the Panthers up 81-80 by making one of two free throws.

Webster responded with a bucket to go ahead 82-81, but Kaidyn Johnson answered with a layup to give Greenville the 83-82 advantage.

GU was able to stop Webster on their next possession, and Gaawar Tuom put back a missed three-point attempt for a basket to provide the Panthers with a three-point lead.

The Gorloks scored with six seconds remaining to make the score 85-84, but head coach George Barber drew up an inbounds play during the timeout that allowed the Panthers to get the ball quickly to the front court.

Webster managed to foul Keishun Thomas with a little under three seconds to play.

Thomas made the first free throw, missed the second, and then collected the offensive rebound to give the Panthers the win.

Overall, the Panthers' defense forced Webster into committing 31 turnovers, and Carlos Crespo accounted for three of Greenville's 13 steals.

J. Johnson provided a team-high 19 points in the win, and Thomas ended with 12 points. J. Johnson also led the team with four assists.

Darius Scott closed out the list of GU's double-figure scoring players with 11 points.

The Panthers (5-15, 4-5 SLIAC) travel to Principia on Saturday for a game at 3 p.m.

Original source can be found here