BABSON PARK, Fla. (December 18, 2018) – During day two of the Webber Christmas Shootout, the Webber International University men's basketball team defeated Johnson University – Florida, 104-84, to claim its fourth win in a row.
The win, which was Webber's third straight game reaching 100 or more points while winning by 20 or more, moved the Warriors to back to above .500 on the season at 8-7. Johnson, meanwhile, fell to 2-14 on the year.
Also for the third straight game, Webber put at least five players in double figures in scoring, and the Warriors also had five players with three or more assists.
Tommie Luke scored 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting while adding six rebounds and four assists.
Austin Evans scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting while adding eight rebounds and two assists. Luke has reached double-digits in scoring in all 15 games so far this season, and Evans expanded his double-digit scoring streak to eight straight games while collecting seven or more rebounds in all but one game during the streak.
Malik Morrow recorded his second career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and he also added three assists.
Rasheem Etienne added 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals; and
Kevin Grace and
Garrett Woodmansee both had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Grace also added four rebounds and three assists, and the final Warrior with three assists was
Nicholas Blocker, who also finished with four points and four boards.
Webber got off to a great start, leading 14-2 four minutes and 15 seconds into the game.
A 10-2 Webber run then made it a 14-point game at 34-20 with nine minutes left in the first half, and then Webber's largest lead of the half came after a jumper by Morrow made it a 15-point margin at 43-28 with 3:24 on the clock.
Webber shot 52.6 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes while holding Johnson to only 38.7 percent. However, the Suns stayed in it down 14 at the half thanks to shooting 6-of-12 from 3-point range.
Early in the second half, Johnson fought back from a 17-point deficit and used a 7-0 run to get within seven at 58-51 only four minutes into the final period.
Evans then scored on a put back to stop the run and jumpstart an 11-3 Warrior run that made it 69-54 with 13 minutes remaining.
With 10 and a half minutes left, the Warriors grew their lead to 20 at 79-59 after a beautiful alley-oop by Luke from
Nicholas Toledo and a 3-pointer by Morrow on the assist from Grace.
The Suns never got within closer than 15 the rest of the way despite shooting 50 percent from the floor in the second half and finishing 44 percent from three for the game. The Warriors finished at a clip of 55.2 percent from the field overall and were 40 percent from three after connecting on 7-of-13 3-pointers in the second half and making 12 from long range overall.
Next up, Webber will conclude its Christmas Shootout at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 19, against NCAA Division-III Fontbonne University.
