MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (January 3, 2019) – The Webber International University men's basketball team kicked off 2019 with a hard fought outing on the road at St. Thomas University, but in the end the Warriors could not complete the comeback effort, falling 91-83 on Thursday night inside the Fernandez Family Center.

After the Bobcats led by as much as 15 (72-57) with 8:22 left to play, the Warriors used an 8-0 run starting with five points by Nicholas Blocker and finishing with a 3-pointer from Simon Fransis to get back to within single digits at 72-65 with 6:15 to go.

Then, Webber began to make it really interesting with a 6-0 run as a layup by Tommie Luke, followed by a block from Malik Morrow, a layup by Rasheem Etienne and a layup by Fransis after his offensive rebound made it a three-point game at 77-74 with only 3:27 left.

That would, however, be as close as Webber would get as an and-one by the Bobcats on their next possession got it back to a six-point game; and then down 82-77 with only 2:27 left, a missed free throw by Luke, a turnover by Etienne and a Bobcat offensive rebound that resulted in two free throws halted the Warriors' comeback attempt.

A tough transition jumper by Etienne made it 84-79 with 1:12 left, but Webber missed its chance to get back within one possession as a three by Etienne that would have made it 84-82 just rolled off the rim before a highlight reel dunk by Luke with less than 30 seconds left was simply one of many strong plays by the sophomore in a losing effort.

Luke would finish with 20 points on a very impressive 80 percent shooting from the field. He also added four rebounds and two assists.

The three other Warriors in double figures in scoring were Etienne with 13 points and six assists, Austin Evans with 10 points on 50 percent shooting with six boards and a career-high six assists, and Nicholas Blocker with a season-high 10 points and three helpers.

Garrett Woodmansee also added eight points as both he and Etienne connected on two 3-pointers in the first half, and Morrow added a game-high seven rebounds.

In all, Webber finished 50 percent from the field (30-60) for the game and was 9-of-25 (36 percent) from 3-point range.

The first half featured a lot of fast paced, back-and-forth action with both teams putting up at least 10 3-point attempts in the first 10 minutes (WIU 4-12; STU 3-10).

After the largest lead of the first half was Webber by five early on, it was only a one-point game at halftime (40-39) with the Bobcats leading. Both squads finished the first half with six makes from three (WIU 6-17; STU 6-19).

It was the second straight Sun Conference game to come down to the final few minutes for the Warriors, but in the end, the Warriors' five-game winning streak was snapped as Webber fell to 9-8 overall and 1-5 in The Sun Conference. St. Thomas, meanwhile, which has been very good in TSC play despite its overall record, improved to 6-8 and 5-1.

Next up, Webber hosts Florida Memorial University at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 5, in its first home game of 2019.