BABSON PARK, Fla. (January 23, 2020) – In what was dubbed as The Sun Conference's Men's Basketball Game of the Week, the Webber International University men's basketball team battled back from a large first-half deficit but still fell in a one-possession game, dropping a 77-75 decision against St. Thomas University on Thursday night inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.

Webber trailed 13-1 five and half a minutes into the game and did not score its first field goal until a 3-pointer by Malik Morrow six and half minutes in to make the score 13-4.

Later in the first half, Webber fell behind by 16 at 25-9 with just under eight minutes left before halftime, but the Warriors were able to chip away at the deficit and got back to within single digits at 27-18 following a 9-2 run with 5:30 left in the opening period.

The run started with four free throws by Tommie Luke and was also sparked by the energy and effort of newcomer Kris Goettert, who sank a 3-pointer for his first ever basket as a Warrior to make the score 27-16 before Jaylon Myles finished off the run with a layup.

Webber, looking to capitalize on its momentum, opened the second half on a tear by scoring a 3-pointer on each of its three possessions of the period. The first three came from Luke before Ariel Watson sank back-to-back threes to get the Warriors to within two points of the lead at 37-35 less than two minutes into the half.

Another 3-pointer by Watson tied the game up at 42-42 with 15:45 left to play to complete the Warriors' effort to come all the way back, and then Webber took its first lead of the contest one possession later on a three from Luke to make it 45-42.

Watson hit yet another 3-pointer less than a minute later to make it a 48-42 Webber advantage with 14:36 left, but then back-to-back threes by the Bobcats jumpstarted a huge 13-0 run for St. Thomas spanning just over three minutes, making the score 55-48 in favor of the road team with 10 and a half minutes left to play.

Webber took the lead back at 61-58 with a little bit under seven minutes left thanks to an 8-0 Warrior run that ended with four points by Rasheem Etienne.

A dunk by Goettert with 4:40 left tied the game for the fourth and final time of the second half at 66-66, but St. Thomas took the lead for good with a quick 3-pointer on its next possession.

A layup by Justin Brown, who was the Bobcats' leading scorer and is the second leading scorer in all of The Sun Conference at 23.38 points point per game entering the night, with 1:11 left to play put St. Thomas ahead by two possessions at 72-68 before Luke got Webber back to within two points with a dunk with one minute to go.

Watson made it a one-point game at 73-72 with two free throws with 35 seconds on the clock; and then with only 13 seconds left Luke dunked again to keep Webber within one at 75-74.

Unfortunately, the Bobcats' Ahmad Gilbert, who finished the game with a very impressive 23 points and 17 rebounds, sank two more free throws to make it a 3-point margin at 77-74 with 12 seconds left to play. In all, Gilbert was 5-for-6 from the free throw line during the final 50 seconds of the game.

After a 1-for-2 trip to the free throw line by Javonni Quince with only five seconds left made the score 77-75, Quince came up with a big steal on the ensuing inbounds attempt by St. Thomas to give Webber a chance down two with four seconds to go, but the Warriors were unable to get off a good look from three in an attempt to win the game.

"Tonight was an extremely fun game," spoke Head Men's Basketball Coach Allen Corbin. "Both teams battled and played hard. My guys played together on both ends of the floor and fought through a ton of adversity. Obviously we want to win every game, but it just didn't work out for us tonight. I like the growth I'm seeing in my guys. We must move on to prepare for Florida Memorial now."

Statistically for Webber, Luke scored a team-high 22 points while shooting 50 percent (7-14) from the field, finishing only one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards, and also adding four assists.

Watson was the only other Warrior in double figures in scoring as he finished with 18 points, all in the second half, and hit four 3-pointers, had four rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

Goettert scored nine points and had three rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block in his Warrior debut; Myles scored eight points; Quince had seven points, eight rebounds and six assists; Etienne had six points; and Malik Morrow and Chetachukwu Oliver both had six boards while Morrow also tied his career-high with three blocks.

Thursday night's contest was the first game of the second half of the 2019-20 Sun Conference season for both Webber (11-10 overall, 4-6 The Sun Conference) and St. Thomas (13-4, 6-4) as the Warriors' loss against the Bobcats combined with Warner University's (15-7, 4-6) 75-72 loss at home against Florida Memorial University on Thursday keeps the Warriors in a tie with the Royals for fifth place in The Sun Conference Men's Basketball standings.

Now, the Warriors will head into a TSC road matchup on Saturday, January 25, as Webber battles at Florida Memorial University. The Warriors and the Lions will do battle starting at 4 p.m. in Miami Gardens, Florida. Previously this season, the Warriors fell to the Lions by only one point at 89-88, on November 21 in Babson Park, Florida.