Sanford's 28 points guides Bluejays win over Griffins

St. Louis- Nick Sanford's 28 points kept the Griffins from stealing the Elmhust College Bluejays' lead. Fontbonne fell 61-53 on Saturday in Elmhurst, Ill.The Bluejays have now won six straight games.

The Griffins led 9-8 in the first half and both teams were evenly matched until the first half was nearing completion. Elmhurst's 19-7 run (27-17 lead) seemed to put the Griffins on their heels, but Fontbonne slowly came back to trail 41-37 at the half.

The Griffins wouldn't see the lead again until 11:15 to go in the second half. To get there, Fontbonne went on a 15-0 run in 4:15. Freshman Orkan Bakis drained a three pointer on an assist from sophomore Blake Welch. Fouled, Bakis made his free throw to give Fontbonne their second lead of the game (60-59). A seven-point lead (68-61) would be the largest for the Griffins, right before the Bluejays made their 11-2 comeback to regain a 72-71 lead.

Fontbonne was down two points with 1:49 remaining before Elmhurst scored nine unanswered points and would hold on for the win.

Four Griffins and five Bluejays scored double-digit points. Sanford held the only double-double of the game grabbing 12 rebounds in addition to his 28 points.

Sophomore Jared Greenlee scored a Griffin-high 19 points and their only blocked shot. Welch's 15 points off the bench came from a perfect 4-4 from three-point range and 3-3 from the line. Welch missed just one shot on the night. Bakis finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman Bryan DeGeare ended the afternoon right behing Bakis with 13 po ints and seven rebounds.

Tonight Fontbonne is at the Concordia University Chicago for a 5pm start time.