Men's Basketball Upsets MacMurray 74-69

St. Louis- The crowd was rowdy this afternoon in an intense, foul-plagued game as Fontbonne University men's basketball upset the MacMurray College Highlanders 74-69. The Highlanders received their third loss against a SLIAC opponent. With today's win, the Griffins went above .500 (9-8). The last time Fontbonne men's basketball finished at or above .500 was the 2008-2009 season with a SLIAC record of 12-4.

Fontbonne fans and coaches were not pleased with the questionable fouls called against the Griffins both offensively and defensively. The Griffins recorded the win today for the most part without 6'8 freshman Bryan DeGeare. DeGeare got into foul trouble early, recording his second foul in the first three minutes of the game. DeGeare was called for two more fouls within 20 seconds of each other two minutes into the second half and would foul out with nine minutes to go. DeGeare was only in the game for a total of six minutes.

With MacMurray leading by two at halftime, fans and players were anxious for second-half play to begin. The Griffins took their second lead of the game (33-32) with 18:44. Buckets would continue to exchange with MacMurray leading until DeGeare re-entered the game. DeGeare sunk a three-pointer and wowed fans with a dunk within 25 seconds, giving Fontbonne a 54-52 lead with 7:41 remaining. MacMurray posted a 6-1 run, leading 58-56 when Richard Dorhauer sank a three-pointer, giving Fontbonne a 59-58 advantage. The Highlanders made a free throw to tie the game, but Kody Ettinger went 2-2 at the line, giving the Griffins the edge. Fontbonne would secure the lead for the remainder of the game, winning 74-69.

Today's win snaps a four-game losing streak for the Griffins against MacMurray. In total, three Highlanders and two Griffins fouled out of the game. Fontbonne recorded 21 turnovers while MacMurray walked away with 13. The Griffins out-shot the Highlanders 53%-40% overall.

For Fontbonne, Kody Ettinger scored 18 points off the bench, shooting 5-9 in the field and 8-11 from the line. Jared Greenlee was big inside for the Griffins with 17 points and eight rebounds. Darius Rucker was a perfect six for six in the field, totaling 13 points along with Dorhauer who was 6-6 in free throws and grabbed six rebounds.

Brady Slagle recorded 21 points and seven rebounds, managing to stay foul-free until the final minute of the game.

The Griffins return to Lee McKinney Court on Tuesday, hosting Webster University in their final game of the season. The Griffins will be honoring senior Yada Demisse at 8pm.