2008 Woodie Awards
Men lose first rounder, season over
By: Grant Bissell
Issue date: 3/2/06 Section: Sports
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That's how men's head basketball coach Chris Bunch summed up the Gorloks' 82-76 loss in their first and only game in this year's St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament.
After an impressive come-from-behind victory over Greenville College, Bunch and his Gorloks seemed ready to make a run at a SLIAC tournament title and a bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament.
Unfortunately, Webster's men ran into a Maryville Saints team that was firing on all cylinders.
The Gorloks and Saints split their season series, each winning a game, but coach Bunch said that every time Maryville lost a game this season, they were missing a key player.
The Saints strolled into "The Beaverdome" at Blackburn College Feb. 23 with a full roster. One that proved too much for the Gorloks to handle.
Less than four minutes into the game, the Gorloks were behind by 10 points and they found themselves playing catch-up all night.
The first half ended the way it started, with the Saints leading by 10.
The Gorloks hung tough in the second half thanks in large part to Darrin Hoggatt and Ryan Turk. Both went 4-4 from the line and contributed 16 points. More impressive was Turk's three-point shooting. The freshman hit 4-5 from outside the arch and ignited a comeback that brought Webster within two points with just over three minutes left on the clock.
When Hoggatt and Turk weren't scoring, Scott Spinner and Christian Basilio were. Spinner added 12 points, nine of which cam from three-point land and Basilio, Webster's lone senior, said "Aloha" to his college basketball career with one last 10 point performance.
Although most of Webster's roster contributed to the effort, Maryville would not be denied. All five of the Saint's starters scored in double digits and Maryville out-rebounded the Gorloks all night.
The final nail in Webster's coffin was a 30-foot three-pointer by Maryville's Ben Hebl to put the Saints up by 7 with 1:39 left in the game. The Saints went on to win the game and eventually, the entire tournament.
The Gorloks fell short of their pre-season goal of another SLIAC championship, but the majority of the team will remain together next season and coach Bunch feels the Webster University basketball program has a bright future ahead of it.