Senior guard TJ Johnston scored the Griffons final nine points lifting Western to a 65-64 victory over the William Jewell Cardinals in the opening contest of the 20th Annual Hillyard Tip-Off Classic. Johnson finished with a team high 18 points lifting Western to 3-0 on the season.

The Griffons opened up the contest getting down 7-0 before Lovonte Douglas nailed a free throw and a lay-up cutting the Cardinal lead to 7-3 with 16:31 to play. The Griffons pulled within two at 9-7 off a Douglas dunk but an 8-2 run by Jewell gave them their largest lead of the half at 17-9 with 10:19 to play.

Western continued to play hard closing the half on a 21-14 run cutting the Cardinal lead to 31-30 heading into the break. Western shot 48.1-percent (13-27) from the field with Douglas scoring ten points. Justin Reid had a nice half scoring four points and blocking three shots off the bench.

William Jewell shot 42.9-percent (12-28) from the field with Nick Larson leading the charge with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He made 7-of-10 field goals in the frame.

Western took their first lead of the game at the 18:46 mark of the second half off a jumper by Shawn Tarver. The next 10 minutes belonged to the Cardinals opening up a six point (52-46) advantage after a jumper by Devonte Bell with 9:21 to play.

The Cardinals continued to play well taking their largest lead of the second half at 57-50 after a Larsen layup with 5:52 to play in the game. The Griffons came alive going on a 12-2 run with Johnson tying the score at 59 with a 3-pointer and then nailing a jumper and two free throws giving the Griffons a four point lead at 63-59 with 1:22 to play.

The Cardinals did not give up as Chris Uz dumped in a three cutting the Griffon lead to one with 1:03 to play. Once again Johnson got a huge put back dunk giving Western a 65-62 lead with 21 seconds to go. The Cardinals had numerous chances down the stretch to win the game after a layup by Mark Mason but Western was able to hang on improving to 34-5 all-time in the Hillyard.

Western finished shooting 48.1-percent (26-54) from the floor and made 5-of-12 shots from beyond the arc. Douglas finished with 15 points and seven rebounds while James Harris scored 12 points for Western.

Larson led the charge for William Jewell with 23 points and 14 rebounds as the Cardinals fall to 1-1 on the season. Mason chipped in 16 points as Jewell shot 43.1-percent (25-58) from the floor.

Western returns to action on Saturday, November 19 closing out the 2011 Hillyard Tip-Off classic with an 8:00 pm match up with the Rockhurst Hawks in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —