Blackburn jumped out to a 9-3 lead, but the Bears reeled off 18 of the next 24 points for a 21-15 lead. WU’s bench provided much of the scoring bulk, finishing with 24 points in the first half. Freshman Jim Grabowski notched a career-high eight points off the bench for the Bears in the opening stanza; WU’s bench outscored Blackburn’s 24-0 in the first period.
WU pushed ahead to a 30-20 lead when sophomore Neal Griffin connected from downtown at the 5:56 mark. The Bears stretched their lead to 39-23 before heading into the locker room with a 39-27 advantage. Washington U. featured a balanced attack with 10 players scoring in the first half. Sophomore Brandon York chipped in with six points as the Bears shot 16-for-31 from the field. Junior John Essington led the Beavers with 11 points.
Blackburn (5-4) started the second half with a 10-3 run, led by junior Nick Barnett’s five points, to cut the Bears’ lead to 42-37 with a little more than 15:00 on the clock. However, WU extended its lead to 47-37 and kept the margin around 10 points before some late free throws padded the lead.
Senior Rob Keller helped lead the Bears’ defense in holding the Beavers’ leading scorer, junior Luke Djedovic, to 2-of-16 shooting from the field. Djedovic entered the game averaging nearly 15 points per game.
York tallied a team-high 12 points for the Bears, while Grabowski finished with 10 points. Junior Scott Stone chipped in with seven points, six assists, six rebounds and three steals. Barnett posted a game-high 16 points for Blackburn. The Bears finished the game with a 45-2 advantage in points off the bench.
Edwards is the 46th coach in Division III history to surpass the 400-win plateau. He has a 400-209 career record, good for a .657 winning percentage which is 42nd among active coaches.
Washington U. returns to action 16 days from today when it hosts Maryville University. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. at the WU Field House.