Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team dropped to 4-5 overall after the Bluejays' second half rally fell short in a 63-60 loss to Westminster College.

The game featured two ties and seven lead changes as Elmhurst led 30-28 at halftime. 

Westminster (5-3) quickly grabbed the lead early in the second half and built an 11-point advantage (50-39) with 11 minutes left on the clock. Westminster led by nine with less than seven minutes to play when Elmhurst used a five-guard line-up to get back into the contest.

The Bluejays chopped Westminster's lead down to six points and the sliced the lead to just three after Zack Boyd converted a three-point play. After a pair of free throws from Joe Acosta pulled the Bluejays to within a point, Dustin Bainter gave Elmhurst the lead as a splashed home a 3-pointer.

A free throw from Westminster cut the Bluejays' lead in half with three minutes to play. After Elmhurst failed to score on its next possession,  Kurt Kovach knocked down a jumper to put Westminster back on top 59-58 with 1:45 left.

Down by a point with 43 seconds to play, Boyd missed a free throw line jumper, but Acosta tracked down the loose ball. Chris Childs 3-point attempt bounced off the back iron and Stanley Crawford grabbed the board for Westminster. 

Westminster pushed its lead back up to four points on three free throws in the final seconds. Bainter hit a lay-up with two seconds to play to cut the lead down to just two, but Crawford hit one-of-two free throws with less than a second to play to seal the win for Westminster.

Elmhurst shot just 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the floor, including 22.2 percent (4-of-18) from downtown. Westminster finished the contest shooting 42.9 percent (18-of-42) from the field, including 40.0 percent (6-of-15) from downtown. 

Bainter led Elmhurst with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting. He added seven rebounds in the loss. Zack Boyd totaled 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while Acosta finished with a double-double, totaling 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Westminster was led by Crawford's 13 points. Ky Millard finished with 10 points for th Blue Jays.

Elmhurst travels to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Wednesday, December 23.