Lyon College Sports Wrap

Scots defeat Blackburn 68-53

CARLINVILLE, Illinois – Kylon McCullough scored 23 points, and Frank Toney added 19 to lead the Lyon College Scots past Blackburn College on Saturday afternoon 68-53.

The Scots (16-7, 13-3) led 35-39 at halftime and outscored Blackburn 33-24 in the second half.

Malik Madison had eight points and six blocked shots, Colbie West had seven points, Kennedy Warren put in six, and Trenton Bell added five. John Paul Morgan, Johnzelle Bush, Tucker Cunningham, Hudson Rogers, and Luke Bridges also played roles in the game but did not score.

The Scots shot 49 percent from the field, made four of 15 three-pointers, and hit 10 of 17 free throws.

McCullough hit the game’s first shot, and West added a three-pointer, then Toney made a basket for an 8-2 lead early on. McCullough scored five baskets in a row, five for Lyon College, and Bell hit a three-pointer to make it 21-10 at the 11:19 mark of the first half.

Madison scored on a tip-in, then made one of two free throws, and Warren put in a basket to make it 26-15. McCullough hit two baskets in a row, and Warren put in a layup to make it 32-19 Scots with 3:54 to play in the first half. Warren added another basket, and McCullough added one of two free throws, but Blackburn came back to make it a six-point game at halftime.

Blackburn cut the Lyon College lead to three points three times in the first four minutes of the second half, but Toney made two free throws, then hit two baskets in a row to extend the Scots lead to nine points 47-38 at the 14:39 mark.

McCullough made a three-pointer, West tipped in a basket off the offensive glass, and Madison threw down a dunk to make it 54-41. Bell hit a layup for a 15-point lead for the Scots with 12:23 to go in the game, 56-41.

Blackburn came back to cut the lead to seven points until Madison made one of two free throws with seven minutes remaining. Toney hit a field goal, and McCullough scored again. McCullough made a free throw to push the Lyon College lead back to 11 points with 2:44 to go. Toney made two free throws a few seconds later to keep the Scots lead at 11 points, 64-53.

Toney scored on a basket and added two free throws in the final 21 seconds to account for the 15-point lead at the end of the game.

The Scots return home to play Spalding on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Lopez scores 30 to lead Scots women past Blackburn, 94-79

CARLINVILLE, Illinois – Savanna Lopez scored 30 points, had 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots to lead the Lyon College Scots women’s basketball team to a 94-79 win at Blackburn on Saturday afternoon.

The Scots (8-15, 5-11) outscored Blackburn 20-16 in the first quarter and opened the game with a 34-point second quarter to lead 54-31. Lyon College maintained as much as a 33-point lead in the third period by outscoring Blackburn 18-14 and coasted in the fourth period.

Natalya Kaza had 18 points, Emily Walley scored 11, Alexis Shelton and Jewel Walley had eight points each, Haven Cooper scored seven points, Molly Mason had four points, Olivia Wallace had three points, Dalye Hambelton and Izabel Soto both had two points each and Savannah Stout had one point in the game. Olivia Jones also played a defensive rebound.

Lyon College shot 38 percent from the field, made six of 24 three-pointers and 16 of 22 free throws. The Scots scored 40 points in the paint, had 36 points off of 36 Blackburn turnovers, had 26 second-chance points, 26 fast-break points, and got 33 points from bench players. The score was tied two times, and there were three lead changes, all of which occurred in the first half.

The Scots trailed Blackburn through the first three-and-half minutes of the first quarter before Kaza had a tip-in to put Lyon College ahead 8-7 at the 6:13 mark. Blackburn returned to retake the lead on a three-pointer, but Lopez tied the game at 10-10 on the next trip downcourt for the Scots. Kaza put in a basket for the lead, then Lopez scored three baskets in a row to put Lyon up 20-16.

Blackburn tied the game 22-22 with 8:33 to go before halftime, but the Scots went on a 19-0 run to lead 41-22 by the 3:56 mark. Mason and Jewel Walley made free throws to break the tie, then Kaza scored, Lopez put in a jumper, Emily Walley hit a jump shot, Shelton scored on a layup, Kaza and Lopez both scored again, Mason hit a three-pointer, and Kaza ended the run with a layup.

Emily Walley hit a three-pointer to put the Scots up by 21 points, 46-25. Seconds later, Wallace connected on a three-pointer. Kaza made a three-pointer for a 25-point first-half lead for Lyon College, 52-27, with 1:44 to go.

Lopez scored the first two baskets for the Scots to start the third period. Jewel Walley made a three-pointer to put Lyon up 67-36, and Cooper made a jump shot to give the Scotsa 69-36 Sead at 4:56. Emily Walley made a layup to keep the lead at 30 after another Lopez basket.

Lopez and Stout scored to start the fourth quarter, but Blackburn went on a 15-0 run before Soto scored for the Scots on a layup with 4:19 to go in the game. Cooper added a basket, Shelton put in a layup, Hambelton scored inside, Kaza made a layup, Jewel Walley hit four free throws in a row, then Emily Walley made two free throws to put the score at 92-77 with 21 seconds to play.

The Scots return to Batesville on Thursday night to face Spalding at 5:30 p.m.

Lupton reaches championship match; results from SLIAC Championships

On Saturday, Lyon College men’s wrestling competed at the 2025 SLIAC Conference Championships.

The Scots finished fifth out of seven teams at the tournament, securing 21 team points.

Junior Eli Lupton finished second in the 197-weight division, going 2-1, securing 11.0 team points. In the opening round, Lupton defeated Ethan Roe of Blackburn College via fall at 0:29. In the semifinal match, Lupton was victorious against Jadaan Anderson of the University of the Ozarks via a 13-10 sudden victory, sending him to the championship bout.

In the 197-pound championship match, Lupton fell to Cole Harrell of Westminster College via fall at 0:45.

Junior 149-pounder Clay Queen Jr. finished third at the tournament in his division, securing 8.0 team points. In the opening round, Queen Jr. fell to Hayden Rofkahr of the University of the Ozarks via a 21-5 technical fall. Queen Jr. picked up back-to-back victories after receiving a bye in round one of the consolation bracket. Firstly, against Ethan Norton of the University of the Ozarks via fall at the 2:58 mark, then against Jonathan Roberts of Westminster College via 20-11 major decision

Junior Ty Ferguson competed in the 125-pound class, placing 4th and securing 2.0 team points for the Scots. Ferguson fell in both matches, first, at the 2:12 mark, against Shelton Chastain of the University of the Ozarks and then, 19-3, in a technical fall against Isaac Gawronski of Westminster College.

Sophomore Shmuel “Sam” Tabak, Liam Selhorst, and Robert Lee each finished 0-2 at the tournament.

The Scots also won the SLIAC Sportsmanship Award at the tournament.

The Scots will return to action on March 1 when they travel to Texas A&M University to compete at NCWA Regionals.

Scots women’s wrestling competes at SLIAC Conference Championships

CLARKSVILLE, Arkansas — The SLIAC Wrestling Championships are being held this weekend at the University of the Ozarks, and the Scots’ women’s team battled in Friday’s competition.

The Scots had three runner-ups and two third-place finishers in their respective weight divisions.

Kaylei Parish finished 0-1 on the day with 4.0 team points scored. Her loss came via a 10-0 technical fall against Odelia Lopez of Schreiner University.

Sidney Milligan also finished 0-1 on the day, scoring 4.0 team points. Her loss came via injury default against Scarlet Snodgrass of Schreiner University.

D’Mysha James finished 1-1 on the day, scoring 11.0 team points. She won in the semifinal match against Alex Parks of Eureka via pinfall at the 1:15 mark. James fell in the first-place match to Symphanie Sampson of Schreiner University via a 6-1 decision.

Rubi Gonzalez finished 1-1 on the day, also scoring 11.0 team points. She picked up her victory by falling over Alyssa Escareno of Schreiner University at the 1:15 mark. In the first-place match, Gonzalez dropped to Prestejah Yockeman of Schreiner University via pinfall at the 2:29 mark.

Mikayla Wallace finished second in her weight class, going 2-1 on the day, scoring 10.5 team points. She won her first match against Audrey Driskell of Eureka College by a 16-5 technical fall. Wallace scored her second victory in the semifinal match against Brooke Wieczorek of Schreiner University in a hard-fought 6-4 decision victory. The victories sent Wallace to the first-place match, where she narrowly lost against Jas Gordon of Fontbonne University via a 14-12 decision.

The Scots men’s wrestling team will compete on day two of the SLIAC Conference Championships tomorrow in Clarksville.

The Scots women’s team will return to action on March 1 when they compete at the NCWA Regionals at Texas A&M University.

Scots baseball splits opening day doubleheader vs. William Woods

It was a cold and windy day at Fred Wann Field on Friday, Feb. 14, but the Scots secured the series split against William Woods University.

The Scots’ games against Randall University and Valley City State University in Moore, Oklahoma, were canceled due to weather. Instead, the Scots will now play a home doubleheader against the Owls beginning at noon on Friday.

Scoreless through the first two frames, the scoring began in the top of the third inning of game one when WWU’s Joe Celeste III scored on an error by freshman shortstop Andrew James. The Owls tacked on another run in the inning to take a 2-0 lead after Colby Caton scored on a Nolan Riechers grounder that was turned into a double play by the Scots.

It didn’t take long for the Scots to respond, as junior catcher Kooper McCoy tied the game in the bottom of the third with a two-run single, bringing Braden Hendrix and Slade Inman across the plate.

The score remained 2-2 until the 8th inning, when the Scots loaded the bases and walked in two runs, giving the Owls a 4-2 lead. The Scots could not score for the remainder of game one and fell to the Owls by a final score of 4-2.

Senior pitcher Patrick Babcock started on the mound for the Scots, pitching through six innings, giving up two runs on three hits. The southpaw from Cabot also struck out five Owls while walking five.

Kenny Jennings also pitched for the Scots in relief of Babcock, going 1.2 innings and not giving up a single hit. However, Jennings walked four batters in his outing, scoring the final two runs for WWU. Jennings also had a successful pick-off attempt in the game.

Senior Braden Anderson closed the game defensively for the Scots, pitching the final 0.1 inning while walking two batters.

Offensively for the Scots, McCoy scored both of the Scots’ total runs off his RBI single. Inman led with three hits, while Hendrix, McCoy, Garrett Graef, Landon Swallow, and Caleb Collins each had a hit.

The Scots left eight runners stranded in the loss.

Game two of the doubleheader started soon after game one, with the first pitch at 2:50 PM.

The Scots gained their first lead of the season at the bottom of the first inning when Ashton Compton hit a successful sacrifice bunt to score Hendrix from third base. The Scots took a 1-0 lead into the second frame.

In the bottom of the third, McCoy picked up another RBI single, scoring Hendrix and giving the Scots a 2-0 lead. Later in the inning, Compton reached on another brilliantly placed bunt, loading the bases for Eli Marcotte. During the at-bat, Slade Inman scored from third off a wild pitch by WWU’s Max Benton to make it 3-0. Marcotte then hit a deep sacrifice fly to left-center field, scoring McCoy to give the Scots a 4-0 lead.

The Owls battled back, scoring three runs in the sixth inning to cut Lyon College’s lead to a single run. In relief of starting pitcher Blair Francis, freshman Nick Dennington pitched a two-inning save to secure the win for the Scots.

Francis had a solid outing, pitching five innings and giving up two runs on five hits. Francis also struck out two batters while walking none.
Dennington pitched the final two innings of game two, giving up one run on four hits. He also had one strikeout and one walk in the outing.

McCoy, Compton, and Marcotte each had one RBI. Inman led with two hits, while McCoy and Graef each had one hit in the game.

The Scots will return to Fred Wann Field today to take on Crowley’s Ridge College. The first pitch of the doubleheader will take place at noon.

Scots softball drops single game to William Woods, 4-3

The weather canceled the Lyon College softball games on Saturday at Texas A&M-Texarkana and a Sunday double-header at Centenary, but William Woods came on the schedule. It was supposed to play a double-header against the Scots on Friday.

TheHouse Field double-header was changed to a sion Friday ngle game on Friday due to a wet infield.

The Scots (2-3) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and held firm with the advantage until the top of the seventh inning when William Woods scored two runs to take a 4-3 lead, which held on to be the final score on Friday.

Lyon College’s scoring started in the bottom of the first inning when Sophie Varela singled in Brianna Morquecho. Mary MK Duffield doubled to the gap and brought in Varela, but Duffield was thrown out at third base trying to stretch her hit to a triple.

William Woods came back to tie the game at 2-2 with single runs in the top of the third and the top of the fifth inning. However, Lyon College grabbed the lead back when Varela tripled, and Anna Voth singled down the first base line to bring her in for a 4-3 Scots lead in the bottom of the fifth.

William Woods got a solo homer in the top of the seventh to tie the game, then an RBI single to take a 4-3 lead.

Georgia Holzer (2-1) took the loss for the Scots. She struck out three batters and walked one out of 34 batters she faced.

Images: Lyon College Athletics