Eureka Bests Iowa Wesleyan for Second Time, 84-72

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa – For the second time this spring, the Eureka men's basketball team held off Iowa Wesleyan.

The Red Devils opened the season with an 85-78 season-opening non-conference victory at home on Feb. 20. On Saturday, Eureka bested the Tigers in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action, 84-72, at Ruble Arena.

With the win, EC improved to 4-2 on the season and 2-0 in SLIAC play. The win was also the 168th of Eureka coach Chip Wilde's career at EC, tying him with the legendary Leo "Doc" Traister for second all-time in program history.

EC's Ian Milsteadt (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) led the way Saturday with his second 30-point performance of the season while pulling a down a game-high 14 rebounds.

The senior guard and reigning SLIAC Player of the Week was a scorching 11-for-14 from the field, 4-of-5 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. It was also his second 14-rebound performance of his career.

Fellow senior guard Chris Daniels (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) posted 15 points and led the team at the free-throw line, putting away 6 of 8 tries. Sophomore Andrew Gonzalez (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) added 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench.

J'Len Crawford (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington and Jordan Brooks (Ogden, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden) contributed nine and eight points, respectively.

Eureka shot 47.5 percent from the field and made 10-of-19 from 3. Brooks and Gonzalez each hit two 3-pointers to complement Milsteadt's four.

The Red Devils jumped out a 10-2 lead and led by as many as 16 in the first half, but the Tigers hung around and stayed within striking distance during the second. The home team came within five with seven minutes in the second half, but no closer.

Eureka shot 47.5 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from distance and went 18-for-23 at the line.

Marvin Saintolein (18 points), Jarryd Fernandes (16), Kaleb Cresswell (14) and Jared Arrelano (11) all reached double figures for the Tigers. It wasn't enough to keep up with the Red Devils.

Eureka (4-2, 2-0 SLIAC) will next host Cornell College (3-3) in non-conference action on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.