Millikin Pulls Away from Eureka Late, 94-76
DECATUR, Ill. – The Eureka men's basketball fought its way to within four points in the second half against Millikin on Tuesday, but the Big Blue got hot and pulled away late for a 94-76 win.
Logan Dorethy (Hamilton, Ill./West Hancock) was excellent on the offensive end for the Red Devils, dropping a season-high 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting, with 19 coming in the second half. He also pulled down five rebounds.
J'Len Crawford (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) tallied 19 points while knocking down three 3-pointers, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds and dishing a team-high five assists. Ian Milsteadt (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) followed with 14 points, along with three rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Jalen Hosea (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) added seven points and two assists.
The Red Devils were playing without leading scorer Charlie McKinty (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood), who was under the weather.
Eureka got off to a slow start and found itself playing catch-up throughout the first half.
A last-second heave from 2/3 of the length of the court by Blake Castonguay (Watseka, Ill./Watseka) banked off the glass and in to cut the Big Blue's lead to 11 points at the half.
Early in the second half, Hosea knocked down a triple to make it a single-digit game at 49-41.
With 18:32 left, the scoreboard went out, causing a stoppage in play that lasted for a few minutes. When the game resumed, Millikin went on a quick run, scoring eight straight points to stretch the lead to 16.
A layup by Milsteadt ended it, then Dorethy got the hot hand down low as Eureka worked its way back in the game.
Trailing by 10 with less than 12 minutes to play, Dorethy scored a layup on an assist by Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic), a fadeaway jumper on the baseline following a feed from Ellison and another layup off a dish by Hosea to make it a six-point game.
A steal and fastbreak finish by Ellison trimmed it four at 70-66 with 8:52 left. Millikin called timeout to regroup and then outscored the Red Devils 22-7 over the next 6 minutes, 9 seconds to put it away.
Eureka (3-4) doesn't play against until Wednesday, Dec. 15, when the Red Devils go on the road to face Dominican (1-4) in non-conference play.