Red Devils Ride Big Second Half to 92-77 Win at Dominican
RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The Eureka men's basketball team turned a close game into a comfortable, 15-point road win over Dominican on Wednesday evening.
Tied at 36-36 at halftime, the Red Devils racked up 56 points in the second half to secure a 92-77 victory against the Stars.
The win moved EC to 4-4 on the season heading into back-to-back road games against NAIA squads in Michigan.
Eureka outscored the home team in the paint 58-30 and outrebounded the Stars 48-29. Junior big man Logan Dorethy (Hamilton, Ill./West Hancock) led the way with 24 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor while pulling down nine boards. It marked his second straight game of dropping over 20 points.
In the backcourt, Ian Milsteadt (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) followed with 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and two of his team's season-high five blocks on the night. The senior guard went 8-for-15 from the field and knocked down a team-high three 3-pointers en route to his third 20-point game of the year.
Charlie McKinty (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood) and J'Len Crawford (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) contributed 14 and 12 points, respectively. Crawford tallied 13 rebounds – his third game this season tallying at least that many boards.
The Red Devils also got a lift from Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic), who came off the bench and notched 10 points, five rebounds, four steals, three assists and a block. All 10 points came after halftime.
Ellison's energy and execution helped the Red Devils find separation in the second half.
After checking into the game with 12:04 left, the 6-foot junior knocked down a 3 to make it an eight-point game, assisted on an and-one layup by Milsteadt to extend it to nine, and came up with a steal and layup to give EC an 11-point advantage with 9:39 left.
He hit his second triple a minute later, pushing the lead to 14.
The Eureka lead swelled to as many as 21 following a Dorethy jumper on an assist by David Hill (Elgin, Ill./St. Edwards Catholic)
The maroon and gold finished the night 7-for-15 from 3-point range – good for a season-best 46.7 percent. The team shot over 50 percent from the floor the third time this season, finishing at 51.7 percent after shooting 56.1 percent in the second half.
All five Dominican starters reached double figures, with Jackson Smith and Robert Taylor scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively. John Duszynski added 12, while Christopher Burel and Chris Daniels each had 10. Daniels is a former Red Devil and a 2021 EC graduate.
The Red Devils (4-4) will next face the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils (8-15) on the road on Friday at 7 p.m.