Red Devils Escape from Webster in Thrilling Fashion, 79-77
ST. LOUIS – Webster had the Eureka men's basketball team on the ropes on Wednesday, but the Red Devils slithered away from the knockout punch and seized the victory in thrilling fashion.
After trailing for most of the game, Eureka made gutsy play after gutsy play when it mattered most, and came out on top 79-77.
The Red Devils have now won five games in a row, improving to 8-2 in SLIAC play and 12-9 on the season. It's the first time in program history that Eureka has gone 8-2 through their first 10 games of league play.
On Tuesday, Eureka trailed by eight with less than 7 1/2 minutes left, and had been playing catch-up since falling behind in the last six minutes of the first half.
With the pressure on, the Red Devils gradually clawed their way back, outscoring the home team 16-6 the rest of the way. They did it with patience and perseverance on both ends.
Big man Logan Dorethy (Hamilton, Ill./West Hancock/MacMurray) made four huge buckets during this stretch, including what ended up being the game-winner.
Charlie McKinty (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood/Illinois College) and Ian Milsteadt (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria/Illinois Central College) both delivered clutch 3-point plays, and the Red Devils played exceptional team defense on Webster's last chance to win it.
The Red Devils trailed by three points with 3:05 remaining. Dorethy scored with a layup out of a timeout and went to the line with a chance to tie it. His free throw rimmed out, and a couple of Webster possessions later, Karl Moore Jr. answered to make it a three-point game once again.
Eureka went back to Dorethy in the post again, and he backed down his defender and laid it in to make it 75-74 with 1:40 left. On the other end, the Red Devils kept the Gorloks from getting a good look, and J'Len Crawford (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) secured a jumper.
Milsteadt sprinted around a pick set by Dorethy, received the ball on the wing and slashed to the hoop for the go-ahead bucket through contact with 54.3 seconds left. A timeout later, he put away the free throw to give the Red Devils a two-point edge.
On the next possession, Webster's Bryce Woolridge answered with a pull-up jumper near the baseline to tie it with 39 seconds left.
Then, with 10 seconds left on the shot clock, Milsteadt found Dorethy at the free-throw line. With two dribbles to the basket and a big spin away from it, Dorethy tossed in a go-ahead fadeaway jumper.
There was less than 12 seconds to play, with a foul to give, Eureka stopped the clock with seven seconds left and a timeout followed.
When play resumed, Webster inbounded the ball to Wynn Brown Jr. and Eureka senior point guard Jalen Hosea (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) picked him up on the perimeter while Milsteadt stepped in to help. Brown handed it off to Rodson Etienne, who took two dribbles to the left. Junior forward Andrew Gonzalez (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) slid with him and Milsteadt stepped over for the double-team.
Rodson went up and fired a shot with Gonzalez's hand in his face with one second left on the clock and it clanked off the back of the rim and backboard as time expired.
Dorethy finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and two assists while shooting 13-for-19 from the field.
Hosea tied a career high in scoring with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting while dishing seven assists and not committing a single turnover.
Milsteadt also posted 16 points while making 8 of 9 foul shots and adding five rebounds.
Crawford contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He hit three 3-pointers, all in the first half when Eureka was busy amassing an 18-9 lead that didn't last long.
McKinty only had four points, but three of them came when the Red Devils' backs were against the wall late, and he added six rebounds.
The Red Devils shot 62.1 percent during their second-half comeback.
Eureka's latest dramatic finish and Fontbonne's (13-5, 9-1) nail-biting 67-66 win over Blackburn on Wednesday set the stage for the top two teams in the SLIAC to meet at Reagan Athletic Complex on Saturday. Tip-off for the game of the year thus far is set for 3 p.m.