Eureka-Fontbonne Rematch Has Major SLIAC Race Implications
EUREKA – Eureka College has had its share of "hold your breath" finishes and "how did they do that?" wins this season.
The Red Devils came back from down 18 points to top Westminster 79-76 in their St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener. They erased a 14-point, second-half deficit against Blackburn to edge the Beavers 95-93 – and needed a mind-blowing 50-point performance by Ian Milsteadt to pull it off.
When they went to Westminster at the end of January, they ripped off a 10-0 run in the last 70 seconds of the game to surge past the Blue Jays for a 79-77 win.
Then, on Wednesday, they did it again at Webster. Down by eight in the last eight minutes, the Red Devils got hot at the right time, made every play they needed to and successfully snatched a 79-77 victory away from the Gorloks in the last 11 seconds of the game.
Only twice in the last 10 games have the Red Devils fallen behind without being able to make up the difference in time.
The last time that the team's late-game magic failed to materialize the Red Devils were on the road against Fontbonne on Jan. 22. The Red Devils started off the game hot, but they lost control at some point during the first half and never regained it. Since then, Eureka hasn't lost a game, and neither have the Griffins.
On Saturday, the two hottest teams in the SLIAC will meet again, and there will be a lot on the line.
Fontbonne (13-5, 9-1 SLIAC) enters as the No 1 team in the conference, riding high on a seven-game winning streak and looking to close in on a league title soon. Eureka (12-9, 8-2 SLIAC) has won five in a row and is looking to avenge one of only two league losses and join the Griffins at the top of the SLIAC standings.
Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. inside Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center at Reagan Athletic Complex.
ABOUT EUREKA
Despite the occasional untimely drought here and there, Eureka has firmly established itself as one of the most consistent and most dangerous offensive teams in the SLIAC.
Eureka ranks second on the season only behind Greenville in scoring (82.4 points per game) and third in SLIAC play behind Greenville and Fontbonne (84). The team is second in field goal percentage (45.4) and 3-point percentage (34.5) only behind Principia. The Red Devils are the top free-throw shooting team, shooting 74.4 percent from the line on the season and 77.3 percent in SLIAC play.
The Red Devils have four players who are averaging double figures, three who put up 15 or more per game and two who are in the top five in the SLIAC in scoring. Senior Ian Milsteadt leads the team and is second in the league in scoring, with 17.3 points per game while shooting 43 percent from the field, 38.3 percent from distance (fifth in SLIAC) and 86.7 percent from the line (second in SLIAC).
He can carry the offensive load – such as when he dropped 50 points in a win over Blackburn – but the Red Devils have shown they have enough balance that he doesn't have to every game.
Junior big man Logan Dorethy has emerged as one of the most consistent offensive players in the league. He is fourth in the SLIAC on the season with 15.8 points per game but is averaging 19.2 (second best in the SLIAC) in SLIAC play and is third in the league in field-goal percentage (57.8).
Junior forward Charlie McKinty is right behind Dorethy with 15.6 points per game, while senior J'Len Crawford adds 11.7 points per game. Even point guard Jalen Hosea (4.8 points per game) has reached double figures four times in the past six games. Sixth man Austyn Ellison has reached double figures seven times this season and is contributing 8.5 points per game in SLIAC play.
Besides their ability to score in different ways, another factor that has helped the Red Devils pull off so many comebacks is how well they take care of the ball. When you're playing from behind, you can't waste possessions and turn the ball over. No one in the SLIAC has turned the ball over fewer times in conference play than EC. The Red Devils have averaged 13 turnovers per game – almost two fewer than any other team and almost 3 1/2 fewer than Fontbonne. The team has also tallied more assists in SLIAC play than any team other than Greenville (19).
Hosea is tied with Fontbonne's Caden Clark for the most assists in SLIAC play with 54 and leads the league with a 4.5 assist-to-turnover ratio in SLIAC play. His backup, sophomore Blake Castonguay, leads the league on the year with a 3.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in just under 10 minutes per game.
The Red Devils have worked hard to improve as a rebounding team this season and is currently in the middle of the SLIAC pack with 39.3 boards per game. They're the second-best at bringing down defensive rebounds with 30.1, but only the seventh-best in offensive rebounding (9.2). Retrieving more second-chance opportunities on the offensive end has been a big point of emphasis for the Red Devils.
Crawford leads the team in rebounding on the season and is fifth in the league with 7.3 boards per game. In conference play, everyone has contributed to the team effort. Dorethy has pulled down a team-high 6.8 per game, followed closely by Milsteadt (6.6), Crawford (6.4) and McKinty (6.4).
Defensively, the Red Devils have given up more points than they would like, ranking second to last in the league with 82.3 points per game, but, with the exception of the Greenville game, they haven't let any team reach 80 since the Fontbonne loss. On Sunday, Eureka held Spalding to 23.4 shooting for an entire game.
Eureka also has a deep bench. In addition to Ellison and Castonguay at guard, senior sharpshooter Jordan Brooks is fourth in the league in 3-pointer shooting (39.2). Junior forward Andrew Gonzalez missed the first half of the season due to injury, but his rebounding, defense and shooting off the bench has given the team a lift during the conference slate.
Sophomore big man Lane Thompson has given the team good minutes in relieving Dorethy, and others, like newcomers Zach Briggs and Sam DeJesus, and senior Peyton McCubbin, have stepped up when called on.
With four games left, it's clear the Red Devils have all the weapons they need to even the season series with the Griffins and put themselves in position to capture their first-ever regular-season SLIAC conference title. Fontbonne remains the tallest hurdle to clear along the way.
ABOUT FONTBONNE
Through 10 games, the Griffins have been the best rebounding team in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. They lead the league with 43.2 boards per game in SLIAC play and have outrebounded and recorded the same amount of boards in seven of their league contests so far.
Fontbonne's rebounding ability made a big difference in the last meeting with the Red Devils. The Griffins ruled the board, pulling down 55 boards to Eureka's 29.
Will Sullentrop, who is third in the league with 8.3 rebounds per game, grabbed a team-high 11 boards in the win, and he was followed by Elijah Rice, who notched a double-double of 18 points and 10 boards. Guards Anthony Jones and Caden Clark were right behind them with nine apiece. It ended up being the most rebounds the team has retrieved this season, aside from an abnormal 68-rebound performance in 154-123 win over Greenville.
Offensively, the Griffins are only about a point behind the Red Devils on the season with 81.3 points per game, but they're ahead in scoring in SLIAC play, posting 87.1 points per game. They're second behind the Red Devils in free-throw shooting (72.2 percent) in SLIAC play, second behind Principia in field goal percentage in SLIAC play (47.4) and third behind Principia and Eureka in 3-point percentage on the season (32.4).
Rice is the team's leading scorer. The 6-foot-2 junior guard is fifth in the SLIAC with 15.8 points per game on the season and 18.2 points per game on in SLIAC play. He is shooting 53.3 percent from the field. Clark, a 6-foot guard, follows with 15.5 points per game, while senior Anthony Jones and sophomore add 14.3 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. The point distribution is very similar to the Red Devils.
The 6-foot-5 Sullentrop, meanwhile, has reached double figures eight times this season and is averaging 8.4 points per game in SLIAC play. Another guard, senior Kevin Anders, has posted double figures in three of the team's past five games and chips in 7.3 points per game.
Clark leads the league in assists per game with 5.3 dimes per game, and the team is third in the league in assists in SLIAC play behind Greenville and Eureka. The team hasn't done quite as good of job taking care of the ball as Eureka, though.
The team is sixth in the league in SLIAC play in turnover rate with 16.4 turnovers per game.
The Griffins have made up for it by forcing the most turnovers of any team in the league not named Greenville, swiping 9.1 steals per game. Jones and Clark each claim 1.7 steals per game. As a team, Fontbonne in the fewest points allowed category, holding opponents to 75.6
After edging Blackburn 67-66 on Wednesday, the Griffins have now beaten every team in the league and are in the driver's seat in the SLIAC. The road to the team's first league title since 2009, however, runs through the Reagan.
