Eureka Takes Care of Business at Principia, 96-79
ELSAH, Ill. – The Eureka men's basketball team got the job done on the road on Monday, topping Principia 96-79 to improve to 9-3 in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
The Red Devils have now won six of their past seven games.
Ian Milsteadt (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria/Illinois Central College) dropped a game-high 29 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. It's the most points he has scored since going off for a career-high 50 at home against Blackburn on Jan. 8 – and the most points he has scored on the road all season. He was put away 8 of 9 free throws, grabbed nine boards, dished two assists, made two steals and didn't commit a single turnover.
Logan Dorethy (Hamilton, Ill./West Hancock/Hannibal LaGrange) notched his second double-double of the season, posting 18 points and collecting a game-high and season-high 12 rebounds.
Charlie McKinty (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood/Illinois College) contributed 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting form the floor, with five rebounds and a team-high three steals.
J'Len Crawford (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) pulled down nine rebounds to go with four points, two assists and two steals.
Sixth man Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and registered a team-high six assists.
Andrew Gonzalez (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and Jordan Brooks (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden) each chipped in with six points off the bench. The former also notched three boards, while the latter hit two 3-pointers.
The Red Devils tied their season-low for turnovers in a game with seven, outrebounded Principia 44-37, made double-digit 3s (10) for the 10th time this season and shot a strong 50 percent on the night.
Eureka trailed early on and didn't take the lead until a Milsteadt 3 with 10:46 left in the first half made it 17-16. The visitors closed the first half with an 11-3 run to take an 11-point advantage into halftime.
Early in the second half, the Panthers knocked down back-to-back 3s during an 8-0 run that led to Eureka taking a 30-second timeout with 17:43 remaining.
When play resumed, Eureka scored the next nine points to bring the lead back to 11. The Red Devils gradually increased it as the half progressed. The maroon and gold led by as many as 19 on two occasions.
The Red Devils (13-10, 9-3 SLIAC) continue to be second in the SLIAC standings behind Fontbonne (10-1) and ahead of Blackburn (7-5).
On Wednesday, Eureka will look to complete a season sweep of Greenville (3-20, 2-10 SLIAC) on the road before facing Principia (9-12, 5-7 SLIAC) again on Saturday for Senior Day.