Saturday a Chance to Honor Eureka Seniors, Finish Regular Season Strong
EUREKA – The Eureka men's basketball team will host a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal game on Tuesday.
The Red Devils will be the second seed in the Tournament, Fontbonne will be No. 1 and Greenville will be No. 8. That much is known. Pretty much everything else in the conference is up in the air. Who the Red Devils will be playing won't be known until Saturday's games shake out.
On Saturday, the Red Devils (13-11, 9-4 SLIAC) are set to host a team they could possibly see again soon in Principia (9-13, 5-8).
The Panthers, Westminster and Webster all have 5-8 records. The Red Devils previously swept the Blue Jays and the Gorloks, and they topped the Panthers 96-79 on the road on Monday.
The Panthers previously swept Westminster and split with Webster. Webster split with Westminster and Webster, and Westminster split with Webster and was swept by Principia. Westminster has to go through Fontbonne on Saturday, while Webster is taking on a Blackburn team that edged it by one last month.
Additionally, Spalding is only win ahead of this trio and is set to play Greenville and Fontbonne back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday.
With a win over Eureka, Principia could put itself in position to move up in the standings. Westminster and Webster could move up this weekend, too. In the final weekend of the regular season, everybody has something to gain.
The Red Devils don't have a chance to move up in the standings, but they have plenty to play for.
Saturday is an opportunity for the Red Devils bounce back and return to the winning column after a tough loss at Greenville on Wednesday. And it's a chance for the team to clinch a Senior Day victory for its six seniors.
Before the game, Bryce Logsdon, Peyton McCubbin, Jordan Brooks, J'Len Crawford, Ian Milsteadt and Jalen Hosea will all be honored for their various contributions and accomplishments over the past two-to-five years.
Logsdon, Crawford and Hosea were all part of the 2019 Eureka squad that clinched the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. Hosea and Logsdon are traditional four-year seniors. Crawford is a fifth-year player who used his extra year to run it back after EC's promising season ended early last year due to COVID-19 protocols.
Brooks and McCubbin are second-year transfers and rotation players who joined the program last year after transferring in from Lincoln Land and MacMurray, respectively.
Milsteadt, who is in his third year with the Red Devils after transferring from Illinois Central College in 2019, has been one of the best players in the SLIAC for the past two seasons. As his college career winds down, he's on track to make program history.
He already ranks third in program history in free-throw percentage at 83.5 percent. He is now 32 points away from becoming the 26th player in program history to reach 1,000 points as a Red Devil, and is one block away from cracking the top 10 in career blocks.
"We really appreciate the work and dedication that these six seniors put into our program," EC men's basketball head coach Chip Wilde said. "They came in at difference times, but they all are leaving together and our program is in a better place because of their contributions. We will always be thankful that they chose to be Red Devils."
As a team, the Red Devils are looking to rebound from their 115-108 loss at Greenville on Wednesday and head into the SLIAC Tournament coming off a strong performance.
A win would complete a season sweep of the Panthers. On Monday, the Red Devils headed to Elsah and handed Principia a 96-79 loss. Eureka shot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from distance and only turned the ball over seven times.
Milsteadt made five 3-pointers and racked up a game-high 29 points. Charlie McKinty and Logan Dorethy tallied 18 points apiece, and sixth man Austyn Ellison added nine off the bench.
Principia is fifth in the league in scoring with 74.6 points per game, but it leads the league in field-goal percentage (47.8) and 3-point percentage (37.3).
Six-foot-5 junior forwards Nathan Brantingham and Clark Davidson are 1-2 in the league in field-goal percentage at 66.5 and 60.1 percent, respectively, while Jake Kampf leads the league in 3-point percentage (45.5).
Davidson is second in the league in rebounding with 8.2 boards per game, but the Panthers are last in the league as a team (33.2)
Junior guard AJ Bryd leads the team in scoring with 16.1 points per game. Davidson follows with 14 per game, and Kampf and Brantingham contribute 11.7 and 11.2 per game, respectively.
The Red Devils hold a 45-9 advantage in the all-time series against the Panthers, and have won 23 of 24 at home.
