Eureka Holds Off Westminster, 96-92
FULTON, Mo. – The Eureka men's basketball team held off Westminster 96-92 on the road on Saturday and improved to 2-0 in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
The Red Devils shot a season-best 61.9 percent from the field on the day, and Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) played a big role in it.
The 6-foot-10 junior shot 11-for-12 from the field, scored 27 points and gathered 11 rebounds to notch his sixth double-double of the season. He also had two of the team's five blocks on the day.
Junior guard Noah Persich (Peoria, Ill./Metamora/Parkland) followed with a season-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He swished 3 of 4 attempts from distance and added four rebounds, three assists, two steals and zero turnovers.
Senior big man Logan Dorethy (Hamilton, Ill./West Hancock/Hannibal-LaGrange) notched his fourth double-double of the season, posting 14 points and 10 rebounds, along with a block and an assist.
Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) added 13 points in 18 minutes off the bench, along with two rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block.
Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) contributed 12 points, four boards, three assists and a steal. Ellison, Persisch and Charlie McKinty (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood/Illinois College) each distributed three assists.
The game had a back-and-forth flow of runs, but Eureka held the upper hand for most of it.
The Red Devils jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first seven minutes of the game, then saw Westminster work its way back in.
The Blue Jays went ahead for the first time with a layup by Ben Enberlin with 6 1/2 minutes in the first half.
A 3-pointer by Westminster's Jaxon Althaus three minutes later would extend the lead to six, but the Red Devils answered with a 9-2 run to close the half. A last-second bucket by Baer off a quick, heads-up feed from Dorethy gave Eureka a one-point edge at the break.
After trading buckets for the first few minutes of the half, Eureka got hot again and outscored the Blue Jays 24-9 over the next seven minutes.
A pair of Persich free throws gave Eureka a game-high 15-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining.
The Blue Jays proceeded to chip away at the deficit by being aggressive, getting to the free-throw line and making their foul shots. The home team scraped its way back to within four points with 5 1/2 minutes left, setting up a close finish.
A Dorethy jumper ended the maroon and gold's drought, and the visitors stretched the lead back to nine with 57 seconds left.
Westminster kept gunning, using a 3-point play and a trey to make it 93-89 with 40 seconds left.
After Brown went to the line and made 1 of 2, Westminster got the board and Kaden Eirhart hit another 3 to make it a two-point game with 20 seconds left.
The Blue Jays then sent Ellison to the line, and the senior hit them both to make it a two-possession game with 15 seconds left. It wasn't enough time for the Blue Jays to answer. Westminster's Brennan Jeffries missed the last 3-point shot, and Ellison came away with the last rebound of the game.
Althaus finished with a game-high 28 points and made 6 of 10 3-point tries in a losing effort. Enberlin and Makygh Galbreath each notched 15 points and Eirhart had 13 off the bench.
Eureka has now started off SLIAC play 2-0 for three straight years and has come out on top against the Blue Jays five times in a row. The last three meetings between the teams have been decided by four points or less.
The Red Devils (4-9, 2-0 SLIAC) will next take on Blackburn (5-8, 1-2 SLIAC) on the road on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.