Eureka Takes Down Beavers at Home, 85-69

EUREKA –The Eureka men's basketball team took down Blackburn and got back in the winning column on Wednesday with an 85-69 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Beavers at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center.

After trailing by a point at halftime, the Red Devils outscored Blackburn 47-30 the rest of the way to secure a season series sweep over their SLIAC foes.

The win ended a five-game losing skid and moved the maroon and gold to 4-5 in league play.

Following his 43-point, 23-rebound performance at Greenville, Eureka's Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) had another effective night in the paint, notching a game-high 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting while grabbing 12 rebounds and swatting three blocks.

Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) complemented him with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc, with many coming from hard drives to the basket. He also swiped a season-high six steals and gathered five rebounds.

Guards Noah Persich (Peoria, Ill./Metamora/Parkland) and Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) each added 14 points. Ellison notched his third double-double of the season, distributing 10 assists.

Andrew Gonzalez (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) also gave the team a huge lift. In 25 productive minutes off the bench, the senior forward pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds and contributed four points and two assists. It was the second time in his career that he has recorded double-digit rebounds.

Eureka opened the second half by scoring three straight buckets to set the tone and force a quick Blackburn timeout. A Persich layup with 11:51 left gave Eureka its first double-digit advantage.

The Beavers came back within six with 8:23 left, but Eureka responded with a 9-0 run that extended the lead to 15 and prompted another Blackburn timeout.

Eureka kept the pressure on, eventually making it a 20-point game with a triple by Ellison with 1:15 remaining. The home team outrebounded the Beavers 35-28 and tallied 17 assists to Blackburn's five.

The Red Devils have now come out on top against the Beavers in five of the last six meetings and leads the all-time series, 26-9.

Blackburn's Chanz Aldridge posted a team-high 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting, and Cameron Johnson notched 18 on 8-of-10 shooting. Izayah Talmadge added 10.

Eureka (6-14, 4-5 SLIAC) will look to complete another season series sweep on Saturday when the Red Devils host Westminster (2-18, 1-8) at 3 p.m.