Eureka Drops SLIAC-Semifinal Thriller Against Fontbonne, 57-54
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – It nearly came down to the wire for the Eureka men's basketball team in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday.
Trailing by one point with 25 seconds to go, Eureka's Noah Persich (Peoria, Ill./Metamora/Parkland) stole the ball under the basket following the in-bound and laid it off the glass to give the Red Devils a 54-53 lead with 20 seconds to go.
Fontbonne then put the ball in the hands of senior Caden Clark, who dribbled behind the hoop and attempted to dish it off to center Cheik Thiam. Thiam wasn't ready for it and the ball bounced away to the perimeter.
Eureka senior Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) scrambled for it and collided into Fontbonne's Brent Wagner, sending Wagner to the line for two free throws with 9.2 seconds remaining. The 74-percent free-throw shooter put away both shots to give Fontbonne a one-point edge.
Fontbonne called timeout, and when play resumed, the Red Devils raced down the court for a potential game-winner, but Ellison's attempted pass into lane was tipped away by Clark, forcing Eureka to foul with .7 seconds left.
Fontbonne's Elijah Rice then put away the final two throws to cap a 57-54 win for the Griffins in a thriller at Grant Gymnasium.
On Saturday at 7 p.m., the Griffins will play for the 2022-23 SLIAC Championship. The Red Devils couldn't have come much closer to being in their place.
In the team's fourth SLIAC final appearance in the last six years, Eureka climbed back from an early eight-point deficit to take a four-point lead into halftime and had a slim advantage for a good chunk of the second half.
The maroon and gold just didn't end up on the right side of a tense, back-and-forth affair that ended with six ties and 10 lead changes.
Ellison tallied a team-high 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, distributed a team-high four assists, grabbed four boards and had a steal in his last game as a Red Devil. Persich followed with 11 points, three rebounds, two steals and a block in one of his strongest all-around performances of the season.
Senior Logan Dorethy (Hamilton, Ill./Hancock/Hannibal-LaGrange) notched 10 points, five rebounds, an assist and a block in his final game as a Red Devil.
SLIAC Player of the Year Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds and had four points, finishing in single digits against a SLIAC opponent for the first time this season. Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) recorded six points and eight rebounds, while senior Andrew Gonzalez (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) contributed five points in 14 minutes off the bench in his final collegiate game.
The Red Devils worked their way back from the early by holding Fontbonne to just two points in the last 6 1/2 minutes of the first half.
A 3-pointer by Ellison brought the Red Devils within one point with 3:41 left in halftime.
Fontbonne's Jaden Betton answered with a bucket on the other end, but the Red Devils tied it up after a huge play from Ben Carter (Morton, Ill./Morton). The freshman came off the bench and delivered a three-point play on a third-chance shot. He then assisted Baer on a go-ahead jumper on the next Eureka possession.
Ellison knocked down a mid-range jumper to make it 26-22 at halftime.
Eureka extended its lead to a game-high six points early in the second half with a pair of free throws by Baer.
Fontbonne trimmed the lead to one with back-to-back buckets by Clark, but Eureka senior Andrew Gonzalez (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) got to the line and made two free throws to make it 32-29 with a little over 13 minutes to play.
With under 12 left, Wagner stepped up and drained a game-tying 3 for Fontbonne, and he knocked down another a minute later to briefly give the Griffins a three-point advantage.
After that, Dorethy – who had been limited by foul trouble – returned to the floor and gave the Red Devils a timely lift.
He scored on three of four chances in a 90-second span, drawing a foul on the last one to tie the game at 39-39.
When Fontbonne went ahead the next time, it was Persich who got a block and a steal on the defensive end and pump faked twice and hit the fadeaway turnaround jumper in the lane to tie it up again with less than seven minutes to go.
The Griffins then went back up by four with a layup and a pair of free throws. Eureka promptly answered with a 12-0 run.
Ellison and Persich each hit a 3 in the span of a minute to make it 52-47 with 2:34 left to play. A jump-ball steal by Baer with 2:19 left, bringing a roaring Red Devil crowd to its feet.
There were only 139 seconds remaining, and Eureka had all the momentum, but it didn't last long. It was just that kind of night.
Fontbonne forced turnovers on the next two Eureka possessions, stealing one in transition and one in the half court. The Griffins converted on both opportunities to make it a one-point game. Then, after a foul and a missed front-end of a one-and-one by Baer, the Griffins took the lead on a layup by Jaden Benton.
Baer then missed a contested shot in the post that led to Persich's highlight steal and finish before the game turned for the last time on the loose ball on the other end.
Wagner finished with four 3-pointers and a game-high 16 points for the Griffins. Clark recorded a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Betton notched 10 points in 12 minutes off the bench.
The game ended a seven-game winning streak for the Red Devils – the longest by a Eureka team in 10 years. The Red Devils placed third in the conference, overcoming a five-game midseason losing streak to beat every team in the conference at least once.
The team finishes the 2022-23 campaign with a 12-15 record, with the ride ending in an unforgettable heartbreaker.
