Cornell Holds Off Eureka, 60-54
EUREKA – The Eureka men's basketball team came up just short in a home non-conference matchup against Cornell on Sunday, falling 60-54.
The Red Devils had a one-point lead at halftime, but the Rams outscored them 29-22 in the second half to get the advantage down the stretch.
Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) tallied a team-high 17 points, making nine of 12 foul shots and adding five rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) notched his second straight double-double, posting 14 points and 12 boards, along with one block and one assist.
Ben Carter (Morton, Ill./Morton) and Dylan Logsdon (Meridian, Idaho/Mountain View) each added seven points and Raymond Bandzoumouna (Lisle, Ill./Lisle) notched five in a career-high nearly nine minutes off the bench.
The first half between the Red Devils and the Rams was pretty even. The Red Devils jumped out to an 8-4 run and prompted the first timeout of the day after Eureka scored six straight.
That ended up being EC's biggest lead of the day, however, as the Rams came back and kept it within a couple of points for the rest of the half. A pair of free throws by Brown gave EC a 32-31 edge with 10 seconds before the end of the half.
The first part of the second half was a back-and-forth affair. The Red Devils never led, but they stayed within two points for nearly nine minutes.
The Rams eventually started to find a little bit of breathing room here and there. They stretched it to three, then four, then six inside 10 minutes left.
On three occasions, Eureka shortened the gap to two points with jumpers by Brown and Baer and a pair of free throws by Baer with a little over five minutes to play.
Down the stretch, though, the Rams kept getting to the line as Eureka's foul total piled up, eventually reaching 15 in the second half and 22 in the game overall to Cornell's 11 in the second half and 20 in the game.
The Rams led by as many as eight in the final minute of play. With 38 seconds left, Noah Persich (Peoria, Ill./Metamora/Parkland) made a jumper to make it 60-54. After a Cornell turnover, the Red Devils had another chance to make it a one-possession game, but this time, a long 3-point attempt by Persich didn't go through, and the Rams held on from there.
Eureka (1-2) will next take on another non-conference foe in Dominican (0-1) on the road next Saturday at 3:15 p.m. The Stars fell 81-61 at Knox in their season opener on Wednesday.
