Red Devils Unable To Hang On At Beloit

BELOIT, WI. – The Eureka men's basketball team dropped a 77-70 non-conference contest at Beloit on Saturday. The Red Devils forced a strong Buccaneer team to rally late to protect their 7-game winning streak and remain unbeaten at home this season.

It was a tightly contested game, in which the lead changed hands a total of 16 times. The Red Devils led most of the contest, and it looked as though they were going to run away with it partway through the second half, when they took the largest lead of the game (50-37). But, Eureka's shooting went cold, and the Buccaneers went on a 15-4 scoring run to end the game.

Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) and Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) led the scoring for the Red Devils, combining for 47 points. Baer put up his 6th double-double of the season, pulling down 13 rebounds and 1 block along with his 27 points. Brown also had 8 rebounds and a team-high 6 steals.

Four Buccaneers had to score double-digits to overcome the work of Brown and Baer. Semaj Roy and Brian Rusch each scored 16 points for Beloit. Clayton Jenny and Azeez Ganiyu chipped in 15 points and 14 points, respectively. Ganiyu was the only Buc to record a double-double, coming up with 11 rebounds.

Eureka forward Ben Carter (Morton, Ill./Morton) had 8 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal on the day. Sam DeJesus (Delavan, Ill./Delavan) added another 6 points to the Red Devils' tally and contributed 1 steal and 2 assists.

Eureka (3-8, 1-3 SLIAC) will return to conference play on Thursday, as they travel to Batesville, Arkansas to take on Lyon College (6-3, 3-0 SLIAC). This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams, as the Red Devils look to be the first SLIAC team to hand Lyon a loss this season.