Lyon Holds Off Eureka, 83-78
BATESVILLE, AR – The Eureka men's basketball team came up just short in an away matchup against Lyon on Thursday, falling 83-78.
The Red Devils battled back from a 10-point deficit at halftime to regain a 44-43 lead off a Noah Persich 3-point shot early in the 2nd half. The lead changed hands 29 times before Lyon's Frank Toney knocked down a three to go ahead 59-58 and snatch back what would end up being Eureka's final lead of the game came with just under 8 minutes to play. The Scots fought hard to keep the lead the rest of the way but could never pull away by any more than 7 points.
After cutting the difference down to 5 late in the game, 75-80, Eureka Coach Chip Wilde called a timeout and drew up a full court trap, which forced a turnover to regain possession. A pair of free throws by EC senior Peewee Brown brought it back to a one possession game. But, a couple of big free throws by Lyon Junior JP Morgan and a missed free throw for the Red Devils left the game just out of reach for the maroon and gold.
Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) tallied a team-high 19 points, going 7-for-9 from the field and adding six rebounds and a block to the stat sheet.
Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) and Ben Carter (Morton, Ill./Morton) joined Baer in double digit scoring. Brown posted 16 points and 7 boards, along with one steal and three assists. Carter notched 10 points, along with one steal and two assists.
Senior guard Noah Persich (Peoria, Ill./Metamora) added 9 points and a team-high 6 assists.
Brothers Dylan Logsdon (Meridian, Idaho/Mountain View) and Blake Logsdon (Meridian, Idaho/Mountain View) each added eight points off of the bench. Dylan was a defensive spark down the stretch, coming away with a team-high three steals.
Four Scots ended in double digits. Toney Frank, JP Morgan, Trenton Bell, and Nikola Sasaroga scored 18, 14, 12, and 11 points, respectively.
Eureka (3-9, 1-4 SLIAC) will next take on another conference opponent in Mississippi University for Women (4-7, 0-4 SLIAC) on the road Saturday at 3 PM CST.