Red Devils Return to Their Winning Ways, Beating Lyon 76-74.

EUREKA, IL. – The Eureka men's basketball team took down Lyon, 76-74, at home on Thursday.

Toward the end of a tightly contested first half, the Red Devils began to pull away, going on an 18-10 scoring run to end the half after being all knotted up at 23-23. The Scots did not go away easily though, battling hard throughout the entire second half to bring the game back within a single possession with less than a minute remaining. After a missed jumper by the Red Devils, Lyon was back in possession of the ball coming out of a timeout with 13 seconds left on the clock. The Scots inbounded the ball and looked to junior guard, Frank Toney, for some late game heroics. But a heads-up foul by Noah Persich, who realized that the Scots were in the bonus, sent Toney to the line with just one second to go. Toney knocked down his first free throw and intentionally missed his second. Peewee Brown, who put in a standout performance, appropriately came away with the rebound as the final buzzer sounded.

Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) topped the scoring chart for Eureka, scoring 21 points. Brown added 9 assists and 6 steals to Eureka's efforts, leading the team in both categories. Eureka big man Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) notched another 17 points for the maroon and gold, going 6-of-13 from the field and assisting his teammates on four occasions. 

Micah Bruer (Washington, Ill./Washington) and Jonah Lauff (Pana, Ill./Pana) combined for 17 points off the bench for Eureka. They say, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take," and in Micah Bruer's case, those are the only shots he missed. Bruer shot 100% on his way to recording 9 points for the Red Devils. Lauff's 8 points came from one made jumper and a pair of 3-pointers. Ben Carter (Morton, Ill./Morton) added another pair of important shots from beyond the arc, tallying 6 points on the night.

Four Scots ended in double digits. Kylon McCullough led the way with 20 points. Nikola Sasaroga and Israel Palmer each added 10 points. JP Morgan came off the bench to provide another 13 points.

Thursday's win improves the Red Devils to 6-14 on the season and 4-9 in conference play. They host Mississippi University for Women (7-13, 3-10 SLIAC) on Saturday at 3:00 PM CST.