Red Devils Set to Host Fontbonne Wednesday
EUREKA, Ill. -- The Eureka College men's basketball team play its fifth home contest of the 2016-17 season Wednesday night when the Red Devils resume St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action against the Fontbonne Griffins at 8 p.m.
PDF Version of Eureka Game Notes
AT A GLANCE
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017
Location: Eureka, Ill.
Site: Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena (1,000)
Series Since 1974: Fontbonne leads 12-10
Series in Eureka Since 1974: Tied 5-5
Last Meeting: Eureka won 86-68, Feb. 13, 2016 in Eureka, Ill. (Box Score)
Last 10 Meetings: Tied 5-5
Current Streak: Eureka W1
Wilde vs. Fontbonne: 8-10
EUREKA RED DEVILS
Record: 7-2, 2-1 SLIAC
Head Coach: Chip Wilde, 10th season (Western Illinois '91)
FONTBONNE GRIFFINS
Record: 1-10, 1-3 SLIAC
Head Coach: Lance Thornhill, 2nd season (Missouri State)
FOLLOW THE GAME
Live Video: EurekaRedDevils.com
Live Stats: EurekaRedDevils.com
Twitter Updates: @EurekaGameDay, @FBUGriffins
ABOUT EUREKA
Eureka is off to a 7-2 start, its best mark through nine game since the 1993-94 season. Included in that stretch is a perfect 4-0 home record. Coupled with two straight home wins to end last season's schedule, Eureka has won six in a row at home and are 11-2 on their home floor since the renovation of Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena in the summer of 2015.
The Eureka offensive attack averages 91.3 points per game, second-most in the SLIAC and 11th-most nationally. The output is anchored by the backcourt pairing of sophomore Shea Feehan and junior Kendall Davis.
Feehan averages 29.3 points per game to rank third in NCAA Division III, while Davis will bring a 24.1 scoring average into Wednesday's contest, 12th-best nationally.
Both Feehan and Davis are on pace to challenge Eureka's single-season scoring record of 653 set by Eureka Hall of Famer Chris Peterson in 1993-94. Additionally, Feehan and Davis are on pace to become the first set of teammates to average at least 20.0 points per game since Michael Zasada (21.4) and Kameron Bell (20.9) in 2009-10. Only nine players in Eureka men's basketball history to have played a full season have averaged 20.0 points or more.
Eureka has also received solid contributions from sophomores Alex Wiegand and Hank Thomas. Wiegand, who is one basket shy of qualifying for the minimum (3FG/game) as the SLIAC's most accurate shooter, leads the Red Devils with a .703 field goal percentage and a 6.9 rebounding average. Thomas has also turned in a solid first nine contests, averaging 12.4 points per game to join Feehan and Davis as Red Devils to score in double-figures and leading the team with 27 assists.
League coaches picked Eureka to finish eighth during a poll conducted before the start of the season.
The Red Devils return two full-time starters and 10 letterwinners overall from last season's team that went 12-13 overall and 10-8 in the SLIAC to tie for third place in the final league standings. Sixteen newcomers have joined the program, including nine first-year freshmen, to give EC a roster size of 26 student-athletes.
ABOUT FONTBONNE
The Griffins are 1-10 overall and 1-3 against SLIAC opponents, earning their only victory of the season in a 76-67 overtime decision versus winless MacMurray on Dec. 3 in St. Louis. Fontbonne has dropped seven in a row since its win over Highlanders, including back-to-back contests to Warner (Dec. 30) and Webber International (Dec. 31) on a semester break trip to Florida last week.
Kris McCann, a 5-foot-7 sophomore from O'Fallon, Mo., leads the Griffins with a 10.8 scoring average despite missing three of the Griffins' 11 games. He plays 29.3 minutes per game and shoots 37 percent from the floor. Senior guard Orkan Bakis hauls down a team-high 4.7 rebounds per game.
In all, 22 different players have seen action for the Griffins, eight of which have made at least three starts.
FU has struggled defensively, yielding 94.7 points per game to rank 414th out of 416 NCAA Division III teams. The Griffins have allowed 90 points or more seven times, including a season-high 145 in a "system game" at Greenville on Dec. 17.
One of only four active charter members of the SLIAC, Fontbonne has won three regular-season SLIAC championships and five SLIAC Tournament crowns, including three in a row from 2007 through 2009. The Griffins did not qualify for the league postseason from 2010 until 2014 before advancing to the tournament championship game in 2015.
This season, the Griffins were picked last in a preseason SLIAC coaches' poll.
ABOUT THE HEAD COACHES
Chip Wilde is in his 10th season directing the Red Devils. The Macomb, Ill. native has 111 wins at EC, fourth-most in program history.
In all, Wilde has coached two SLIAC Players of the Year, 15 All-SLIAC selections, five SLIAC All-Tournament Team selections, four SLIAC All-Defensive Team picks and 29 SLIAC Player of the Week choices.
Lance Thornhill, a longtime assistant coach to SLIAC legend Lee McKinney and the owner of two decades as an assistant on the FU bench, is in his second season as the Griffins' head coach. The Missouri State graduate is 9-27 overall and 7-15 in league action since taking the reins of the program in 2015
In addition to his current men's basketball responsibilities, the St. Louis area native is a three-time SLIAC Coach of the Year as Fontbonne's men's golf head coach, directing the Griffins to league titles in 2002, 2004 and 2006.
SERIES VERSUS FONTBONNE
Fontbonne owns a 12-10 edge in the all-time series between the two schools that began with a 94-73 FU victory on Dec. 6, 2001 in St. Louis. The 2001 contest was the only non-conference meeting between the two schools
The Griffins are 11-10 against EC since the two schools began their annual home-and-home series in 2006. Included in that stretch was the 2007 SLIAC Tournament championship game, a contest FU needed overtime to win, 88-79, after Eureka erased a 14-point deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation.
More recently, the two squads have split their last 10 meetings. Eureka's 86-68 win at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena snapped last February a five-game skid in the series.
The Red Devils and Griffins have also split 10 all-time meetings in Eureka.
LAST TIME VERSUS FONTBONNE
Shea Feehan scored 34 points to lift the Red Devils to an 86-68 SLIAC victory over Fontbonne on Feb. 13, 2016 at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center.
The Red Devils overcame a slow start, falling behind 16-10 less than six minutes into the contest. Eureka closed the gap and took their first lead of the game, 17-16, with 12:18 to go in the half. EC continued to expand their lead over the remainder of the first half, building a 38-32 edge at intermission.
Fontbonne closed the gap to tie the contest at 43-43. A quick 8-1 burst by Eureka pushed its lead back to 51-44 with 13:57 remaining. FU ultimately forced another tie, evening the contest at 57-57 midway through the half.
The final ten minutes of play was all Eureka with the Red Devils building a double-digit lead that swelled to as many as nineteen over the final minutes.
Feehan ended the day 12-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw stripe. Eureka's five-member senior class combined for 37 points, 19 of which came from Sam Feehan, who went 7-of-15 (.467) from the floor.
Eureka shot 32-of-69 from the floor and 13-of-16 (.813) from the free throw line.
Fontbonne's Kody Ettinger and Richard Dorhauer paced the Griffins with 15 points and 14 points, respectively. The Griffins finished the day 25-of-63 from the floor.
FOLLOW THE ACTION ONLINE
A live video broadcast and live statistics will be provided at EurekaRedDevils.com.
The Eureka College media relations staff will provide updates throughout the game via Twitter at @EurekaGameDay.
RED DEVILS FALL AT ST. FRANCIS
Eureka dropped its final game of the calendar year on Dec. 20, a 105-90 decision to NAIA St. Francis in Joliet, Ill. The decision marked Eureka's first non-conference defeat of the season.
Eureka led by as many as five in the first half, but USF carried a 57-44 cushion into the locker room.
Sophomore guard Hank Thomas hit a 3-pointer on Eureka's first possession of the second half to pull within 57-47, but Eureka would be unable to draw any closer over the final 20 minutes.
Sophomore guard Shea Feehan scored a game-high 25 points for the Red Devils. He went 5-for-8 from 3-point range. Thomas tacked on 12 points and four assists and sophomore forward Alex Wiegand poured in 11. Freshman Austin Zielsdorf scored two points in his collegiate debut and freshman Austin Juergens added his first career field goal.