Eureka Road Trip Goes to Webster Monday
PDF Version of Eureka Game Notes
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Eureka College men's basketball team will continue a stretch of five St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference road contests in 12 days when the Red Devils visit the Webster Gorloks for a 6 p.m. start, Monday night in St. Louis, Mo. The game against the Gorloks was rescheduled for Monday after a Dec. 10 postponement.
AT A GLANCE
Date: Monday, Jan. 9, 2017
Location: St. Louis, Mo.
Site: Grant Gymnasium (1,000)
Series Since 1974: Webster leads 16-10
Series in St. Louis Since 1974: Webster leads 9-4
Last Meeting: Webster won 86-67, Jan., 30, 2016 in Eureka, Ill.
Last 10 Meetings: Webster leads 6-4
Current Streak: Webster W3
Wilde vs. Webster: 7-11
EUREKA RED DEVILS
Record: 8-3, 3-2 SLIAC
Head Coach: Chip Wilde, 10th season (Western Illinois '91)
WEBSTER GORLOKS
Record: 6-6, 3-2 SLIAC
Head Coach: Chris Bunch, 15th season (Lincoln Memorial '88)
FOLLOW THE GAME
Live Video: WebsterAthletics.com
Live Stats: WebsterAthletics.com
Twitter Updates: @EurekaGameDay, @GorlokSports
ABOUT EUREKA
Eureka has an 8-3 overall record and 3-2 mark against SLIAC opponents. The Red Devils started their five-game road swing on the wrong foot Saturday, rallying from a 13-point second-half deficit but ultimately dropping a 77-76 league decision at MacMurray. EC is 3-3 on the road this season.
Guards Shea Feehan and Kendall Davis are the SLIAC's top two scorers. Feehan averages 28.1 points per game and shoots 47 percent from the floor, while Davis averages 25.8 per game and shoots 57 percent. According to the most recent national statistical update from the NCAA, Feehan and Davis are the second-ranked scoring duo in the country. Only Julian Marx and Vinny Curta, who play as part of Grinnell's unique "system" of frequent 3-point shooting, full-court pressure and frequent substituions, score more points than Eureka's backcourt pairing.
Feehan and Davis have driven the Eureka offense to a 90.5 season scoring average, third-most in the SLIAC. Eureka also ranks second in 3-pointers per game (9.1) and third in field goal percentage (.475). Addtionaly, the Red Devils also commit only 10.8 turnovers per contest, the fewest by a SLIAC team.
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.
MacMURRAY HANGS ON TO BEAT EUREKA SATURDAY
Eureka overcame a 13-point deficit in Saturday's SLIAC game at MacMurray, but MC scored the game-winning basket on a Brent Long putback with 12 seconds remaining to earn a 77-76 win over the Red Devils.
Facing a 69-64 deficit with 4:41 to play, Eureka scored eight of the next 10 points to claim a 72-71 lead on two free throws from Shea Feehan with 2:02 left. After trading single free throws on the ensuing three possessions, Feehan broke a 73-73 tie with a corner 3 at the 1:26 mark for a 76-73 advantage.
Eureka wouldn't score again. Long converted on the ensuing MC trip to make the deficit 76-75. After Eureka couldn't answer with a one-point lead, Long rebounded and delivered the go-ahead basket after Riley Spencer's miss with 16 seconds left. The Red Devils had one final chance down one in the closing moments, but a 3-point try with four seconds to play was off the mark.
Kendall Davis had another big day for the Red Devils, scoring 35 points thanks in part to an 8-for-8 effort from the free throw line. Feehan added 20 points and 10 rebounds. The Red Devils committed only seven turnovers.
ABOUT WEBSTER
The Gorloks have an even 6-6 record through 12 games and a 3-2 SLIAC record. Webster has alternated wins and losses over its last five games and won six of its last eight contests since opening the season with four straight defeats.
Webster boasts one of the league's most balanced scoring attacks -- four different players average at least 10.8 points per game, including a team-high 16.9 from senior forward Hunter Ward. Evan Milligan (14.6), CJ Moore (12.6) and Xavier Dortch (10.8) join Ward as frequent options in the WU arsenal. Milligan is the top Webster rebounder with an average of 6.8 boards per contest, followed by Ward with 6.3 per game.
The Gorloks score 80.1 points per game and shoot 49 percent from the floor, the second-highest percentage among league schools. Much of Webster's production comes from inside the arc, as WU makes only 5.6 3-pointers on average.
Webster plays efficient defense, committing a league-low 12.8 fouls per game and limiting opponents to 44 percent shooting from the field.
A charter member of the SLIAC, Webster is the winningest men's basketball program in league history. WU has won 256 SLIAC games between the regular season and postseason tournament since beginning competition in 1990. The Gorloks have won eight SLIAC regular-season titles, including at least a share of the crown in five of the last 10 seasons.
Additionally, Webster won SLIAC Tournament championships in 2011 and 2014. Last season, the Gorloks missed the SLIAC Tournament for the first time since 1995.
ABOUT THE HEAD COACHES
Chip Wilde is in his 10th season directing the Red Devils. The Macomb, Ill. native has 112 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.
One of the longest tenured men's basketball head coaches in the SLIAC, Chris Bunch is in his 15th season at Webster. His record is 223-154.
Six of the Gorloks' eight SLIAC championships have come with Bunch on the bench. He is a four-time SLIAC Coach of the Year and piloted the Gorloks to NCAA Tournament berths in 2011 and 2014.
Prior to his appointment at Webster in 2002, the 1988 Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) graduate served as an assistant coach at Maryville (Tenn.).
SERIES VERSUS WEBSTER
Webster leads the all-time series with Eureka, 16-10.
The two squads met six times as non-conference rivals between 1986 and 2006. Eureka defeated Webster 93-78 in the first-ever matchup between the two programs on Jan. 12, 1986 in St. Louis.
Since becoming league rivals prior to the 2006-07 season, Webster owns a 13-7 advantage in the series.
The Gorloks have won nine of 13 contests inside Grant Gymnasium in St. Louis, including four straight on their home floor over the Red Devils dating back to the 2012-13 season.
LAST TIME VERSUS WEBSTER
Sam Feehan hit four 3-pointers and finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds, but his effort wasn't enough to topple Webster, falling 84-67 in SLIAC action inside Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center on Jan. 30, 2016.
The Gorloks slowly built a double-digit lead over the course of the second half as the Red Devils were unable to engineer any significant offensive bursts. Webster shot 48 percent (14-of-29) in the half, but did most of their damage at the free throw line, finishing 20-of-23. Eureka was held to 34 percent (15-of-44) from the field over the final half of play, including just 5-of-22 (.227) from beyond arc.
Webster's Hunter Ward scored a team-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the visitors. For the game, the Gorloks shot 46 percent from the field (28-of-61) and hit 24-of-27 (.889) free throws.
FOLLOW THE ACTION ONLINE
Webster will provide a live video broadcast via its YouTube channel and live statistics at WebsterAthletics.com. Links to both the video and statistics will be available via EurekaRedDevils.com.
The Eureka College media relations staff will provide updates throughout the game via Twitter at @EurekaGameDay.