EC Men Improve to 7-3, Top Dallas, 85-71

DALLAS, Texas – The Eureka men's basketball team will head into 2020 with a 7-3 record after taking down Dallas 85-71 in a road matchup more than 800 miles from home on Monday night.

The visiting Red Devils shot 47.4 percent from the field, racked up 50 points in the paint and led by as many as 17 points en route to the win.

Dakota Bennington (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian) racked up a game-high 25 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the field. The senior knocked down 3 of 5 3-pointers, pulled down seven rebounds and added two assists, two steals and two blocks.

Junior Ian Milsteadt (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) followed with 18 points while shooting 50 percent from the floor, and senior Austin Juergens (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) recorded a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Kyle Stork (Normal, Ill./Normal West) and J'Len Crawford (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) each contributed eight points off the bench. 

Eureka jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the first five minutes, but the home team came back with a 13-2 run to take an 18-11 lead with 10:18 left in the first half.

The maroon and gold scored the next 12 points unanswered, capped by a steal and fastbreak dunk by Bennington with 7:55 before halftime.

The Red Devils never trailed again. They led by as many as nine in the first half and went into halftime up 32-26.

In the second half, EC gradually pulled away by shooting 57.5 percent from the field. Eureka put together a 12-0 run in 2 ½ minutes to take their largest lead with 8:07 left in the game.

On Saturday, Eureka (7-3, 2-1 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) will take on MacMurray (3-7, 1-2 SLIAC) inside Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center at 3 p.m.