EC Rolls by Spalding, Moves Closer to Tourney Spot, 82-61
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Eureka men's basketball team took care of business and got one back from Spalding on the road on Saturday, topping the Golden Eagles 82-61.
The Red Devils led by as many as 37 points en route to the team's fourth straight win and fifth in its last six tries.
The win launched EC into a three-way tie for third place in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with Fontbonne and Blackburn. If the SLIAC Tournament were to start today, EC would have the three seed due to being the only team of the three to have a win over SLIAC leader Webster.
The Red Devils are currently 15-8 on the season and 10-6 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Saturday's 21-point victory marked the Red Devils' largest margin of victory over the Golden Eagles in 23 meetings since 2010.
Dakota Bennington (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Christian) tallied a team-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He made 5 of 5 free throws, knocked down a 3-pointer and slammed home a pair of dunks.
The senior is now eighth in program history in career points (1,481), fifth in field goals made (546), fifth in field goals attempted (1,063), sixth in free throws made (305), fifth in free throws attempted (384) and seventh in blocked shots (53).
Jaedon Banks (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Heights) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, recorded four blocks and added six points. He's now up to ninth all-time in blocks in program history with 48.
The Red Devils' bench produced a season-high 40 points, with Kyle Henderson (Henry, Ill./Henry-Senachwine) leading the way with a season-high 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) followed with nine points while going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and Kyler Stork (Normal, Ill./Normal West) added eight.
The Red Devils shot 45.1 percent on the game and nailed 11 3-pointers, the second most triples in a game this season. They also outrebounded Spalding 45-32 and dominated the paint, scoring 36 points to the Golden Eagles 20.
EC limited Spalding leading scorer Marcus Montgomery to 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field. Troy Amanor notched a team-high 24 points on 11-of-21 shooting for the Golden Eagles.
On Wednesday, the Red Devils (15-8, 10-6 SLIAC) will look to complete a season series sweep over SLIAC leader Webster (15-8, 14-2) on the road at 7:30 p.m.