Eureka Senior Trio Receives All-SLIAC Honors
EUREKA — A trio of Eureka seniors have received St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball honors.
Ian Milsteadt (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) was selected to the First Team, Chris Daniels (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) was named Second Team and Jaedon Banks (Peoria Heights, Ill./Peoria Heights) received Third Team honors and was named to the All-Defensive Team. All are first-time recipients.
Milsteadt, a 6-foot-2 guard, led the SLIAC in scoring with 24.7 points per game and 272 total points on the season while shooting 51.6 percent from the field.
He put away more free throws than anyone in the league with 50 in 61 tries and was third in the league in free-throw percentage at 82 percent. He tied for the most field goals made in the league with 99 and was third in the league 3-point percentage at 42.1 percent.
He also tied for second in the league in rebounds per game with 7.9 and was third in total rebounds at 87. In addition, he finished tied for third in the league with 13 blocks, all in 11 games of play.
Among his individual game highlights were a 45-point performance on 19-for-23 shooting at Greenville, a 33-point night in an 86-80 road win over Fontbonne and a 30 point showing while shooting 68.8 percent in an 84-72 road win over Iowa Wesleyan. He also had two double-doubles (26 points and 10 rebounds at Illinois College and 30 points and 15 rebounds at Iowa Wesleyan) and, memorably, helped lead the Red Devils to a 71-70 comeback win over Cornell, coming up with a key steal and the three-point play.
Milsteadt finished the season with three SLIAC Player of the Week honors.
Daniels averaged 18 points per night while shooting 43.4 percent from the field. He was the Red Devils' leader in assists with 4.1 dishes per night and contributed 5.5 rebounds per game.
The 6-foot-2 senior guard earned his first SLIAC Player of the Week award after posting a team-high 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field while distributing a team-high five assists and without committing a single turnover in the Red Devils' 85-78 season-opening home win over Iowa Wesleyan.
He scored over 20 points six times this season, peaking with a 28-point performance at Illinois College. He recorded a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds in the Red Devils' 84-77 win over Westminster.
He also contributed several key baskets in EC's comeback over Cornell and finished the season second in the SLIAC in free throws made with 44.
Banks, a 6-foot-9 center and rim protector for the Red Devils, set new career highs with 7.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.7 assists per game. He led the league in blocks by 10, finishing with 24 in 11 games. He finished his career with 71 blocks in 47 games played, putting him sixth all-time in blocks in program history.
In addition, Banks was also Eureka's representative on the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.