No. 23 Washington Tops Red Devils in Lopata Classic, 87-70
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Eureka men's basketball team pushed No. 23 Washington in the first game of the 38th Lopata Classic on Friday, but the nationally-ranked Bears pulled away in the second half for an 87-70 victory.
Eureka's Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) had a monster game, dropping a career-high 28 points and pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds. The 6-foot-10 junior transfer forward shot 11-for-19 from the field and made 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.
Fellow big man Logan Dorethy (Hamilton, Ill./West Hancock/Hannibal LaGrange) added 12 points, while Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) and Charlie McKinty (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood) each contribute nine.
Ellison distributed a team-high four assists and collected three rebounds. In his first game back after recovering from a preseason injury, McKinty scored all nine of his points in the second half and notched three rebounds, two assists and a block.
Noah Persich (Peoria, Ill./Metamora/Parkland) and Ben Carter (Morton, Ill./Morton) posted seven and five points, respectively.
Eureka got off to a strong start, jumping out to a 14-10 lead in the first five minutes. Midway through the first half, though, the Bears went on a 15-0 run to take a 30-16 lead.
The Red Devils responded by outscoring the home team 25-13 to make it a two-point game at the half. EC shot 53 percent from the floor in the first half while knocking down 4 of 6 3-point tries.
In the second half, however, WashU's Charlie Jacob scored the first 10 points to extend the home team's lead to 12.
Eureka bounced back and was able to get back within single digits on several occasions, but the Bears maintained control of the contest the rest of the way.
A triple by Carter off an assist by Ellison with 5:13 left was the last time the Red Devils were within single digits.
Jacob finished with a team-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Teammate Will Grundzinski was right behind him with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting in 26 minutes off the bench. David Kindsvater added 16 on 6-of-9 shooting to give the Bears three players in double figures.
WashU shot 53.2 percent on the night to EC's 42.6 percent.
On Saturday, No. 23 Washington (5-1) will face Pomona Pitzer (4-4) in the Lopata Classic championship game at 7 p.m.
The Red Devils (1-7), meanwhile, will take on Olivet (1-3) in the consolation game at 5 p.m. Olivet fell just short against Pomona Pitzer in the tournament's opening game, 76-73.