Eureka Handles Greenville in SLIAC Opener, 103-92
EUREKA – The Eureka men's basketball team handled Greenville's System and opened St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 103-92 victory over the Panthers on Wednesday.
The Red Devils shot 59.7 percent from the floor on the night and led by as many as 30 points in the second half.
In the last 10 minutes of the game, Greenville fought back and kept Eureka from running away with it, but the game proved to be out of reach.
Logan Dorethy (Hamilton, Ill./West Hancock/Hannibal-LaGrange) was one of the Red Devils' main finishers in the team's press-breaker. The senior big man finished with a double-double of a season-high 32 points and 10 rebounds. It was his third double-double of the season, and he did it on 15-for-22 shooting. He also had an assist, a steal and block.
Another key finisher for the Red Devils, Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic), notched his first career double-double, dropping 23 points and dishing 10 career-high assists. He shot 11-for-15 from the field, and also contributed a pair of rebounds and a steal.
In his third game as a Red Devil, Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) tallied a season-high 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Charlie McKinty (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood) added eight points, five rebounds and two steals, while Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) tallied seven points, eight rebounds, two assists and a season-high four blocks.
Coming off the bench, Andrew Gonzalez (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) gathered seven boards, registered four assists and had three points and a steal. Ben Carter (Morton, Ill./Morton) chipped in with four points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
The Red Devils controlled the first half and extended their lead to 15 points for the first time of the night following an Ellison bucket on an assist by Brown with less than three minutes until halftime. Greenville shaved it down to 12, with Eureka going into the break leading 52-40.
The maroon and gold picked up where they left off early, and by midway through the half, they had hit their stride.
Time and again, the Red Devils broke the press and beat Greenville to the basket. With every dime and bucket in transition, the team gained confidence, gradually wearing out its opponent.
When Eureka called timeout with 12:44 remaining, it had outscored Greenville 28-12 and taken an 80-52 advantage. An Ellison layup off an assist by Baer made it 88-58 with 09:44 remaining. After that, the Panthers started chipping away, but the damage was done.
Eureka finished with 90 points in the paint, and it outrebounded the visitors 51-47. It also tallied 29 assists and kept its turnover count under 25. On the other end, the Red Devils held Greenville to 29.3 percent from distance and 37.4 percent on the game.
Eureka (3-9, 1-0 SLIAC) will continue SLIAC play on Saturday on the road against Westminster (2-10, 1-0 SLIAC) at 3 p.m. The Blue Jays opened its conference season with a 75-72 overtime win over Blackburn.
