Cody Baer Named Player of the Year; Three Red Devils Honored

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Eureka's Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) has been selected St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year and three Red Devils have received All-SLIAC honors.

Baer was also named First Team All-SLIAC. Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) was selected to the All-SLIAC Second Team and the All-Defensive Team, and Austyn Ellison (Hudson, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) was selected to the All-SLIAC Third Team. All three are first-time honorees.

Baer is the sixth Red Devil to earn the SLIAC Player of the Year award in EC's 17-year membership in the league and his selection marks back-to-back Player of the Year honors for the program, following Ian Milsteadt last year. The other previous award-winners from Eureka were Shea Feehan (2018), Mark Lessen (2013), Michael Zasada (2010) and Chris Tarpley (2007). Since joining the SLIAC in the 2006-07 season, no other school has had more than three Player of the Year winners.

Baer, a 6-foot-10 forward, transferred from Southwestern Illinois in the fall and quickly became a double-double machine for the Red Devils.

The junior averaged 17.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game during the regular season, recording 11 double-doubles along the way, nine of which came against conference opponents. He is the only player in the SLIAC to average a double-double.

In 12 SLIAC games this season, Baer led the league with 19.9 points and 12.6 rebounds per game while shooting a league-best 61.7 field-goal percentage and making 55-of-62 free-throw attempts.

On the season, Baer led the conference in boards per game (11.7) and total rebounds (268). His 11.7 board per game average is currently tied for the best rate in a single season in program history with Chris Eaton in 1993-94, and his current total of 279 rebounds is the third-most in program history.

The second-leading rebounder in the conference, Webster's Karl Moore Jr., had 25 fewer boards despite playing in two more games. Baer pulled down 20 or more rebounds four times and had at least 15 six times. His 23-board performance at Greenville on Jan. 28 tied the SLIAC record for rebounds in a single game.

Heading into the SLIAC Tournament, Baer was fifth in NCAA Division III in defensive rebounds with 9.65 per game and 14th in the country in rebounds per game with 11.7.

This season, Baer was second in the league in points per game (17.7) and fourth in points overall (407). He posted 20 or more points six times, dropping a career-high 43 points on 16-of-26 shooting from the field and 11-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line at Greenville on Jan. 28.

Despite missing two games, only two players in the SLIAC scored as many field goals as Baer did this season. He was one of the most efficient players in the league, shooting 54.2 percent from the field and 82.2 percent from the free-throw line.

Defensively, he has racked up 33 blocks – good for second in the league and tied for seventh-most in a single season in program history. He has also contributed 27 assists and 13 steals on the season. Baer received SLIAC Player of the Week honors three times this winter.

Brown, a 6-foot-2 guard/small forward and Lincoln transfer, is a Second Team All-SLIAC and an All-Defensive Team honoree after joining the team following the first semester.

In 18 regular-season games, he averaged 16.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 41.6 percent from the field and 74.1 percent from the free-throw line. Brown was a terror in the passing lanes for the Red Devils. His 2.6 steals per game tied him for the most in the SLIAC this season, as did his 37 steals in SLIAC play.

A fearless driver to the hoop, Brown has reached double figures in every regular-season game except for two this season, scoring 20 or more six times. His regular season-high was a 24-point performance at Spalding on Jan. 14. He recorded his first double-double as a Red Devil with 11 points and 11 rebounds at Webster on Jan. 18 and delivered his second with a 20-point, 10-rebound effort in Eureka's 76-68 win at Spalding in the regular-season finale on Feb. 18.

Brown was named SLIAC Player of the Week after contributing 18 points and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of February wins over Webster and Fontbonne. He dished a season-high six assists at Webster on Jan. 18 and swiped a season-high in an 85-69 win over Blackburn on Feb. 1. He set a new season-high and recorded his third double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the Red Devils' 89-71 win over Greenville in the SLIAC Tournament semifinals.

Ellison, a 6-foot point guard and three-year contributor for the Red Devils, produced a career-high 14.2 points per game while shooting 40.8 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from 3-point range and 78.2 percent from the free-throw line. The senior has scored double figures in 18 of 25 games and notched 20 or more three times. He also led the Red Devils with 32 made 3-pointers this season.

A playmaker in the backcourt and in transition, Ellison is tied with Fontbonne's Caden Clark for most assists per game in SLIAC play with 5.6 and is one behind Clark for most assists in SLIAC play with 78. He has notched double-doubles with points and assists this season three times, and has dished five or more assists in a game 13 times. He has also contributed 2.7 rebounds and almost a steal per game.

Junior guard Noah Persich (Peoria, Ill./Metamora, Ill./Parkland) was the Red Devils' representative on the All-Sportsmanship Team.