Eureka Can’t Close Gap at Aurora, 86-61
AURORA, Ill. – The Eureka men's basketball team couldn't close the gap against Aurora in its season opener on Wednesday.
After trailing by 17 in the first half, Eureka came within two points early in the second half, but the Spartans responded and went on to win it, 86-61.
Eureka's Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) posted 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line. He and Aurora's Michael Osborne both recorded a game-high in scoring.
Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) tallied 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting and was one rebound short of a double-double. Ben Carter (Morton, Ill./Morton) also reached double figures, notching 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, while Dylan Logsdon (Meridian, Idaho/Mountain View) added seven points off the bench.
Aurora got off to a fast start and controlled the pace and flow of the first 10 minutes of the game. A jumper by Osborne following a steal by Josh Holmes gave the Spartans a 28-11 advantage with 10:36 left in the first half.
After that, Eureka started chipping away at the lead. The Red Devils trimmed it down to four with 3:17 left in the first half following a pair of free throws by Baer and a jumper by Brown made it four points again with 2:12 until halftime.
The Spartans closed the half with a 6-0 run to make it a 10-point lead after 20 minutes.
The Red Devils scored the first eight points of the second half, making it 44-42 off a layup by Brown with 16:41 remaining.
Then, things tipped back in the other direction. The Spartans responded with a 13-4 run to bring it back to double-digits and kept the momentum the rest of the way.
Aurora finished with a 53.1 field-goal percentage and a 39-26 rebound advantage. Noah Butler and Joevonn McCottry each tallied 13 points and Holmes added 10 off the bench.
Eureka shot 42.9 percent from the field and 81.8 percent from the free-throw line on opening night.
On Friday, the Red Devils (0-1) will host Monmouth (0-1) in their home-opener at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center at 7:30 p.m.