Red Devils Can’t Close Gap at Dominican, 89-81
RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The Eureka men's basketball team dropped an 89-81 non-conference contest at Dominican on Saturday.
The Red Devils outscored the Stars 51-45 in the second half, but they weren't able to close the gap.
Eureka big man Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) recorded a season-high 31 points on 11 of 19 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 shooting from the free-throw line and gathered game-high eight rebounds.
Guard Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) posted 22 points, pulled down six rebounds, dished three assists and had two steals. He shot 8-for-16 from the field and made 5 of 6 free-throw attempts.
Point guard Jalen Johnson (Rock Falls, Ill./Rock Falls/Sauk Valley) contributed five points, and twin brothers Dylan Logsdon (Meridian, Idaho/Mountain View) and Blake Logsdon (Meridian, Idaho/Mountain View) each added five points off the bench as well.
Eureka jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the game, but the Stars evened it up at 9-9 a couple of minutes later and kept it close for most of the first half.
The home team gained the upper hand in the last five minutes of the half and scored nine straight points the last minute to take a 44-30 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the Red Devils struggled to chip away at the lead. They came within 10 on four occasions in the first 10 minutes, but the Stars maintained a double-digit lead throughout the half.
A 3-pointer by Dylan Logsdon made it 87-77 with 40 seconds remaining, and then a pair of back-to-back layups by Brown in the last 15 seconds brought the Red Devils within single digits for the first time since late in the first half.
Dominican's Joshua West led the Stars with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Terrell Taylor added 18 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
The Red Devils shot a season-best 45.8 percent from the field as a team and made a season-high seven 3-pointers. They continued to produce at the free-throw line, making 20-of-24 attempts to finish at season-best 83.3 percent on the day.
Eureka (1-3) will next host Rockford (4-0) inside Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center on Tuesday at 5 p.m.