Red Devils Fall to Westminster in Double OT
EUREKA, IL. – It took two periods of overtime, but Westminster managed to edge out the Eureka men's basketball team on Saturday, 96-91.
In their final home game as Red Devils, seniors Cody Baer (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap/Southwestern Illinois) and Noah Persich (Peoria, Ill./Metamora) left it all on the court. Ahead of the game, Eureka honored Baer and Persich and thanked them for their significant contributions to the program.
In turn, the seniors expressed their appreciation and love of the program on the floor. Baer notched his twelfth double-double of the season with 31 points and 17 rebounds. He led the team in both categories. He also recorded 4 blocks and 3 assists. Persich tallied 9 points, a steal, and an assist.
Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual/Lincoln) joined Baer in putting up a double-double, tallying 28 points and 14 boards. Brown also forced 3 steals and assisted his teammates twice.
Micah Bruer (Washington, Ill./Washington) provided a spark off the bench for the Red Devils, chipping in 8 points.
Four Westminster players finished the game with double-digit scoring. Brennan Jeffries and Jack Fessenden combined for 44 of the team's points. Jeffries tallied 23 and Fessenden 21, knocking down a combined 5-of-9 from three-point range. Walker Gohring and Brysan Jeffries also reached the double figures with Gohring scoring 17 and Jeffries putting up 11.
It was back and forth all night between these two teams, as the lead changed hands 32 times throughout the course of the game. Fittingly, the Red Devils and Blue Jays headed into halftime tied at 37-37. The lead continued to change hands throughout the second half of play and it was even at 74-74 with under a minute to play before Peewee Brown made a layup to put Eureka ahead. As time ticked off the clock, Westminster put up 4 missed shots and gathered all 4 offensive rebounds, before Gavin Hendrix pulled the Blue Jays even with a put-back dunk and time expired.
In the final possession of the first overtime, the Red Devils had a chance to put the game away, but the Blue Jays managed to contest Peewee Brown just enough from beyond the arc to keep him from winning the game. Micah Bruer managed to pick up the rebound but also missed a hurried jumper that could have sealed the deal for Eureka.
Cody Baer went to the bench partway into 2nd overtime, still struggling to recover from catching the brunt end of a flagrant foul earlier in the game and would not re-enter. With 2 minutes remaining, Eureka trailed by 5 before Peewee Brown knocked down a 3-point jumper to bring it back within a single possession. Westminster's Jacob Becker pulled the lead back to 4 though just 28 seconds later by capitalizing on a drive to the basket, and the rest of the game was played out from the free throw line. Eureka missed 3 of 4 free throws and Westminster made 2 of 2 to end the game.
With tonight's win, Westminster pulls even with Eureka and Principia in the SLIAC standings, as all three teams battle it out for a spot in the SLIAC tournament. With two games remaining in the regular season, it should be another exciting matchup on Wednesday, as Eureka (7-16, 5-11 SLIAC) travels to Greenville (15-8, 11-5 SLIAC) for a 7:30 PM CST start. It was a high-scoring affair the last time these two met up, and there are no signs of either offense slowing down as they prepare to clash again. The Red Devils have averaged 80.5 points in their last 4 games and the Panthers, known for their up-tempo offense, have only failed to reach triple digits two times all season.