For Immediate Release

eureka, illinois

January 6, 2007

Bench helps Eureka (3-0 in SLIAC) top Maryville

Sophomore Mark Darnall (Lake Mills, Wis./HS) made his first seven shot attempts and scored a career-high 15 points off the bench to lead Eureka College over Maryville University 75-63 in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball action Saturday. The Red Devils are off to a 3-0 start (6-3 overall) in league play. The Saints are now 2-8, 1-2 SLIAC.

The Red Devils had substantial runs to begin both halves of play to propel them on to victory. In the first half, Darnall, Chris Tarpley (Pekin, Ill./HS) and A.J. Richard (Gibson City, Ill./GCMS) combined for all of Eureka's points as EC jumped out to a 17-4 lead. The 13-point bulge would be the largest of the first 20 minutes for Eureka as Maryville received good production from its bench players to keep a reasonable deficit. The Saints entered halftime down 34-28.

Eureka continued shooting well, while holding Maryville scoreless for over four minutes to begin the second half. EC connected on 30-of-57 shot attempts on the day, shooting over 50 percent in both halves. The Red Devils bettered their first half run by one point with a 17-3 run to grab a 51-31 advantage with 12:30 remaining.

The Saints eventually fell behind by as many as 21 points by the midpoint of the half, before they began steadily chipping away at the deficit. But with the clock as its ally, Eureka held strong to a lead of at least 11 points the rest of the way.

Tarpley led the Red Devils with 19 points, 14 rebounds and four steals in recording his sixth double-double in nine games this season. Richard made 6-of-10 shots to amass 14 points and Tim Peffer (Hinckley, Ill./Hinckley-Big Rock) made it four Red Devils in double figures with 13. Darnall finished 7-of-8 from the field, but was not the only bench player with a strong game as Michael Zasada (McHenry, Ill./HS) pulled down a season-high 10 caroms.

Michael Bolinger paced Maryville with 11 points. He was one of six Saints to sink a three-pointer. Maryville made eight treys behind the arc, shooting 38 percent. Rebounds were tied at 37 each, but EC gained a healthy 22-12 edge in points off turnovers.

The Red Devils play their next three games on the road against conference opponents. Their next match up is at fellow SLIAC newcomer Lincoln Christian College Tuesday, January 9 at 6:00 pm.

###

For More Information Contact:

Brian Sullivan

Sports Information Director

Eureka College

300 E. College Avenue

Eureka, Illinois 61530

309-467-6456

bsullivan@eureka.edu