For Immediate Release

eureka, illinois

November 21, 2006

Efficient Red Devils overcome 13 Knox treys, win by 5

The Red Devils men's basketball team held off a furious rally by Knox College (0-1) and Jason Maclin in particular to take Tuesday's non-conference match up with the Prairie Fire 83-78. Eureka (2-1) has now won its last five men's basketball home openers.

Maclin knocked down five treys in the final 4:35 of the game, but it was his miss with ten seconds remaining that ultimately allowed the Red Devils to breathe easy even though they had led by 11 with just over a minute to play.

Eureka thoroughly dominated the first half of action, shooting 58.1 percent (18-31) compared to 26.7 percent (8-30) for Knox. Tim Peffer (Hinckley, Ill./Hinckley-Big Rock) hit a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions igniting a 15-0 run in the middle stages of the half that put EC in charge 21-6. The senior added five more points during a 9-0 streak just before the intermission that pushed the Eureka advantage to its highest peak of the game at 19 points (37-18). Maclin tallied seven points just over three minutes to bring Knox within 43-28 at the halftime break.

Peffer and Chris Tarpley (Pekin, Ill./HS) each had 13 points in the first half and both picked up right where they left off in the second stanza. The duo combined for all 10 of Eureka's points in the first five minutes after the break. By the time A.J. Richard (Gibson City, Ill./GCMS) canned a jumper with 14:22 to go, EC had a 55-37 lead and it appeared the Red Devils could begin thinking about their Thanksgiving vacation plans.

The Prairie Fire had other ideas. Knox went on a 16-0 run over the next seven minutes to trim the EC lead all the way down to two. Richard, who scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, converted a lay up off an in bounds play and followed with a pair of free throws to help Eureka extend its lead back to 69-60 with four minutes left.

The Red Devils made enough free throws to move ahead 77-66 with 1:19 on the clock only to see Knox connect on its next four three-point tries to get back in the game once more. Rusty Baker made the first two, while Maclin made the last two to make the score 80-78 in favor of EC with 22 seconds remaining. Matt McComb (Fairview, Ill./Spoon River Valley) was then fouled and calmly sank two free throws to double the EC cushion.

McComb made all six of his foul shots in the game and led Eureka with seven assists. Tarpley registered a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Red Devils have out-rebounded their opponents in every game so far this season. Peffer made five-of-eight three-point attempts, ending with 20 points.

Knox shot 57.9 percent (11-19) on three-pointers in the second half and 48.1 percent (13-27) for the night. Maclin was 7-for-10 from long range in the game and finished with 30 points. Josh Moten had 14 points and four steals.

The Red Devils, who have now won consecutive games for the first time since January 8, 2005, next host North Park University Tuesday, Nov. 28 for a 7:30 pm tip-off.

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For More Information Contact:

Brian Sullivan

Sports Information Director

Eureka College

300 E. College Avenue

Eureka, Illinois 61530

309-467-6456

bsullivan@eureka.edu