For Immediate Release

eureka, illinois

December 6, 2006

Red Devils record 1st ever SLIAC win

Eureka College's first night of St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play was a success as the Red Devils men's team defeated Blackburn College 81-72 at the Reagan Center.

Wednesday night also saw the return of the Eureka (4-2, 1-0 SLIAC) long distance game. The Red Devils had managed to navigate the non-conference portion of their schedule at 3-2 despite 27 percent three-point shooting. It was a much different story against the Beavers (2-5, 0-2 SLIAC), however, as EC canned 10-of-25 attempts (40 percent) behind the arc, with six different players sinking at least one trey

Blackburn led most of the first half. A 14-4 run starting near the midpoint of the half put BC ahead 30-20. Eureka still trailed by 10 when its defense took over the game. Blackburn missed its final seven shots and did not score for the last 5:33 of the opening stanza, while EC went on a 13-0 rally to take a 35-32 lead at intermission.

Leotis Howard, who led the Beavers with 21 points, hit two free throws with 16:32 remaining to give Blackburn its only lead of the second half. The threes began raining in for Eureka soon after. The Red Devils hit five trifectas in a span of just over six minutes during a 21-8 explosion from which the visitors never fully recovered. Brady Wildenradt (Delavan, Ill./HS) and Tim Peffer (Hinckley, Ill./Hinckley-Big Rock) each tossed in two and Mark Darnall (Lake Mills, Wis./HS) had the other.

Eureka led 62-50 with eight minutes to play, but Blackburn remained pesky. Zak Allen tallied five of his 12 second half points consecutively and Howard added a three-pointer bringing Blackburn within 64-60 with five minutes to play. A key turning point came on the next possession as Darnall was fouled off the ball while Matt McComb (Fairview, Ill./Spoon River Valley) was converting a driving lap up. Darnall would go to the line and make both shots finishing a four-point trip for the EC offense.

Howard's fifth trey of the night brought BC back within 74-69 with 1:40 left, but the Beavers could not take advantage of five missed free throws by Eureka as they did not score another field goal until just seven seconds remained.

Peffer led all players with 24 points. He balanced 12 points and three rebounds in each half. Chris Tarpley (Pekin, Ill./HS) again paced the rebounding effort with 13 points and 12 boards. Eureka enjoyed a 43-33 rebounding advantage due in large part to the work off the bench by Darnall, Randy Ledbetter (Washburn, Ill./Lowpoint-Washburn) and Michael Zasada (McHenry, Ill./HS). They combined for 15 rebounds to go with 16 points and eight assists.

Allen ended with 16 points and seven boards for BC. Zeb Hammond recorded 12 points and four blocks.

Eureka has only one more game before taking over three weeks off during the semester break. The game is scheduled for 6:00 pm on Saturday, Dec. 9 at Fontbonne University.

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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