For Immediate Release
St. Louis, missouri
December 9, 2006
Richard turns Hail Mary pass into miracle victory
A.J. Richard's (Gibson City, Ill./GCMS) fall-away jumper with just one second left on
the clock propelled Eureka College (5-2, 2-0 SLIAC) to a thrilling 75-74
victory at Fontbonne University in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference action Saturday night. With five wins, the Red Devils have
already surpassed their win total from last season.
The game was tied at 73 when the Griffins' Patrick McCoy was fouled with
32 seconds remaining. McCoy missed the first off the back of the rim,
but sank the second to give Fontbonne (2-4, 0-2 SLIAC) a one point edge.
Following a Eureka time out, EC senior Tim Peffer (Hinckley, Ill./Hinckley-Big
Rock) was surrounded on the wing and lost the ball. Rather than go in
for an uncontested lay up, the Griffins pulled the ball out to run time
off the clock. A wild exchange ensued after Peffer tipped the ball away
on a pass attempt. Numerous players had a chance to corral the loose ball,
but Fontbonne's Cartez Parker wound up with it in the middle of the lane.
He quickly took a shot, but it missed and was rebounded by Peffer and
EC called time out with 3.5 seconds to play.
Chris Tarpley (Pekin, Ill./HS) lofted a long pass roughly 90 feet
down court to Richard, who out-jumped two Griffins for the ball. Richard
gathered himself and swished a jumper from 12 feet, putting Eureka ahead
75-74. Fontbonne still had one second to work with, but a three-quarters
court shot was no good.
Peffer, who was the Red Devils' second leading scorer in the game with
16 points, hit two treys soon after the opening tip as EC raced out to
a 13-3 lead less than four minutes in. Eureka led by the same margin (31-21)
with eight minutes left in the first half, but went the next four minutes
without scoring during a 15-0 Griffins rally. Peffer brought the Maroon
and Gold back to the lead with his third triple of the half just before
the horn making the count 42-40.
The second half was a see-saw affair. The Red Devils suffered through
a second four-minute scoring drought early in the half allowing Fontbonne
to grab its largest lead of the night at 49-44. Eureka surged back on
top at the 8:30 mark and seemed to coast out to a comfortable margin at
71-63, but the Griffins came back.
Joshua Branch nailed his fourth three-pointer of the game and Fontbonne
made six-of-seven foul shots in taking a 74-73 lead.
It was fitting that Tarpley threw the perfect pass for Eureka. After all,
he had been nearly flawless in the game offensively. He made 11-of-13
field goal attempts and all three free throws en route to 27 points, a
season high. Meanwhile, Richard continues to show a flair for the dramatic.
He also made the game-winning shot with only seconds remaining last season
in a 64-62 Eureka win over Westminster College. He fits in well on the
team as a whole, which has not had a game decided by more than 11 points
this season. Richard finished with 12 points against Fontbonne. Matt
McComb (Fairview, Ill./Spoon River Valley) dished out a game-high
seven assists. Eureka shot a sizzling 63 percent (17-27) in the first
half and 53 percent (31-58) for the game.
Branch led the Griffins with 22 points, while Parker displayed a solid
all-around game with 20 points, six assists, six boards and four steals.
The Griffins shot 43.5 percent (27-62), the second highest EC has allowed
this season.
The Red Devils now have 25 days until their next game, a non-conference
match up on January 3 at 7:00 pm against Dominican 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
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