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For Immediate Releaseeureka, illinois
February 21, 2008
Beecher, Darnall lead EC rally from 17-point deficit
GREENVILLE, Ill. — Eureka College nearly pulled off a Houdini act for the second straight year in a key late season conference game at Greenville College, but fell to the Panthers 60-57 Wednesday night. The win puts Greenville in the driver's seat for the final spot in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, though Eureka remains in the mix as well.
Eureka (8-15, 8-7 SLIAC) scored the first four points of the contest, but Greenville (13-10, 8-6) came out of the gates on fire from three-point territory. The Panthers drained six three-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game. Four came during a 15-0 onslaught that gave Greenville a lead of 16 points, its largest lead on the night, at 25-9.
The Panthers made 7-of-11 from long range in the opening stanza, but they eventually cooled off late in the half. Eureka outscored Greenville 20-11 over the final eight minutes, and went go into the locker room down just 36-29 after Mark Darnall (Lake Mills, Wis./HS) scored the last of his 13 points for the half off an offensive rebound with four seconds left.
Darnall began the second half in style as well by knocking down a three-pointer to cut the margin to four. Greenville went to take back a nine point edge, but the persistent inside attack of Chris Beecher (Dixon, Ill./HS) kept EC very much alive. Beecher scored a career-high 16 in the contest, including 12 after halftime.
Brady Wildenradt (Delavan, Ill./HS) connected on a trey and Beecher scored the final four points of a quick
The Red Devils had two shots — a three-pointer and lay up — to take the lead or tie, but missed both. LaPhonso Ellis, sank two free throws with 15 seconds left before Darnall drove in for a lay up to pull Eureka to within 58-56 with 9.2 seconds to go.
Christopher Simmons was sent to the line where he missed the front end of a one-and-bonus, but Ellis grabbed the offensive board and was fouled with 5.6 seconds remaining. He sank both free throws, but Eureka still had life after Wildenradt was fouled with 3.2 showing on the clock.
Wildenradt made the first foul shot, and intentionally missed the second, but the rebound was tipped just out of the grasp of a Eureka player for a potential game-tying three-pointer.
Darnall led all players in the game with 19 points. He also corralled six rebounds as EC won the rebounding battle 32-28. Zasada and Wildenradt scored eight apiece, while Zasada had a game-high nine rebounds. The Red Devils were 5-for-13 at the charity stripe in the second half. They shot 39 percent (20-for-51) from the field for the game.
Ellis had 14 points and six boards to lead Greenville. The Panthers shot 50 percent overall (22-for-44) and from three-point territory (9-for-18). Both squads had just nine turnovers.
The Red Devils must win their final SLIAC game at league-leading Webster University on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1:00 pm to have a chance to make the conference tournament. Eureka will also need a loss by Greenville in at least one of its two remaining games. Webster topped EC 66-63 in Eureka on January 19.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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