For Immediate Release

eureka, illinois

February 24, 2008

Red Devils' playoff push ends with loss to unbeaten Gorloks

Boxscore

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Webster University remained unbeaten in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with an 86-56 victory over Eureka College Saturday afternoon.  The loss ends league play for the Red Devils this season and eliminates them from conference tournament contention.

Eureka (8-16, 8-8 SLIAC) got off to a sluggish start, missing its first seven field goal attempts and two free throws allowing Webster (19-5, 15-0 SLIAC) to run out to a 16-0 start.

The Red Devils fell behind by as many as 21 before a Brady Wildenradt (Delavan, Ill./HS) three-pointer sparked a modest comeback for EC that took the margin down to 13 at 27-14.  The Gorloks were held without a field goal for four minutes during the 14-4 run, but they soon caught fire again.  Webster scored the next 11 points to go up by 24.  Wildenradt and Gordon Barkley (Peoria Heights, Ill./HS) were able to can threes late in the period for Eureka make the score 42-22 at intermission.

The Red Devils played mostly even with the Gorloks for the majority of the second half, though they never got closer than 19 points.  Eureka shot an improved 40 percent (10-for-25) from the field after halftime, but only 36 percent (16-for-45) for the game.  Webster shot 47 percent (33-for-71).

Matt McComb (Fairview, Ill./Spoon River Valley) and Wildenradt each had 10 points and four assists to lead the Red Devils.  Barkley had nine points off the bench.  Michael Zasada (McHenry, Ill./HS) and Chris Beecher (Dixon, Ill./HS) had five rebounds apiece.

Ryan Turk scored 17 points on the strength of four three-pointers for Webster.  The Gorloks led 46-28 in rebounds and 26-2 in second chance points.

Eureka will honor Matt McComb, the lone senior on the men's basketball team for his last game on Senior Night, Tuesday, February 26 in a non-conference match up with Lincoln Christian College.  The game is scheduled for an 8:00 pm tip-off, following the women's game starting at 6:00 pm.  The Red Devils are looking to avenge a 93-76 loss to the Preachers in Lincoln on January 30.

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For More Information Contact:

Bryan Moore
Sports Information Director
Eureka College
300 E. College Avenue
Eureka, Illinois 61530
309-467-6456
bmoore@eureka.edu