For Immediate Release
eureka, illinois
January 24, 2009
white hot Red Devils cooled off by 1st place blue jays
Boxscore
Turnovers and cold three-point shooting were much to blame in Eureka College digging itself a 2-9 hole to begin this season. Those two old fiends disappeared during a four-game winning streak by the Red Devils, but they had an untimely resurfacing Saturday afternoon against conference leading Westminster College.
Eureka (6-10, 4-4 SLIAC) fell behind by 15 points early in the second half and a last ditch comeback attempt ran out of time in a 70-61 loss to the Blue Jays (14-3, 7-1 SLIAC). Westminster forced Eureka into 15 percent shooting (4-for-27) behind the arc and 20 turnovers.
The first half featured six ties and four lead changes before Westminster used an 11-2 spurt to end the frame ahead 39-28. Eureka was in front 17-16 just past the midpoint of the half, but went over five minutes without a field goal as Westminster took a 24-17 advantage.
The Red Devils' fortunes did not change coming out of the break as the Blue Jays scored on their first four possessions of the second half en route to their largest margin of the day at 46-31.
After a timeout, Eureka clamped down defensively, allowing just eight points to the opposition over the next 12:30. Meanwhile, the EC offense slowly gained its footing. Brady Wildenradt (Delavan, Ill./HS), who accounted for three of Eureka's four treys on the day, had a three-pointer sandwiched by a pair of baskets by Michael Zasada (McHenry, Ill./HS) during a 9-0 rally. Kameron Bell (Clinton, Ill./HS) sank two free throws with 14:11 remaining to get Eureka within 46-40.
The Red Devils made slicing the fist nine points off the 15 point deficit look easy. The last six points of Westminster's lead would prove to be a much taller hurdle to leap. Eureka had a total of nine possessions over the next nine minutes to cut into a six point Westminster lead. They ended in four turnovers and five missed shots.
After the score had been deadlocked at 54-48 for over four minutes, the Blue Jays finally got on the board with a 6-0 spurt that put them up 60-48 with 3:55 to play. The Red Devils climbed back to within nine, then got two layups by Bell to get even closer. Bell was fouled on the second, but misfired on the three-point conversion to keep EC behind by five points, 64-59.
After a Westminster free throw, Eureka got another chance at a three-point play when Jordan Kindred (Chrisman, Ill./HS) was fouled while making a layup with 40 seconds to go. However, his free throw was also off the mark, and the Blue Jays made two free throws for a 67-61 lead. A missed three-pointer on the other end and two more Westminster foul shots dashed any hopes the Red Devils were holding out.
Zasada led the Red Devils with a game-high 21 points, giving the junior forward back-to-back 20 point games for the first time in his career. He pulled down eight rebounds as well. Wildenradt finished with 13 points on 3-for-7 from three-point territory. The rest of the EC lineup was 1-for-20 from long range. Bell picked up his third double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. The Red Devils out-rebounded Westminster 46-36, but shot 33 percent to the Blue Jays' 48 percent.
Westminster was led by Stanley Crawford's 17 points and five steals. Kurt Kovach led a potent attack from the Blue Jay reserves with 15 points and seven boards. Westminster, which lost the first 10 meetings ever to Eureka, has now defeated EC in 10 straight to even the all-time series.
The Red Devils next have a pivotal showdown with Greenville College on the road Wednesday, January 28 at 8:00 pm. The Panthers out-gunned Eureka 95-88 in the teams' first meeting on December 3, and are one game ahead of the Red Devils in the SLIAC standings at the mid-way point of the season.
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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
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