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For Immediate Releasefulton, missouri
February 21, 2009
Eureka playoff chances in limbo after february record drops to 5-1
Eureka College is doing its part to keep the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff race exciting. The Red Devils had their six-game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in the month of February, 87-66 at Westminster College Saturday. There will be four SLIAC games played on Tuesday, the final day of the regular season. All of them will have a say in whether or not Eureka makes the league tournament.
Unfortunately, the precursor to the regular season finale did not live up to the billing of two teams fighting for postseason position. Westminster (19-5, 12-3 SLIAC) closed the first half on a 13-5 run, then shot 64 percent (18-for-28) in the second half to clinch a share of its first ever SLIAC regular season crown. The Blue Jays will earn the top seed in the tournament with a win in their next game at second place Fontbonne.
Despite being under the weather, Brady Wildenradt (Delavan, Ill./HS) led the Red Devils (12-12, 9-6 SLIAC) for the second straight game with 19 points. He did so taking just seven field goal attempts. Wildenradt hit a pair of three-pointers during an 8-0 run as EC took what would be its largest lead of the day at 11-7 at the 13:40 mark of the opening half.
Westminster countered with the next nine points, but Eureka stayed close until the late stages of the half. A trey by Clint Rabbe (El Paso, Ill./HS) knotted the score at 16, but the Blue Jays made four of their last five field goal attempts to go into halftime on top 35-25.
Westminster grabbed a 20-13 advantage in rebounding by intermission by not allowing Eureka a single offensive board. The second half was even better for the Blue Jays, who doubled EC in the second half 24-12 to finish up 44-25.
Another key statistic was three-point shooting. Eureka entered the game with the top long range attack in the conference at over nine treys per game, while Westminster was ranked last with fewer than five per contest. The Red Devils made 11 in the game, but took 36 attempts, their most in any game played since the 2000-01 season. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, shot 50 percent behind the arc, making 10-of-20.
Helping Westminster in no small measure was unheralded senior guard Ty Cochran, who buried three triples in the span of two minutes in the second half after having made just 16 three-pointers on the season coming into the game. He hit the first of his threes by banking one in from 30 feet out as the shot clock expired.
His treys came during a time when the Eureka offense was heating up trying to comeback from a 22 point deficit. Wildenradt scored seven points in just over tree minutes to begin the second half in pulling the Red Devils to within 40-35, but Westminster tallied the next 12 points to sprint ahead 52-35 with 12:50 left. Later, the Blue Jays mounted a 14-2 surge to increase the margin to 22 points (66-44) with 8:30 to play.
The Red Devils dialed up the pressure in an attempt to get back in the game. They scored 18 points over the next four minutes, and when Wildenradt sank all three free throws after being fouled behind the arc with 4:35 remaining, Eureka was within 75-62. But Cochran answered with a three-pointer on the other end and Westminster handled the EC press down the stretch to hang on for the win.
Wildenradt led Eureka with 19 points, including four three-pointers. He now has made 55 this season, the most by a Red Devil in three years. Kameron Bell (Clinton, Ill./HS) scored all 17 of his points after halftime by sinking 6-of-7 field goal attempts. Michael Zasada (McHenry, Ill./HS) corralled a game-high nine rebounds and pitched in seven tallies. Mark Darnall (Lake Mills, Wis./HS) added eight points, while Jordan Kindred (Chrisman, Ill./HS) dished out six assists.
Jason Warncke, one of five Westminster seniors honored before the ir final regular season home game, led the Blue Jays with 24 points. Jake Vislay recorded 18 points off the bench. The Westminster reserves combined for 42 points. The Blue Jays shot 56 percent from the field, the second best by any Eureka opponent this season. The Red Devils had held their previous five opponents under 38 percent field goal shooting.
The Red Devils' conference tournament forecast is cloudy at best. There are essentially two scenarios that would lead EC to the SLIAC playoffs. Both of them begin with a Eureka victory at home on Senior Night, Tuesday, February 24 versus MacMurray College. The Highlanders are in seventh place on the league table, but are a dangerous squad, having lost their last two games by a combined three points to league contenders Fontbonne and Maryville. Eureka got past MacMurray on the road 83-71 in the first meeting on January 21. Eureka has seven seniors that will be honored prior to tip-off, which is slated for 8:00 pm.
If the Red Devils are victorious, they will need one of the following two things to happen to qualify for the conference tournament: a) ninth place Principia to beat third place Webster, or b) second place Fontbonne to beat first place Westminster AND eighth place Blackburn to beat third place Maryville.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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