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For Immediate Releaseeureka, illinois
February 24, 2009
7 Red Devils play final game for eureka on senior night
Eureka College could not get past step one for qualifying for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. MacMurray College spoiled Senior Night in front of the largest crowd of the season in Eureka, 80-70, ending all hope the Red Devils had for a spot in the playoffs.
Eureka (12-13, 9-7 SLIAC) had an untimely cold night from three-point territory, mustering eight triples in 33 attempts for 24 percent. MacMurray (6-19, 5-11) was actually even worse from behind the arc at 21 percent (4-for-19), but the Highlanders' 22-6 advantage over Eureka at the charity stripe ultimately decided the ball game.
MacMurray finally broke a scoreless deadlock almost three and a half minutes into the game, and never trailed in the first half. It was far from a cake-walk though, as the Highlanders largest lead was just eight points. The Red Devils came back from a 25-17 deficit with a personal 7-0 run by senior Brady Wildenradt (Delavan, Ill./HS). He took a pass from Jordan Kindred (Chrisman, Ill./HS) and converted a layup with 3:36 left in the half to get EC within one. That turned out to be the halftime margin as well, with MacMurray on top 32-31.
The free throw line as a sore spot for Eureka all night long. The Red Devils made just 2-of-7 from the stripe in the first half and finished 6-of-14 for 43 percent. MacMurray was 18-of-23 in the second half alone en route to a 81.5 percentage (22-of-27) from the line on the night.
The Red Devils grabbed their first lead of the game following a Michael Zasada (McHenry, Ill./HS) layup less than two minutes after the break. Eureka appeared to be in even better shape later when Mark Darnall (Lake Mills, Wis./HS), one of seven seniors playing their final game in the Maroon and Gold, drained the final three-pointer of his career with 15:34 remaining. His shot gave EC its largest lead of the game at 45-41.
There were six lead changes after halftime. The final one came at the 12:20 mark during a 10-0 MacMurray spurt that opened up a 59-52 Highlander lead. MacMurray eventually increased the margin to 10 with under five minutes to play, but the Red Devils never gave up. Kindred answered with a trey moments later, then Alex Sides (Eureka, Ill./HS) put in a layup up to make the score 65-60 with 3:53 left.
The Red Devils sliced the deficit to five on two other occasions, but found themselves down 74-64 in the final minute. Two MacMurray turnovers gave Eureka some hope as EC had the ball down by six with 30 seconds to play, but a missed three-pointer was followed by a Eureka foul on the rebound. Two more free throws by the Highlanders with 25 seconds to play put the game out of reach.
Wildenradt scored 17 to lead Eureka in points for the third consecutive game. He finished his career with an even 800 points. Darnall had five points and four boards. Wildenradt and Darnall appeared in all 102 games the Red Devils have played over the last four season. Also playing in their final games were Clint Rabbe (El Paso, Ill./HS), Seth McCoy (Piper City, Ill./Tri-Point), Dan Cameron (Byron, Ill./HS), Chris Beecher (Dixon, Ill./HS) and Zach Davis (Thawville, Ill./Tri-Point). They combined for five points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes.
Zasada, who finished with a team-high 14.4 scoring average for Eureka, recorded 14 points and nine rebounds. Kindred made 5-of-7 shots for 13 points. He also carded five rebounds and four assists. Kameron Bell (Clinton, Ill./HS) finished with seven points, four rebounds and four dishes.
Frederick Miller led MacMurray with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Farrid Coleman accounted for all four of the Highlanders' three-pointers on the night en route to 22 points.
As it turned out, even with a victory, Eureka would not have made the SLIAC playoffs as Maryville defeated Blackburn 77-73 and Webster topped Principia 78-70 to clinch the final two spots.
The Red Devils finished with wins in 10 of their final 14 games of the year. They were 5-3 in January and 5-2 in February. Eureka also tied for the second best road record in the conference, and went 4-4 against the four teams that qualified for the league tournament. The end of season awards will be announced at the annual E-Tribe Winter Sports Banquet, set for 1:00 pm on Sunday, March 1.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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