For Immediate Release

river forest, illinois

November 29, 2008

Eureka D locks up Cougars for comeback victory

Boxscore

Eureka College survived an 0-for-19 performance on three-point attempts to escape with a 50-45 come-from-behind victory in a rugged defensive affair at Concordia University Chicago Saturday. The Red Devils shut down the Cougars offense to only 14 second half points to erase an 11-point halftime deficit.

Eureka (2-3) rallied back from a 13-point Concordia (2-2) first half margin, which normally would require at least some measure of accuracy from long range. Instead, the Red Devils bogged the Cougars attack down to nearly a standstill, allowing just five field goals and 17 percent shooting in the second half.

Concordia put forth an early 10-0 run and later scored eight straight points to build a 23-10 cushion with 7:23 to go in the opening stanza. Eureka never got closer than nine the rest of the half. Concordia shot 47 percent in the frame, while EC was at 25 percent.

The Red Devils, who came into the game averaging almost 20 turnovers per game, can attribute their comeback in part to taking care of the ball. They committed just two turnovers after halftime to finish with nine on the day.

Brady Wildenradt (Delavan, Ill./HS) capped a 9-0 rally by converting a lay up off a Jordan Kindred (Chrisman, Ill./HS) pass to get Eureka within 35-31 at the 13:30 mark. Chris Beecher (Dixon, Ill./HS) later tied the game at 39 with a lay up, then gave EC its first lead since the opening seconds of the game on a jumper with 4:36 to play.

Beecher added another important bucket with just under two minutes on the clock as the Red Devils built a 47-42 lead. Michael Zasada (McHenry, Ill./HS) hit a key shot and Kindred dropped in two clutch free throws lifting Eureka to the five point margin with 1:27 remaining.

In all, Eureka pieced together a 25-7 run over a span of over 16 minutes in the second half. The Red Devils allowed Concordia only three made field goals out of their final 24 attempts of the contest.

Concordia made three free throws and had two shots in the final minute to tie the game, but misfired on both counts. Ryan Young's three-point attempt bounced out of bounds with three seconds to play and Mark Darnall (Lake Mills, Wis./HS) sank two freebies to salt the game away.

Zasada scored half of Eureka's 20 first half points and finished with a game-high 16. Kindred led EC with nine rebounds, five assists and three steals to go with his eight points. Beecher finished with eight points and four boards. The Red Devils were held to 33 percent (18-for-55) from the field, but connected on 14 out of 16 free throw attempts for 88 percent at the line.

James Morgan led the Cougars with 12 points and 13 caroms. Their leading scorer, Ryan Young, was corralled to nine points on 4-of-16 shooting, including 0-for-10 from long range.

Eureka opens SLIAC play Wednesday, December 3 versus Greenville College at 8:00 pm. The Red Devils have taken five out of the last six meetings with the Panthers. The two sides split the season series last year.

###

For More Information Contact:

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