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For Immediate Release
Men's Basketball -- Jan. 29, 2011
SLIAC Leader Webster Holds Off Eureka Rally, 63-58
EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka College men’s basketball team cut its 19-point second half deficit down to as little as three points late in Saturday’s St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against league-leading Webster, but the visiting Gorloks withstood the Red Devils’ rally and held on for a 63-58 win at the Reagan Center. Eureka senior Craig Black (Sullivan, Ill./Sullivan H.S.) scored 13 points to lead the Red Devils.
Webster’s Nick Jones broke a 5-5 deadlock on his dunk with 16:06 remaining and the Gorloks began to put together a sizable first half lead. The advantage swelled to as many as 15 points on Scott Restoff’s layup with 7:44 left and again when Hollis Edwards made back-to-back foul shots in the final minute for a 34-19 lead that held up as the halftime score.
The Gorloks (14-4, 9-1 SLIAC) scored on their first two possessions of the second half to take their largest lead of the game, 38-19, with 19:29 remaining, but the Red Devils (1-17, 0-10 SLIAC) came roaring back. Sophomore Jake Kuenzl (Fairview, Ill./Spoon River Valley H.S.) hit one of his game-high three 3-pointers with 18:54 remaining in the game, igniting a 27-11 Eureka burst over the next 9-minutes, 49-seconds. The Red Devils went 6-for-7 from beyond the arc during the run before a layup from senior forward Josh Wagner (Roanoke, Ill./Roanoke-Benson H.S./Carl Sandburg) brought the hosts within three, 49-46, with 9:03 left in the game.
Webster quickly pushed its lead back to 10 points (56-46) behind a pair of baskets from Willie Trimble. The Red Devils made one final push late, pulling within five (60-55) on Black’s interior jumper with 1:41 left. Eureka got a defensive stop on Webster’s ensuing possession when Drew Moore missed a layup inside, but the Red Devils’ 3-point attempt was off the mark with 50 seconds remaining. The Red Devils were forced to foul and the Gorloks made three of their final four free throw attempts to ice the game.
The Red Devils made 12 3-pointers for the game, the most triples by a Eureka squad since the Red Devils hit 13 treys in a win at Lincoln Christian on Feb. 19, 2009. Black joined Kuenzl in knocking down three 3-pointers on his way to 13 points. Kuenzl finished the contest with 11 points, while sophomore guard Jordan Fehr (Roanoke, Ill./Roanoke-Benson H.S.) added nine points. Wagner came off the bench for the first time this season and ended the game with seven points and seven rebounds.
Trimble finished with a game-high 17 points, followed by Jones with 15 points and Edwards with 12 points. The Gorloks held a 36-27 rebounding advantage for the game.
Eureka will continue its season-long four-game home stand this Wednesday when its hosts Greenville at the Reagan Center at 8 p.m.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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