Eureka Blitzes Fontbonne, 87-58
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Eureka College men's basketball team returned to the win column Saturday, earning its largest St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory in nearly four years in an 87-58 triumph over Fontbonne in St. Louis, Mo. Sophomores Shea Feehan (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame H.S.) and Hank Thomas (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods H.S.) scored 22 points apiece for the Red Devils.
The Red Devils never trailed Saturday and led for all but 130 first-half seconds. The Griffins kept their deficit in single digits for a large portion of the first half before Thomas's field goal with 5:07 remaining pushed EC to a 31-21 lead. The visitors led by as many as 13 points in the frame before leading 39-27 at halftime.
Fontbonne's Jack Lake made back-to-back layups in the first 62 seconds of the second half to trim the visitors' lead to 41-31, but EC responded with a 21-11 burst over the next 8-minutes, 10-seconds to put the contest out of reach. The EC lead slowly increased from that point forward, and the final 29-point margin was Eureka's biggest of the afternoon.
Thomas filled that stat sheet for the Red Devils, totaling 22 points, seven rebounds, six steals and five assists. He is the first Red Devil to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists since Kendall Davis (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S./Illinois Central) in EC's Dec. 10 win over Principia.
Feehan added 22 points on an 8-for-12 effort from the floor. He made three 3-pointers to increase his season total to 79 and move into sole possession of seventh place on the program's single-season list for 3-pointer made. Davis added 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Fourteen different Red Devils saw the floor in the victory.
Saturday's 29-point margin of victory was its largest in a league contest since winning at Principia, 86-54, on Feb. 16, 2013.
Lake scored 22 points to match Feehan and Thomas for game-high honors. The Griffins shot 34 percent from the field, 18 percent from long range and went just 8-for-24 from the free throw line on Saturday.
Eureka will continue its road trip through the state of Missouri on Monday when the Red Devils visit Westminster for a 5 p.m. tip-off in Fulton, Mo. The contest was originally scheduled for Jan. 14, but was postponed after an ice storm swept through the Midwest.