WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University Men's Basketball shot 51 percent from the field and scored 40 or more points in both halves here Wednesday evening as the Gorloks opened the New Year with an 84-76 win over Eureka College in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at Grant Gymnasium.

With Wednesday's win, Webster improved to 9-3 overall and remains undefeated in SLIAC play with a 5-0 record, while Eureka fell to 2-9 overall and 1-4 in the league. The Gorloks are currently one of two undefeated teams in the league as Greenville is also 5-0 in the SLIAC following its 111-99 road win Wednesday at Fontbonne. 

In Wednesday's game, which was the first for the Gorloks since its 66-56 win at Spalding on Dec. 15, Webster was able to secure the win despite shooting 57 percent from the free throw line and making just three of its 12 3-point shot attempts. 

Perhaps one of the biggest contributors to Webster's win as its defense as they held Eureka to 76 points, which was 14 points below its season scoring average as they entered the game averaging 90.2 points per game. In addition, the Gorloks held Hank Thomas to 12 points, which was nearly 10 points under his season average of 21.7 points per game. All of Thomas' points came in the first half. 

Eureka jumped out to a 12-9 just four minutes into the game and led 17-14 when the Gorloks used a 12-2 run keyed by four points apiece from junior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) and sophomore forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach). 

The Red Devils, who have now lost nine of its last 10 games, responded with a 9-5 run to pull within 31-28 following a lay-up by Dakota Bennington with 8:17 left in the opening half. WU, though, would score seven straight points capped by a dunk from junior guard Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) to push its lead to 38-28 with 5:51 left in the first half. 

Eureka would not go away easily as they closed the opening half on a 12-6 run to cut Webster's lead to 44-40 at the half. 

In the first half, Johnson and Etienne combined to score 24 of WU's 44 points as both players tallied 12 points in the period. In addition to Johnson and Etienne, Tankins and sophomore forward Ethan Hughes (Union, Mo./Park University) combined for 13 points as Tankins had seven points and Hughes scored six points and had six boards. 

Johnson led the way offensively for the Gorloks as he tallied 21 points and added seven boards and four assists. Along with Johnson, Etienne added 14 points and six boards and Tankins finished with 13 points and seven boards. Webster is now 6-0 this season when Johnson scores 20 or more points in a game. 

After Webster opened the second half by scoring four of the first five points to push its lead to 48-41, Eureka responded with a 12-5 run to tie the game at 53 with 13:59 left in the game. EC's run was keyed by eight points from Bennington, who tallied a game high 24 points.

That tie, which was the fifth of the game, was the final one of the night as the Gorloks answered EC's run with a 14-4 run to push its lead to 67-57 with 9:58 remaining in the contest. The run was keyed by seven points from junior guard Jordan Clay (St. Louis, Mo./Blackburn College) and six points from junior guard Blake Ferrell (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South). The six points by Ferrell tied his season high. 

Eureka would come right back and use a 10-4 run to drop WU's lead to 71-67 with 4:22 left in the game. That would be as close as the Red Devils would get as the Gorloks used a 12-4 run keyed by an 8-for-8 effort at the free throw line to push its lead to 83-71 with 49 seconds left. 

EC's Austin Juergens would score five of the game's final seven points to set the final margin and secure Webster's third straight win. 

Along with Bennington, Alex Wiegand added 14 points for the Red Devils, while Thomas had 12 points. Juergens and Jordan Dehm each had 11 points in the loss. Dehm also finished with a game high 11 rebounds.

While Webster shot 51 percent from the field and 25 percent from the 3-point line, Eureka shot 45 percent from the field and 22 percent (4-for-18) from the 3-point line. Additionally, the Red Devils shot 55 percent (6-for-11) from the line.

The Gorloks held a 44-35 edge on the glass as Tankins, Hughes, Johnson and sophomore forward Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) each had seven boards. 

Webster blocked six shots in the win, including Wilcox finishing with three blocks to tie the school's career blocked shot mark of 88, which is also held by Evan Milligan (2015-17). 

Eureka dished out 20 assists and committed just nine turnovers, while Webster had 17 assists and committed 14 turnovers. 

The Gorloks will look to keep its perfect SLIAC record intact this coming Saturday, Jan. 5 as they host Westminster (Mo.) College in a 3 p.m. contest at Grant Gymnasium. The Blue Jays, who host Spalding on Thursday, Jan. 3, are 4-7 overall and 3-1 in the SLIAC this season.