Eureka Men’s Basketball Set For Canadian Exhibition Tour

EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka College men's basketball team will open practice Tuesday night in preparation for a Canadian exhibition tour scheduled to begin Saturday, Oct. 20 in London, Ont. The Red Devils will play a total of three exhibition games on the trip, the second foreign tour in program history, before returning to campus on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Following the completion of afternoon classes, the Red Devils will depart campus on Friday, Oct. 19 and arrive in the Detroit metro area late that evening. Following a shootaround, Eureka will continue into Canada Saturday morning to square off against Western Ontario University at 6 p.m. CT in London, Ontario. The Mustangs have already played games in 2012 against NCAA Division I South Alabama (68-47 loss on Aug. 14) and NCAA Division III Trine (67-57 loss on Oct. 1).

Eureka will continue to Windsor, Ont. on Saturday evening in preparation for a game against the University of Windsor on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT. Like Western Ontario, the Lancers have previously played games against South Alabama and Trine in 2012. The Lancers split a two-game series with South Alabama in August before topping Trine on Sept. 30, 84-68.

The Red Devils will remain in Windsor Sunday night prior to a 6 p.m. CT tip-off on Monday against St. Clair College in Windsor. The game against the Saints marks Eureka's final exhibition contest of the trip.

Eureka will return to the United States Tuesday for a shootaround in the Ann Arbor, Mich. area before returning to Eureka late Tuesday.

"This trip will be a great experience for us," said sixth-year head coach Chip Wilde. "We have a veteran team coming back and it's a unique opportunity to get a jump on the upcoming season. We're looking forward to it."

Eureka took a similar preseason trip to Ontario prior to the 2009-10 season, which included games against Western Ontario and St. Clair. NCAA schools are permitted one foreign tour every three years.

The Red Devils return all five starters and a total of 14 letterwinners from last season's squad that won 15 games and qualified for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. Eureka will open the 2012-13 regular season Thursday, Nov. 15 at Lincoln Christian. The Red Devils will play a full 25-game schedule, including the traditional 16-game SLIAC slate and non-conference visits to NCAA Division I members Texas-Pan American (Dec. 13) and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (Dec. 17).

Courtesy Eureka College sports information