SLIAC Game of the Week - (2/11)

At a Glance
Just two weeks remain in the regular season and this week's SLIAC Game of the Week will be a key fixture in the men's basketball standings. Fontbonne University, currently tied for 3rd place in the standings, will visit Eureka College, which is one game back and in 5th place. The two teams will meet on Wednesday with the game being streamed live HERE

Eureka got an all-important win last Saturday, defeating Iowa Wesleyan to get back into the win column in their chase for the postseason. The Red Devils are 5-5 in their last 10 games and close out their season with games against Fontbonne, Spalding, Webster, and Greenville. They are one of the top-scoring teams in the league, ranking 2nd with 90.5 points per game. Despite their scoring prowess, they do not rely heavily on three's; ranking just 7th with 6.2 per game. Instead, the Red Devils are led by the athletic trio of Dakota Bennington, Jordan Dehm, and Austin Juergens. Bennington is the SLIAC's leading scorer at 24.5 points per game, while also averaging 7.1 rebounds per game. Dehm is averaging 17.7 points and leads the team in both rebounds (8.4) and assists (3.7) while Juergens is putting up 15.7 points per game. 

After dropping their first four games of the season and six of their first eight the Griffins seemingly have gelled, going 7-4 since the New Year. They tied for 3rd place in the SLIAC standings and are coming off a win over Spalding on Saturday, snapping a two-game losing streak. Fontbonne is currently averaging 86.5 points per game this season, 4th in the SLIAC, and does so by driving their way to the basket. While averaging the 9th fewest three's per game in the SLIAC, the Griffins rank 1st in free-throw attempts per game. Anthony Jones is leading the team with 17.3 points per game, shooting 56-percent from the field. Jared Woodcock (11.2 ppg) and Jalen Wadlington (10.6 ppg) are the only other two Griffins averaging double figures in scoring this season. Despite having no players rank in the top 11 in rebounding the Griffins are 2nd in the league in rebounding margin this season at +2.4 per game.

Eureka leads the all-time series against Fontbonne 15-13, winning six of their last eight meetings. Although the Griffins did take the series' earlier meeting this year in a thrilling 104-100 overtime game that saw Anthony Jones score a career-high 42 points including a game-tying, buzzer-beating half-court shot that forced the overtime period.