Men’s Basketball Comeback Bid Falls Just Short

EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka men's basketball team had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but the shot rimmed out as the Red Devils fell to Monmouth, 66-63.

At the game, the Red Devil fans wore blue to celebrate Alopecia Awareness Week. Alopecia affects around 160 million people worldwide, including one individual who is especially important to the Eureka College community: Zoey Wilde, daughter of Head Coach Chip Wilde and manager of the Eureka men's basketball team. Zoey was honored prior to the game for her inspiring fight with Alopecia. Throughout the game, Eureka College raised money for Alopecia Awareness through donations at the concession stand.

Following the pregame ceremonies, the basketball game got underway. The Red Devils found themselves down 7-0 early, but they quickly responded with an 8-0 run to take the lead. The rest of the first half was back and forth, with neither team able to gain a significant advantage. Ultimately, Eureka entered the halftime break trailing 33-28.

In the second half, the Red Devils cut Monmouth's lead to just two points with just under 14 minutes remaining, when Jacob Gonzalez (Los Angeles, Calif./Chatsworth Charter) hit a jumper to make it 40-38 in favor of the Scots. However, that would be the last points for Eureka for nearly five minutes, as Monmouth went on a 14-0 scoring run, opening up a 16-point lead with just over 9 minutes to play. Micah Bruer (Washington, Ill./Washington Community) finally ended the scoring drought for Eureka, hitting a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 13 points.

With just under 6 minutes to play, Eureka still faced what seemed like an insurmountable 14-point deficit. However, after a series of three-pointers by Amariyae Wilson (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South), Emaryon Byrd (Peoria, Ill./Manual), and Bruer, the Red Devils found themselves trailing by just 6 points with 2:38 remaining. Eureka then cut the lead to a single possession when Peewee Brown (Peoria, Ill./Manual) went to the free-throw line and calmly sank both shots, cutting the lead to 2 with 33 seconds left.

After a pair of made free throws by Monmouth, Bruer responded with his third three-pointer of the night, trimming the Scots' lead to just one point with 14 seconds remaining. Eureka sent Monmouth to the line on the ensuing possession, where the Scots made both free throws to extend their lead back to 3 with 12 seconds left. The Red Devils couldn't get the look they needed to tie the game, and they were forced to call a timeout with 3 seconds left to draw up a final play. After the timeout, Eureka inbounded the ball to Byrd, who was forced to attempt a tough, contested three-pointer. The shot rimmed out, and the Scots held on for the 66-63 victory.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Emaryon Byrd led all scorers with a season-high 20 points and tied for the team lead with 7 rebounds.
• Peewee Brown finished with 18 points and tied for the team lead with 7 rebounds.
• Micah Bruer tied his season-high with 13 points and shot 3-5 from beyond the arc.
• Amariyae Wilson led the team with 5 assists and 3 steals. He also tied for the team lead in rebounds with 7.

UP NEXT

The Red Devils are back home this Saturday, Nov. 23, as they host Dominican. Tipoff is slated for 3:00 p.m.