Men's basketball: Eureka blisters Blue Jays 91-59

EUREKA, Ill. - The outcome was almost identical the second time around, and that didn't help the Westminster College Blue Jays.

Westminster shot a dismal 28 percent (23-of-82) in being manhandled again by Eureka College in a 91-59 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rout Saturday afternoon.

The loss knocked the Blue Jays out of a second-place tie with Eureka in the SLIAC. Westminster - which was also roughed up by the Red Devils 95-59 on Jan. 10 in Fulton - had its two-game winning streak halted Saturday as it fell to 14-9 overall and 10-6 in the SLIAC.

The Blue Jays trailed 42-31 at halftime, but produced a 10-4 run at the start of the second half to close within single digits. Senior forward Stu Hollandsworth converted a three-point play with 16 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the game to make it 46-41.

Eureka, though, countered with a 15-1 run to start pulling away. Austin Juergens' 3-pointer with 11:07 to play gave the Red Devils a 61-42 advantage.

Kobe Wands tallied 13 points to lead three players in double figures for Westminster. Hollandsworth was next with 13 points and Tanner Cochran chipped in with 11.

Hollandsworth had a team-high six rebounds as the Blue Jays were overpowered on the boards by Eureka 57-33.

Dakota Bennington connected for a game-high 17 points to direct six players in double figures for the Red Devils (16-7, 11-5), who shot a sizzling 52 percent (33-of-63) as a team. Hank Thomas added 16 points and Juergens came off the bench to log 12.

Jordan Dehm, Ryan McElmurry and Brady Sanders contributed 11 points apiece for Eureka.

Westminster will look to get back on track when it travels to MacMurray (Illinois) College for a SLIAC contest at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The Blue Jays lost to MacMurray 79-72 on Jan. 13 in Fulton.