Eagles Soar Past Eutectics

Still looking for an American Midwest Conference (AMC) win, the Eutectic men's basketball team hosted the Williams Baptist College Eagles (Ark.) on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles (10-6, 2-3 AMC) disappointed the Eutectics with a 106-81 victory in the UHSP gymnasium.

The Eutectics hit three threes in a row to jump to a 13-8 start, but the Eagles quickly responded with back-to-back threes of their own to take a 14-13 lead. Fueled by three UHSP turnovers, the Eagles led by 10 (32-22) at 10:41 after a 10-2 scoring run finished off by a triple from Ben Keton. The Eutectics were able to narrow the deficit to five (35-30) after back-to-back triples from Jas Suvalija, but another three turnovers by UHSP led to three WBU layups and took the wind out of the sails for the home team. The Eagles led 52-36 at the half.

UHSP opened up the second half with a triple from Brady Bowers to cut the deficit to 13, but the Eagles held off any more advances. Despite a 4-for-4 run by Ahian Barnett to score nine points in just over two-and-a-half minutes for the Eutectics, the visitors still boasted a 65-51 lead after six minutes of play. A jump shot from WBU's Duke Hardin sealed a 20-point lead (92-72) with five minutes to go. At 2:38, Cory Sanders layed in the 100^th point for the Eagles to notch the team's second 100+ game this season, as they took home the 106-81 victory over the Eutectics.

At 53.7% field-goal and 44.4% three-point shooting, the Eagles shot slightly better than the Eutectics (50% and 37.9%). The UHSP team outrebounded WBU 38-35, but the Eagles forced 25 turnovers by the home team and took full advantage by converting 33 points off those turnovers.

Suvalija went 6-for-13 from the arch and dropped in 26 points for the Eutectics, while also grabbing eight rebounds to lead the team. Barnett was 9-for-13 from the floor, including three threes, and went 3-for-3 from the line for 24 points. Brady Bowers also reached double figures for the Eutectics with 12 points. Moctar Keita had seven points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Landon Engelage (6), Sean Paradise Jr. (4), and Dwight Newsome (2) also scored for the Eutectics.

Ben Keton (23), Duke Hardin (22), and TJ Clardy (22) all surpassed 20 points for the Eagles. Clardy also pitched in seven steals, nine rebounds, and four assists.

The Eutectics, now 1-16 (0-6 AMC), will hit the road next week, playing at Baptist Bible College (Mo.) for a non-conference game on Thursday, Jan. 25, then heading to Hannibal-LaGrange University (Mo,) for an AMC matchup on Saturday, Jan. 27.