Eutectics Suffer Defeat at Home to Trojans

ST. LOUIS, MO. - On Saturday afternoon, the Hannibal-LaGrange University Trojans (Mo.) arrived in the UHSP gymnasium to take on the Eutectic men's basketball for their first American Midwest Conference (AMC) meeting of the season. The Trojans finished the game on top, winning 78-53, to improve their Conference record to 2-2 (5-6 overall), as the Eutectics, now 5-5 overall, will continue working towards their first AMC win.  

Yigit Ekinci marked the board first with a layup assisted by Ahian Barnett. HLGU's Eddie Ambrose responded with his own layup and the teams battled for the lead for the next eight minutes. After a jump shot from Christian Harwood (from Landon Engelage) at 11:59 put the score at 16-14 (HLGU), the Eutectics suffered a seven-minute dry spell, as the Trojans racked up 18 points in a row (34-14). The Purple and Gold came out of the fog after a couple of free throws from Brock Davis and a triple from Jasmin Suvalija started off a nine-point run. But, despite their efforts, the Eutectics would struggle to recover from the deficit for the rest of the game. At halftime, Hannibal was leading 35-23.

Brock Davis (assisted by Barnett) drained a three to start the second half and pull the Eutectics within nine points at 35-26. The Home Team was able to stay within 10 points of Hannibal until, at 15:25, the Trojans scored 10 points in the next two minutes to take a 21-point lead (53-32). The scoring run seemed to take the wind out of the UHSP team, who were able to match the Trojans for a while, but could never seem to make any headway, trailing 78-53 when the final buzzer sounded.

Led by Christian Harwood's eight rebounds, the Eutectic team finished with eight more boards than the Trojans. The winning team, however, was buoyed by 57% shooting, including 13-24 from the arc, as the Eutectics' overall shooting averaged 34.6%, despite 10-for-16 from three-point land.

Brock Davis and Jasmin Suvalija reached double digits in scoring for the Eutectics with 14 and 11, respectively. Ahian Barnett pitched in eight assists along with four steals, four rebounds, and five points. The rest of the Eutectic points came from Moctar Keita (6), Christian Harwood (4), Yigit Ekinci (3), Dwight Newsome (3), Carmello Bostwick (2), Landon Engelage (2), Braylon Rios (2), and Bryant Odunayo (1).

The Trojans were led by Josh Talton's 24 points.

The Eutectics will next host the Missouri Baptist University Spartans (3-7, 2-1 AMC) on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the UHSP gymnasium.