Fulton, MO 1/7/2023- The Westminster College men's basketball team welcomed the Eureka College Red Devils to the friendly confines of the Historic Gym. Both teams came into the game winning their respective opening games of the SLIAC season. The game saw 11 lead changes and no ties other than at the opening tip. Westminster would lead by 6 points late in the first half and then would see themselves down 15 points with less than 8 minutes left to play. The Blue Jays would make a run in the last minute but could not pull off the comeback, they would lose the game 96-92. Westminster drops to 2-11 on the year and 1-1 in the SLIAC. Eureka improves to 4-9 and 2-0 in the SLIAC.
The Red Devils drew first blood by scoring on the opening possession. They would score on their next three possessions and jump out to a 9-3 lead. Senior Jaxon Althaus (Oak Grove, MO/Oak Grove) would set the tone early for his team scoring the Blue Jays' first 7 points of the game. He would also give Westminster their first lead of the game, 14-13, after hitting his third three-pointer in the first five minutes of the game. Eureka would then go on a 6-0 run to take the lead back and go up 19-14. The Red Devils would extend their lead to 9 after hitting a three with 10:53 left in the first half. From there, the Blue Jays would cut into the deficit. Ben Eberlin (Hardin, IL / Calhoun) scored at the rim and put the Jays up 35-34. They would trade baskets and Eberlin again would put the Blue Jays back on top 37-36. Westminster went on a 7-0 run and took a 42-36 lead with 3:25 remaining in the half. Eureka countered with a 9-2 run to end the half and took the lead back to 45-44 at halftime.
Eberlin went back to work to start the second half and put Westminster on top for the third time in the game, 46-45. The two would trade the lead back and forth for the next five minutes. Eberlin scored to make it 57-56 and the Red Devils responded to take the lead back to 58-57. Eureka would go on a 14-2 run and go up 70-59 with 10 minutes left to play. The Blue Jays would come back after a pair of free throws by Kaden Eirhart (Altamont, IL / Altamont) and a big dunk from Althaus erupted the crowd inside the historic gym. Eirhart would make a layup and get fouled on the shot. He would make the free throw to cut it 80-72. Althaus would continue to energize his team and the crowd after getting a steal. He would find Eberlin down low who was fouled on his shot attempt. He would make the first free throw and miss the second. Althaus would get another steal with 5:35 left to play and make a fast-break layup. He would get fouled and head to the line. After making the free throw, Westminster was down 80-76. Eirhart would get a steal that led to Tre Kempker (Eugene, Mo. / Eugene) getting fouled and sent to the free-throw line. He would make both free throws putting the Blue Jays down just 4 points, 84-80 with 3:21 left. The Red Devils would snuff out the comeback attempt and get the lead back up to 9 with a minute left to play. Kempker would score a basket and get fouled. He made both free throws. Althaus made a three from way downtown on the Blue Jays' next possession to make it 93-89 with 40 seconds remaining. Eirhart followed him and hit a three with 20 seconds left to put the Jays down 2, 94-92. Westminster fouled to extend the game and hoped Eureka would miss a free throw to give them a chance to tie it or take the lead. Unfortunately, the Red Devils would ice the game, making both free throws and winning the game 96-92.
Althaus led all scorers with 28 points. He. He. He also hauled in 4 rebounds and had 4 steals. He would go 10-17 from the field and 6-10 from three-point land. Eberlin had a career-high 15 points, he also grabbed 5 rebounds. Galbreath also had 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Eirhart had 13 points off the bench and was the fourth Blue Jay to score in double figures. He would go 4-7 from the field and 2-4 from three.
The Blue Jays will be back in action on Tuesday, January 10th when they take on Principia College. That game will tip off at 7:30 PM.
