Last-Second Three Sinks Eureka at Knox

GALESBURG, Ill. – The Eureka men's basketball team fell in heartbreaking fashion on Tuesday night, dropping a 72-69 decision to Knox after the Prairie Fire hit the game-winning 3-pointer with just over a second remaining.

Eureka opened the night strong, scoring the first four points of the game before Knox rallied to take a 9-7 lead. Jaxson Provost (Kankakee, Ill./Bishop McNamara) answered with a personal 7-0 run to put the Red Devils back in front, and a jumper by Jacob Gonzalez (Los Angeles, Calif./Chatsworth Charter) gave Eureka a 16-13 edge. Knox responded with an 8-0 burst, but three free throws from Micah Bruer (Washington, Ill./Washington Community) trimmed the deficit to 27-25. The Red Devils went into halftime trailing just 30-28.

Knox opened the second half with an 8-2 run to take its largest lead at 38-30, but Eureka immediately countered with seven straight points capped by an Andrew Coker (Washington, Ill./Washington Community) layup. After Knox pushed back ahead 40-37, Ben Carter (Morton, Ill./Morton) drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give Eureka a 43-41 lead.

The game continued to swing as Knox used a 10-2 run to go up 51-45, only for the Red Devils to answer with an 8-0 surge sparked by four points off the bench from Nolan Kerr (Macomb, Ill./Macomb). After another Knox run put the Prairie Fire ahead 60-55, Eureka fought back once again with a 5-0 spurt to tie the game at 60 with just over five minutes left.

Knox regained a four-point lead, but Eureka responded with its biggest run of the night, a 9-0 stretch highlighted by a go-ahead layup from Coker and a huge 3-pointer from Bruer, to go up 69-64 with 1:39 remaining. The Prairie Fire, however, answered with five straight points to tie the game.

With 34 seconds left, Eureka went to the line with a chance to take the lead but missed both free throws. Knox held for the final possession and hit a contested 3-pointer with just over a second remaining to seal the 72-69 win.

Coker led Eureka with a career-high 18 points and six rebounds. Provost added 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Carter stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists, three blocks, and two steals, while Bruer contributed eight points and four steals.

UP NEXT

Eureka continues its road stand Thursday night at Beloit, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.