EUREKA, Ill. – MacMurray sophomore Clayton Whitlock scored a game-high 21 points, as the visiting Highlanders held off a late rally from the Eureka College men's basketball team to earn a 64-60 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Red Devils, Wednesday night at the Reagan Center.  Eureka's defeat snaps a four-game winning streak.

MacMurray (9-8, 6-3 SLIAC) took what proved to be its final lead of the night when Brady Slagle broke the seventh tie of the game with a layup for a 44-42 edge with 8:18 remaining.  The Highlanders pushed their lead to as many as seven points down the stretch, 54-47, but Eureka (10-8, 7-3 SLIAC) used an 11-5 run to claw within a single point in the final minute. 

After MacMurray's Clint Lee knocked down two foul shots to stretch the lead to 61-58, the Red Devils missed what would have been a game-tying 3-point shot with 16 seconds left.  Eureka was forced to foul, and the Highlanders made three of their last four free throws to close out the victory.

The first half proved to be a back-and-forth contest, as the Red Devils and Highlanders traded the lead eight times.  Whitlock's jumper at the 6:48 mark gave MacMurray a 22-15 advantage, the largest lead of the first 20 minutes for either squad.  Eureka answered with a flurry, rattling off an 8-0 run behind four points from junior guard Jordan Kindred (Chrisman, Ill./Chrisman H.S.) for its first lead in nearly six minutes of action.  The Red Devils eventually carried a 27-26 lead into the break.

The Highlanders scored the first eight points of the second half to stretch their lead back to two possessions, 35-29.  The Red Devils had an answer yet again, as junior guard Drake Webster (Colchester, Ill./West Prairie H.S./Carl Sandburg) checked into the game and promptly knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to force the fifth tie of the night at 35-35 with 15:29 to go.  Webster's baskets sparked a 13-2 EC surge that culminated in Eureka's largest lead of the night (42-37) before MacMurray rallied and took the final lead of the game on Slagle's bucket with 8:18 to go.

Kindred and junior forward Dustin Fritsch (Sterling, Ill./Sterling H.S./Sauk Valley) shared team-high honors with 12 points apiece.  Senior guard Austin Nicholas (Brownsburg, Ind./Manitou Springs H.S./Lamar) also reached double-figures with 11 points in just his seventh career start.  Fritsch and junior center Mark Lessen (Delavan, Ill./Delavan H.S.) each grabbed 11 rebounds.  Lessen collected eight of his boards at the offensive end, allowing Eureka to hold a 21-11 advantage on second-chance points and a 45-39 cushion on the glass.

Slagle had MacMurray's lone double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.  The Highlanders shot 29 free throws Wednesday night, 21 of which came during the second half.  Eureka shot only six foul shots after halftime.

The Red Devils will now turn their attention to Greenville in a 3 p.m. tip-off this Saturday.  Eureka downed the Panthers in overtime, 101-90, on Nov. 30 at the Reagan Center.