Eutectics pound the glass and storm back with big second half to win in OT

ST. LOUIS, MO – The home opener on Thursday night for the Eutectics featured a tremendous second half by the home club and then hot shooting in an extra session as UHSP earned a 107-98 win over Central Christian College of the Bible. The Euts shot 58.5% in the second half after connecting at just 31.7% in the opening half. Then in the overtime, UHSP missed just two of their nine field goal attempts while the Saints made just three in the extra session to give the Eutectics their first win of the season. Landon Engelage was a study of efficiency going 9-of-11 from the floor to lead the Eutectics with 24 points in the win.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

UHSP 107, CENTRAL CHRISTIAN COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE 98 (OT)

• There was not much separation between the two through the first eight minutes. Edris Hamilton gave the visitors an eight-point lead at 18-10 with 13:12 left in the half. UHSP would repeatedly cut into that lead eventually closing it to four, but CCCB spread the lead to at most nine in the first half at 41-32 on a Trey Palmer layup with 1:19 remaining. Two Eutectic free throws made it a 41-34 game at intermission.
• It was still a nine-point game in the second half when Justin Coleman hit a jumper, Bryant Odunayo and Jasmin Suvalija made layups to bring UHSP to within three. Suvalija had an emphatic dunk that tied the game at 47-47. Central Christian quickly spread the margin back to two possessions, but UHSP pulled even again at 59-59 this time on an Odunayo lay-in. Just over a minute later, Justin Coleman made a layup to give UHSP their first lead since 10-9 at 14:36 of the first half. The lead would see-saw back-and-forth through the second half featuring four more ties the rest of the way with Silas Massey tying the game at 87-87 with :30 left. Massey got a piece of a Braeden Jordan layup in the final seconds to keep the game tied and send it to overtime
• UHSP connected for the first four field goals of overtime including a big three from Engelage to give the Euts their largest lead at 96-89. A Justin Coleman triple made it 99-91 and while CCCB got to within six, a pair of Odunayo layups made it a ten-point lead for UHSP at 103-93 with just 70 seconds remaining. Central Christian College of the Bible never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
• Landon Engelage was the Eutectics leading scorer for the first time this season with his two dozen 24 points. He added four rebounds and three assists.
• Silas Massey posted a double-double for the Saints as he had 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting and 13 rebounds.
• Braeden Jordan had 23 points for UHSP with nine boards and four steals.
• Bryant Odunayo had 17 points and six rebounds as the Eutectics starting five combined to score 70 points on the night.
• Quian Henderson and Trey Palmer each scored 22 points for CCCB. That duo combined for 11 boards, seven assists and seven steals.
• UHSP shot slightly better than CCCB from the floor (48.4%-46.3%) while the took nine more shots and made six more.
• The Eutectics dominated the glass which was one of their big focuses in the offseason. They had 57 rebounds while the Saints collected 43. 25 of those 57 were on the offensive glass for the Eutectics.
• The game featured seven ties and eight lead changes.
• UHSP is now 8-4 against Central Christian and has won the last three straight.

NEXT UP:

Former AMC rival Missouri Baptist (0-0), now a member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, and the Eutectics (1-2) will play on Saturday in a neutral site game. The two will tip off at 7:00p on Saturday at Maryville University. It will be the first of back-to-back weekend meetings between the two. The game this weekend will be the season-opener for the Spartans after coming off a 13-17 season last year.