LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Head Coach Kevin Gray earned his 300^th career victory Saturday afternoon as the Golden Eagles defeated Eureka College, 88-80, at Columbia Gym. With the win, Spalding improves to 2-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
 
THE BASICS
THE SCORE: Spalding 88 – Eureka 80
LOCATION: Columbia Gym | Louisville, Ky.   
RECORDS: Spalding 2-3 (2-0 SLIAC) | Eureka 1-7 (0-2 SLIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
- At the end of the first half, Spalding held a 39-28 lead over the Red Devils. The Golden Eagles used points off turnovers and dominated the paint to take control of the first half. SU converted seven Eureka turnovers into nine points and outscored the Red Devils 20-to-10 in the paint. A Robert Bendingfield jumper put the Golden Eagles on the scoreboard, and SU increased their margin eventually pushing it to double-figures on a Bendingfield layup with 7:09 to play in the half. A Hank Thomas layup trimmed SU's lead to six points with just over two minutes to play, but Spalding finished the half on a 7-2 spurt capped off by a Marcus Montgomery floater at the buzzer to go into halftime leading, 39-28.
 
- Spalding got off to a rocky start to begin the second half allowing the Red Devils to convert seven turnovers into 11 points tying the game at 56 all with 10:08 remaining. A Marcus Montgomery three-point on SU's next possession sparked a quick 5-0 spurt as part of a 18-7 run capped off by back-to-back jumpers by Steven Gordon and Bendingfield to put Spalding ahead, 74-63, with 3:35 to play and coverted 10-of-12 free throws down the stretch to earn the win, 88-80.
 
- Four Golden Eagles finished in double-figures led by Bendingfield's career-high 27 points. The point guard also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, while dishing out five assists. Marcus Mongomery finished with 18 points shooting 50 percent from the field, including 2-of-3 from long range and went a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. The freshman duo of Brian Tribble and Troy Amanor combined for 24 points. Amanor finished with 14 points, five rebounds and protected the rim with a team-high six blocks, the most by a Golden Eagle since Jametrius Brasher tallied six blocks in the SU's 64-62 win over Eureka in the 2013 SLIAC tournament championship game. Tribble scored 10 points, while grabbing four rebounds/

FOR THE FOES
- Hank Thomas led the Red Devils scoring 17 points. Austin Juergens (15), Jordan Dehm (13) and Dakota Bennington (12) also finished in double-figures, while Alex Wiegand pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
- The Golden Eagles are back in action Wednesday, December 5 in Columbia Gym hosting Thomas More at 7:00 pm EST.