EUREKA, Ill. – Webster University Men's Basketball saw its season high five game win streak come to an end here Saturday afternoon as the Gorloks fell 85-79 to Eureka College in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena on the Eureka campus.
 
With the setback, Webster falls to 7-8 overall and 6-2 in the SLIAC, while Eureka improves to 10-5 overall and 5-3 in the SLIAC. Despite the loss, Webster still sits atop the league standings as they are a half-game in front of Greenville, who is 5-2 in the league following its win on Saturday over Blackburn.
 
Saturday's loss was the first for the Gorloks in 2020 as they had opened the New Year with four straight wins and its first loss since suffering a 98-97 setback at Greenville on Dec. 7.
 
Webster, who trailed by as much as 10 points with a little more than 10 minutes left in the game, used a 19-8 run over a span of nearly six-plus minutes to take a 74-73 lead following a basket from freshman guard Wynne Brown, Jr. (Memphis, Tenn./Bartlett) with 4:14 left in the game. Brown's basket gave the Gorloks its only lead of the game.
 
The lead, though, would be shortlived as Eureka responded with a 6-0 run keyed by back-to-back baskets within 44 seconds of one another by Dakota Bennington to take a 79-74 lead with 1:45 left in the game.
 
Webster would make one more push as they scored five of the next seven points to pull within 81-79 following a 3-pointer from the top of the key from junior forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) with 17 seconds remaining.
 
Eureka's Jordan Dehm would hit four free throws in the final 11 seconds to seal Eureka's third straight win over the Gorloks.
 
Etienne paced the way offensively for Webster with a season high 24 points, including scoring 20 of those 24 points after halftime.
 
In addition to Etienne, senior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) finished with 16 points, but was just 6-for-20 from the field and 3-for-7 from the 3-point line and scored 11 of his points in the second half. With his 16 points, Johnson, who became the 12th Gorlok to score 1,000 career points in Wednesday's 77-58 home win against Blackburn, pushed his career scoring total to 1,022 points.
 
The third double-digit scorer for Webster was Brown, Jr., who tallied 10 points in the loss. Two other Gorloks fell just short of double figures as senior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) had nine points and added eight boards to snap his double digit scoring streak at 13 games, while junior forward Ethan Hughes (Union, Mo./Park University) tallied a season high eight points and added five boards.

Eureka, who defeated the Gorloks 70-69 in the finals of last year's SLIAC Tournament at Grant Gymnasium, opened Saturday's game by scoring seven of the first nine points and led 20-12 just 11 minutes in the game when the Gorloks used an 11-4 run capped by a fast break dunk from Etienne to pull within 24-23 with 5:22 left in the half. 

The Red Devils, though, would answer with a 6-0 run to push its lead to 30-23 with 3:54 remaining in the opening half. The Gorloks would fight back as they scored seven straight points, including capping the run with a trey from Johnson, to tie the game at 30 with 2:36 remaining before halftime, before Eureka closed the first half on a 9-3 run to take a 39-30 halftime lead. 
 
Dehm paced the Red Devils with a game high 31 points, including scoring 20 of those points in the second half. Along with Dehm, Bennington added 18 points and Austin Juergens chipped in with 14 points in the win.
 
For the game, Webster struggled shooting the ball as the Gorloks shot just 42 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line, including shooting just 36 percent from the field and 22 percent from downtown in the first half.
 
Webster held a 39-38 edge on the boards as along with Tankins' eight boards, senior guard Jordan Clay (St. Louis, Mo./Blackburn College) added six boards and also scored six points.
 
The Gorloks also forced Eureka into 12 turnovers that led to 10 points, while Webster had nine turnovers that led to 13 points.
 
Webster will look to start a new winning streak this coming Wednesday, Jan. 22 as the Gorloks conclude the first half of league play with a 7:30 p.m. game in Grant Gymnasium at Iowa Wesleyan (6-8 overall, 3-4 SLIAC). The Tigers, who play a rescheduled game on Monday at Greenville, have won two straight games, including picking up an 85-63 home win on Saturday over Fontbonne.