EUREKA, Ill. -  The curtain came down on the 2024-25 season for The W men's basketball in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) quarterfinals, losing at Eureka College, 76-59, at Bollwinkle Gym. The No. 4-seed Owls end their season at 12-14, while the No. 5-seed Red Devils (10-16) advance to the SLIAC semifinals.
 
The first half was much like the two regular season meetings between the clubs, that saw the teams stay close before eventually playing overtime games, to boot. In the third meeting on Wednesday, there were two ties and five lead changes in the opening segment, before Eureka extended to a 38-28 halftime advantage.
 
Unlike the two previous bouts, however, the Red Devils maintained a double-digit lead most of the second half, reaching as much as 19 points (59-40) with 8:53 left. But the Owls refused to give in and fought back.
 
MUW's leading scorer Jackson Reid twice canned three-point baskets in the waning minutes that got The W to within single digits of EC. The first came at the 4:34 juncture and made it a seven-point difference (63-56), with the second occurring with 2:12 to cut it to eight, 67-59.
 
But MUW would score no more for the evening, as Eureka tallied the final nine points of the game.
 
Reid would finish with 13 points to top a quartet of Owls in double-figure scoring. Reid was 4-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
 
Seniors Cam Smith (12 points), Dariun Doss (11 points), and Isaiah Ball (10 points) capped their MUW careers to round out the double-figure point totals. Smith was 4-of-8 from the field and Doss had a team-leading seven rebounds.
 
That loss ended a memorable season for The W. The 12 victories this year set a program record and the Owls will be looking to continue building upon the program's first-ever SLIAC post-season bid in 2024-25, as well.