Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — If Eastern was looking for a late-season test on Saturday, that’s exactly what it received.
And, at the end of the night, thanks to the duo of Declan Davis and Tucker Leist, the Eagles passed.
Southeastern gave Eastern everything it wanted and then some, applying pressure with a late scoring run and cutting a 10-point deficit to just one in the fourth quarter.
But it wasn’t enough to complete the upset bid as Davis and Leist paved the way to a hard-fought 60-54 victory.
“[Southeastern] is a great team,” Davis said. “We couldn’t take them lightly. We got out ahead, in front, and we didn’t look back. We played as a team, we played together and we played our style of basketball. This is a great group. We just play basketball the way we know how to play.”
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Davis was sensational all night long and his teammates rallied around his play. When the Eagles (17-2) looked to be in a slump, he was there to pick up the slack. And when the Panthers looked to be piecing together a run, he led the way in getting a needed stop.
“I don’t know what he’s averaging but he helps a lot,” Leist said of Davis. “It’s a big help for us. If we don’t have him, we don’t win a lot of these games, especially these close games.”
Southeastern (14-7) took a 5-3 lead early behind buckets from Brevin Strausbaugh and Carter Fisher. That two-point lead stayed intact at 11-9 before Leist dialed long distance with just 39.3 seconds left in the first quarter, putting Eastern ahead 12-11.
The Eagles never trailed again.
After going into the second with a 14-11 advantage, Eastern extended its advantage to 26-16 at the 3:18 behind buckets from Leist, Davis and Boston Webb.
That’s basically where the Eagles’ advantage stayed as Aiden Werner and Cade Leist got involved, making it a 32-23 count at halftime.
“It’s just great having all these guys to play with,” Leist said. “And even off the floor, we’re just all brothers. It’s just fun to have them around. Fun in practice, fun in games. I just love these guys.”
Eastern was comfortably in front, but knew there would be a battle in the third and fourth quarters.
After Davis immediately nailed a 3 to begin the third, making it 35-25 with 7:29 to go, Southeastern’s Lane Williams found a groove. The senior guard hit back-to-back buckets before Strausbaugh added two freebies, capping a 6-0 run and cutting the deficit to 35-31.
That four-point difference stood at 40-36 heading into the final eight minutes.
Davis hit another 3 to begin the fourth, but the Panthers managed to cut the Eagles’ lead to 45-44 with 6:14 remaining — thanks to a 3 from Gage Cheadle.
However, that’s as close as SE would get.
Davis and Leist, with help from Cade Leist and Webb, took it upon themselves to take matters into their own hands, spearheading a 6-0 run of their own to push the lead back to seven at 51-44 with 4:42 to go.
“Me and [Leist] have great chemistry,” Davis said. “We’ve been playing together since we were little. We can just look at each other and just know what to do. It’s something we’ve been doing since elementary school. We just know how to take over a ballgame.”
Strausbaugh splashed in a triple with 3:41 to go, making it 51-49, but Davis, Leist and Webb hit their free throws down the stretch — the team was 20-of-24 on the night at the charity stripe — to put away a hard-earned victory.
Statistically, Davis led the Eagles with a game-high 21 points while Leist added 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. Webb also helped out with 12 points and seven boards.
“Whenever I catch the ball in stride and don’t hesitate to shoot it, that’s when I get going,” Davis said. “Then, it’s just playing with confidence. That’s the big part of this game. It’s mental. You have to be mentally strong to take over a ballgame. I just caught my stride and never looked back.”
Southeastern was led by Strausbaugh, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds, while Williams had 11 points and seven assists. Fisher also reached double-digit scoring figures with 10 points and five rebounds.
While the Panthers attempt to bounce back on Tuesday, wrapping up its regular season with a trip Southern. Meanwhile, the Eagles are back in action the same evening, hosting Northwest.
“We have to play mentally strong. We can’t go into games expecting to, you know, walk all over a team,” Davis said. “We have to just play basketball, we have to take every practice and every game seriously. We have high expectations this year and we want to accomplish those goals.”
BOX SCORE
Eastern: 14-18-8-20 — 60
Southeastern: 11-12-13-18 — 54
Eastern: 17-48 FG, 20-24 FT, 6-16 3pt., 29 rebounds (C. Leist 8), 13 turnovers, 9 assists (T. Leist 4). Scoring: Davis 21, T. Leist 18, Webb 12, Werner 5, Richardson 2, C. Leist 2.
Southeastern: 20-47 FG, 8-11 FT, 6-22 3pt., 26 rebounds (Burns 7), 16 turnovers, 14 assists (Williams 7). Scoring: Strausbaugh 12, Williams 11, Fisher 10, Pfeifer 8, Cheadle 9, Gowan 4.
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