Benedictine Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. - (December 19, 2008) - Brent Ruch scored a season-high 27 points in just 23 minutes to lead the Elmhurst College men's basketball team to an 89-83 win over Benedictine University in the first round of the Bluejay Classic Tournament.

Elmhurst (8-1) jumped out to a 49-35 halftime lead and opened up a 15-point second half advantage. Benedictine (4-5) was able to cut the Bluejays' lead down to five points with 25 seconds left, but came no closer.

Elmhurst shot 59.3 percent (35-of-59) from the floor, including 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from downtown. Elmhurst combined to dish out 26 assists, one shy of matching the school's single-game record. Benedictine finished the game shooting 57.9 percent (33-of-57) from the floor, including 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from downtown.

Ruch poured in 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor. He added five rebounds and three assists. Ryan Burks added 15 points, a team-high eight rebounds, and a team-high six assists in the victory. Mike McCurdy came off the bench to total 11 points and five assists while Robert Strzemp added 10 points for the Bluejays.

Benedictine was led by Jared Bailey's 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting. Cameron Snelling added 18 points, while A.J. Brown finished with 15. 

The win by Elmhurst sets up a battle of two top-10 teams in tomorrow's championship game. Elmhurst, currently ranked 10th in the latests D3hoops.com poll, will face number one ranked Washington University (Mo.) at 4:00 p.m.