College Roundup for December 5

Western Illinois Men 57, EIU 45

CHARLESTON, Ill. – In a tale of two halves, Western Illinois played better in the second half as they doubled Eastern Illinois output for the final twenty minutes to win 57-45 in the 154th playing of this in-state rivalry game on Wednesday night in Lantz Arena.

EIU took advantage of 11 first half turnovers by WIU to score 16 points off turnovers and take a 27-20 halftime lead.  Trailing by one following a three point play by Adam Link, EIU went on a 5-0 run to go up 11-7 on a jumper by Cameron Harvey.

Austin Akers hit a 3-pointer and Josh Piper a hook shot in the lane as EIU started on a 13-3 run to lead 24-12 with 2:53 left in the half when Sherman Blanford knocked down a jumper in the lane.  WIU closed the half on an 8-3 run to gain some momentum heading into the half.

A 3-pointer by Josh Piper extended EIU’s lead to eight at the 17:34 mark of the second half.  Piper was one of three Panthers with seven points.  Malcolm Herron led EIU with eight.

Jack Houpt hit the first Leathernecks 3-pointer of the night at the 16:52 mark as WIU drained 4-of-5 from beyond the arc in the second half.  Terell Parks jumper in the paint with 10:53 left gave WIU its first lead of the second half as WIU was in the midst of a 13-0 run that saw them lead by a 40-34 margin before the Panthers ended the run on an Akers lay-up.

Parks jumper with 2:30 left pushed WIU’s lead to double figures as he finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.  WIU scored its final five points from the free throw line as they were 21-of-34 for the game.  By comparison EIU was only 4-of-8 from the stripe.

Link was 7-of-9 from the free throw line to finish with a game high 15 points.  Ceola Clark added 14 for WIU.

The Panthers fell to 3-7 on the season and will host Toledo on Saturday at 6 p.m. in their final game before final exams.  WIU improved to 6-3 overall and evened the all-time series at 77-77.

EIU Women 70, Evanasville 57

CHARLESTON – Senior Ta’Kenya Nixon posted her second double-double of the season to push the Panther women’s basketball team over Evansville 70-57 on Tuesday night inside Lantz Arena. EIU improves to 4-3 on the year.

Down 46-42 with 11:31 left in the game, EIU posted a 28-11 run on 11-for-19 shooting to close the contest. The Panthers led by as many as 18 points (70-52) with 1:38 left on the clock. The game had 15 lead changes and nine ties until the Panthers late-game rally.

The first stanza only saw the Panthers hit 33.3 percent of their shots (11-for-33) to Evansville’s 50 percent clip (14-for-28), but EIU was able to keep the game tied at 34 heading into intermission on 10-for-12 shooting from the charity stripe. The Panthers finished the contest going 12-for-14 from the foul line.

Nixon paced the Panthers with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Offensively, Mariah King added 11 points while Jordyne Crunk and Sydney Mitchell both contributed 10 points. Nixon also dished out a team-high four assists.

Northern Illinois Men 65, SIUE 54

DEKALB – SIUE men's basketball turned the ball over 18 times Wednesday night and trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half en route to a 65-54 loss to Northern Illinois at the NIU Convocation Center.

The Cougars trailed at the half for the fourth time in five games this season but, after coming back from a halftime deficit Saturday, were unable to pull off a second consecutive comeback.

SIUE, now 2-4, trailed 6-0 and 8-3 in the game's first three-plus minutes. Northern Illinois, now 2-5, shot 57.7 percent (15-26) during the first half.

Mike Davis finished with 16 points for the Cougars.  He was 4 for 10 from the field, including 3 for 7 from three-point range, while also hitting all five free throws he took. Jerome Jones led all scorers with 19 points. He was 7 for 13 from the floor, including 4 for 6 from long distance.

SIUE Women 75, Sacramento State 57

EDWARDSVILLE – Four SIUE women's basketball players scored in double figures Wednesday, and the Cougars collected a 75-57 triumph over visiting Sacramento State at the Vadalabene Center.

Raven Berry led SIUE with 15 points and 14 rebounds. It was the senior's 26th career double-double as she shot 7 of 13 from the field.

Tierny Austin pumped in 14 points followed by season highs of 12 from Courtney Kenner and 10 off the bench from Ashley Capotosto. SIUE grabbed a season-high 50 rebounds and easily won the battle of the boards by 15. The Cougars also worked the ball inside for 46 points in the paint.