EIU Hands WIU Overtime Loss in Men's Basketball

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Ben Harvey collected an offensive rebound and put-back basket with 37 seconds left to give Eastern Illinois a one-point lead in overtime.  Following two misses by Western Illinois and a free throw by the Panthers, Eastern Illinois walked away with a 68-66 win over Western Illinois in the Old Railsplitter Axe Rivalry Game on Saturday night in Lantz Arena.

EIU improved to 1-2 on the season and will play three games over Thanksgiving weekend at the visitcurrituckOBX.com Battle in the Blue Ridge Tournament in Asheville, N.C.  WIU fell to 2-2 on the season.

WIU opened the overtime period on a 6-1 run on 3-pointers by C.J. Duff and Isaac Johnson.  The Panthers chipped away at the lead with free throws by Shareef Smith with 2:04 to play and a jumper by Rade Kukobat with 1:20 left to play.

Leading by one with 51 seconds remaining, WIU the nation’s top free throw shooting team entering the contest, missed back-to-back free throws.  Harvey pulled down the defensive rebound on the second miss and then found the offensive board on a missed EIU shot on the right hand side of the lane, putting the shot back up for the game winner.  Harvey posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Western Illinois held a 38-34 lead at the half.  In the second half the Leathernecks led by as many as five points when Duff drained a jumper with 17:25 to play in regulation that gave WIU a 41-36 lead.  Duff was one of three WIU players in double figures with 16 points.

EIU was able to take the lead twice in the second half on a 3-pointer by Shareef Smith with 7:45 to play and 3-pointer by Mack Smith with 4:37 to play.  EIU was 7-of-25 from 3-point range as a team.  Shareef Smith had 12 points.  Josiah Wallace led EIU with 13 points.

The two teams had ten ties in regulation.  Kobe Webster had a shot to win it in regulation for WIU that fell short.  Webster had a game-high 18 points.  Johnson had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.   Brandon Gilbeck narrowly missed a triple-double as he pulled down 19 rebounds to go along with nine points and nine blocked shots.

EIU won the battle on the glass by a 48-47 margin with 14 offensive rebounds leading to 15 second chance points.  JaQualis Matlock had nine rebounds.