EIU Men, Women, SIUE Men Claim Victories

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois survived two game winning opportunities by Eastern Kentucky in the final six seconds as the Panthers hung on for a 67-66 win over the Colonels at Lantz Arena on Thursday night.

EIU improved to 13-9 overall, 6-3 in the OVC. It was the Panthers eighth win this season in a game decided by five points or less.  EKU fell to 10-12 overall, 3-6 in the OVC.

The late game dramatics played out over the final 3:40 of the game as Nick Mayo put the Colonels up three points as he converted at the foul line.  Mack Smith would hit a jumper in the lane with 2:41 to play to cut the lead to one point.

Both teams would then have players go 1-of-2 from the foul line on the next two possessions.  For EKU it was Tre King going 1-of-2.  For EIU it was Josiah Wallace.  Wallace would get redemption with 17 seconds remaining as he would make two free throws staking EIU to the 67-66 advantage.

With six seconds left the Colonels dumped the ball down low to Mayo who missed a shot that Cam Burrell cleaned off the glass.   Burrell was fouled and missed a pair of free throws with 2.7 seconds left.  Kelvin Robinson would miss a long jumper as time expired to hand EIU the win.

Burrell was part of a solid night of play off the bench for the Panthers as he finished with ten points and ten rebounds for his second double-double this season.  Ben Harvey added 11 points and Rade Kukobat eight as the Panthers scored 32 points off the bench.

In the first half Eastern Kentucky jumped out to a six point lead with 6:26 to play as Mayo went to the foul line.  EIU head coach Jay Spoonhour was called for a technical foul on the next EIU possession resulting in two more free throws for Mayo that pushed the Colonels lead to 25-17 with 6:14 to play.

The technical seemed to light a fire for EIU as the Panthers went on a 10-2 run and would go up by nine at the half, 39-30.

In the second half EIU extended its lead to 11 points on two occasions.  The first on a free throws by Mack Smith.  The second by a three point by play by Harvey with 14:14 to play.

EKU whittled away at the lead eventually tying the game at 62-62 with 4:55 to play on a Mayo jumper.  Mayo free throws at the 4:26 mark gave the Colonels a late lead and set up the exciting finish.  Mayo had 15 points and ten rebounds as three Colonels scored in double figures.  Dujuanta Weaver had 18 and Jomaru Brown 13.

Smith led EIU in scoring with 17 points as he knocked down four 3-pointers.  Smith has now hit at least one 3-pointer in 39 straight games, the longest active streak in the OVC.  Wallace added 14.

SIUE 83, Morehead State 76

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE overcame a 16-point deficit to post one of its most meaningful men's basketball wins of the season Thursday night at the Vadalabene Center.

The Cougars erupted for an explosive 51-point second half to overtake Morehead State 83-76 in Ohio Valley Conference play and improve to 7-14 overall. SIUE lifted its record to 3-6 in the league. Morehead State dropped to 8-15 and 4-5.

"I think it was a great win and we found a way to rally around each other, especially on the defensive end," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "We got some stops when we really needed to get them. It's all part of the process and the chemistry is so strong on this team."

Tyresse Williford's 23 points, including 16 in the second half, spurred the Cougars, who recorded their biggest comeback of the season. Williford served as a catalyst in the big second half when SIUE made 17 of 26 shots. He also sank four free throws in the final 18.9 seconds to put the finishing touches on the win.

"We came together at halftime," said Williford, pointing to Morehead State's 40-32 lead at the break. "The first half wasn't our best or worst one of the season, but in the second half, we started getting defensive stops and controlled the pace of the game."

Harris added, "The second half was one of our better halves of the season."

Morehead State led 34-18 with 6:30 remaining in the first half before the Cougars rolled up their sleeves and went to work. They used an 11-0 run to get back into the game and trailed 40-32 at halftime.

And SIUE was far from finished. Reserve Jaylen McCoy sparked them in the second half with an eight-point flurry in 2.5 minutes and the Cougars caught the Eagles at 53-53 with 12:36 remaining.

"Jaylen did some great things," Harris said. "He's a great team guy and he continues to respond."

David McFarland tallied 18 points, including 13 in the second half, while Brandon Jackson punched in 13 points. The Cougars made 30 of 54 shots, 8 of 21 from three-point range and 15 of 21 foul shots. They also outrebounded Morehead State 37-28 and committed only four second-half turnovers, and 14 in all.

Jordan Walker's 22 points led Morehead State, which made 22 of 55 shots, 9 of 23 treys and converted 23 of 27 free throws. Yet once SIUE forged ahead 64-63 on a McFarland free throw with 7:19 remaining, the Eagles couldn't catch the Cougars. They hiked their lead to 72-63 with 4:26 to play and made their free throws to secure the win.

"I thought we executed our game from start to finish against a good Morehead State team," Harris said. "Why we got into trouble early in the game was because we took some questionable shots and had four or five unforced turnovers."

The Cougars , halfway through their OVC schedule, remain at home Saturday against OVC foe Eastern Kentucky. It's a 7 p.m start on Community Day. Then the Cougars travel to Austin Peay (Feb. 7) and Murray State (Feb. 9) prior to welcoming Eastern Illinois (Feb. 14) and UT Martin (Feb. 16).

EIU Women 80, Eastern Kentucky 60

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Karle Pace scores a season-best 29 points in Eastern Illinois women's basketball's 80-60 win over Eastern Kentucky Thursday night in Lantz Arena. Pace finished 10-of-15 from the field and 3-of-5 from the arc with two rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

EIU improves to 9-11 overall and 3-6 in the OVC, while EKU falls to 2-18 overall and 0-9 in the OVC.

The first quarter saw four lead changes in the first four minutes of play. Grace McRae connected on a jumper at the 6:04 minute mark to give the Panthers a permanent lead over the Colonels for the remainder of the game. Taylor Steele and Pace each had 13 points for EIU heading into halftime helping the Panthers to a 41-31 lead over the Colonels.

In the third quarter, the Panthers capitalized on the Colonels six turnovers scoring 13 points. EIU finished the game with 26 points on EKU's 19 turnovers.

The Panthers led by as much as 22 as Pace scored 13 points for EIU in the third quarter. The Colonels would get the lead down to 15 on three different possessions, but the Panthers would win their third conference match-up 80-60.

Steele finished with 15 points behind Pace's 29. Steele also tallied six rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. Jalisha Smith flirted with a double-double recording 9 points and a season-best 11 rebounds. McRae added seven points and seven rebounds from the bench.

Bria Bass led the Colonels with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Shay Solomon fell short of a double-double with 10 points and 8 rebound. She also tallied six assists.

The Panthers will be back in action this Saturday Feb. 2 at 1 pm vs. Morehead State for the second annual Care Game.