EIU Men, Women Drop Losses, SIUE Loses To Southeast Missouri

EIU fell to 5-12 overall, 2-8 in the OVC.  UTM improved to 5-9 overall, 3-7 in the OVC. 

The Panthers built an 18-13 lead with an 11-0 run with Josiah Wallace scoring back-to-back baskets in the run.   Deang Deang completed a three point play with 6:27 remaining in the first half to finish off the EIU run.   Deang would score ten of his 14 points in the opening half. 

Deang’s basket would be the last points of the first half for EIU as the Panthers shot 29 percent for the opening half including 2-of-12 from 3-point range. 
UT Martin began to heat up from 3-point range in the final minutes of the first half as the Skyhawks closed the half on a 13-0 run with three 3-pointers.  Jaron Williams drained back-to-back 3-pointers as UTM took a 26-18 lead into the break.  

In the second half Eastern Illinois was able to cut the lead to three points on several occasions with UT Martin providing an answer each time.  

The final time EIU would close to within three points was at 42-39 with 5:23 remaining as Deang made a driving lay-up. 

Vinnie Viana would answer for UTM with a 3-pointer with 4:15 left in the game as EIU would never get within one score in the final four minutes of the game.  Viana was one of two Skyhawks in double figures with 11 points.  Jaron Williams led UTM with 17 points. 

Wallace finished with 11 points for EIU as the Panthers shot 28 percent for the game.  Barlow Alleruzzo IV pulled down ten rebounds while Madani Diarra collected nine.   EIU played with only seven available players for the second straight game.  

UT Martin 70, EIU Women 50

MARTIN, Tenn. -- The Eastern Illinois Panthers (7-9, 5-6 OVC) fell to the UT Martin Skyhawks (9-3, 8-1 OVC), 70-50 in women's basketball. The  Panthers battled against the Skyhawks for the entirety but were unable to get the offensive push late in the fourth quarter.

Abby Wahl was dominant as usual on offense as she finished with 21 points and seven rebounds. Lariah Washington was also a massive factor in the rebounding category as she finished with nine boards and eight points. Karle Pace was missed on offense, but Jordyn Hughes stepped up off the bench and scored seven points and grabbed four steals in Pace's absence.

The Panthers will stay on the road and take on SEMO Saturday, Jan. 30.

QUICK STATS

The Panthers eclipse 20 turnovers for the fourth time this season.

Abby Wahl was the only Panther to score in double digits.

The Panthers held the NCAA's leading scorer to 19 points; the first time she hasn't scored 20 or more points this season.

This is only the fifth game that the Panthers were outscored in the paint.

The Panthers tied the Skyhawks with 11 bench points; this is the eighth time the team has scored over double-digit points.

The Panthers out-rebounded the Skyhawks by 10 rebounds.

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER

Eastern Illinois started with some tenacious defense against the Skyhawks. Morgan Litwiller and Wahl made back-to-back three-point attempts to put the Panthers up 6-0 early in the game. After the two quick threes from the Panthers, both teams went cold from the field. The Skyhawks couldn't buy a basket. Going into the second half of the quarter, the Skyhawks had gone 0 for 5 from the floor and turned the ball over three times. UT Martin broke out the 1-3-1 zone, and the Panthers struggled mightily; the Skyhawks forced eight turnovers in the first quarter and held the Panthers to just the six points on the quarter. The Panthers trailed the Skyhawks, 9-6.

Washington snapped the Panthers eight minute drought as she hit a tough layup early in the second quarter. The Panthers continued to struggle against the 1-3-1 zone while the Skyhawks offense started to warm-up. Eastern Illinois finished the quarter with an additional eight turnovers putting its total on the game to 16. At the media timeout, UT Martin was up 24-12, and the Panthers couldn't overcome the defensive zone. The Panthers were held to just 12 points in the quarter, while UT Martin scored 23. Hughes led the Panthers in scoring with five points in the first half. The Skyhawks led going into the half, 32-18.

Wahl started strong coming into the second half of basketball with six quick points. Washington followed suit with four points of her own, as the Panthers couldn't afford to let UT Martin run away with the game. The Panthers continued to look to Wahl to lead the offense as she went back and forth with the Skyhawks. Wahl finished the quarter with 13 of the Panthers' 21 third-quarter points. EIU outscored the Skyhawks, 21-17 in the quarter, but UT Martin held the lead heading into the fourth quarter, 49-39.

The Skyhawks and Panthers kept it close at the start of the fourth quarter. UT Martin made most of its shots as they went 4 for 5 going into the second half of the final quarter. The Panthers were unable to overcome the deficit created in the second quarter. The benches cleared as the freshman of EIU received some necessary playing time.

The Panthers will take the lessons learned from this game to Cape Girardeau, Mo., and face the Southeast Missouri Redhawks Saturday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m.

Southeast Missouri 64, SIUE 62

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Eric Reed's two free throws with one-half second left lifted Southeast Missouri to a come-from-behind 64-62 win over SIUEThursday at the Show Me Center.

SIUE fell to 3-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 5-6 overall. SEMO improved to 5-10 overall and 3-6 in the OVC.

"It was hard because of the way it went down," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. We made some mistakes and you could see that."
SIUE scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed until the final second.

"The first half we jumped out early and aggressive," Barone said. "We got some good looks going to the rim. But then we got stagnant and we were not moving the ball or we were driving in to two people too often."

Sidney Wilson scored 10 of SIUE's first 11 points and finished with a career-high 23 points to lead all scorers. Wilson scored 18 points in the first half and

SIUE led 34-27 at halftime. The Cougars extended their lead to as many as 13 in the second half.
A jumper from Cam Williams gave SIUE a 50-39 lead with 11:27 to play when SEMO made a push. The Redhawks scored the next 10 points and trailed 50-49 with 8:20 left.

"We didn't have the pop that we needed to take it from 11 to 13 points or 13 to 15," Barone said. "Those plays were key throughout the game."

Courtney Carter made it a seven-point game (58-51) with 2:50 left but SEMO pulled within one with 1:27 left. Two free throws from Wilson and a dunk by Willams had the Cougars on top 62-57 with just 35 seconds left. Nygal Russell converted on a fast-break layup and then forced a steal to set up a game-tying three-pointer from DQ Nicholas with 16 seconds left.

'The game got away from us in that stretch after we extended it to a five-point game," Barone admitted. We were up five and give up a quick layup and then we give up it up on a press attack."

SEMO again came away with a steal on the ensuing play and Reed was on a break to the basket when a foul was called at the buzzer.

"The last sequence didn't go in our favor at all," Barone said. "They sped us up and we attacked too early. You have to come away with the last shot or overtime in that situation. Normally, those are things that you would go through in a daily practice. We went through it, unfortunately, in a game."

Courtney Carter scored 11 point for the Cougars and Williams added 10. The Cougars shot 47 percent (24-51) for the game and outrebounded SEMO 38-37. SEMO turned 21 SIUE turnovers into 15 points.

Reed finished with nine points for SEMO. Nana Akenten led Southeast with 10 points.

SIUE plays travels to Martin, Tennessee for a Saturday afternoon game with UT Martin.

"We have to bounce back after this one, because we have no choice," Barone said. "With the OVC schedule that has been given to us and what is being asked of our guys mentally and physically is a lot."