More College Hoops from Friday Night

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Published on November 14 2015 8:45 am
Last Updated on November 14 2015 8:45 am
Written by Greg Sapp

Four players scored in double figures Friday as SIUE men's basketball defeated Arkansas State 79-70 to deliver Jon Harris his first win as a head coach.

"It was a great experience to see the guys come together and grow," Harris said. "We had a lot of people saying that we didn't have experience, but we played a great game start to finish."

The win marked the first time SIUE has defeated an NCAA Division I opponent to start a season.

Jalen Henry led the Cougars with a career-high 18 points and finished one rebound shy of a double-double. He knocked down a career-best 11 free throws. Burak Eslik scored 13 points and led the team with four assists. Yemi Makanjuola and Grant Fiorentinos each added 11 points. Makanjuola also pulled in seven rebounds.

Tied 37-37 at the half, the visiting Red Wolves pulled out to a quick four-point advantage with back-to-back jumpers by Anthony Livingston. Devin Carter drained a jumper with 16:06 to play to make it 45-41 Arkansas State before the Cougars took over.

"The guys didn't get rattled at all, and they came together," Harris said. "We talk about how they have to coach each other and motivate each other on the floor, and they did a good job staying together."

Connor Wheeler hit a pair of three-pointers as part of a 12-2 SIUE run which put the Cougars up 53-47.

After seven lead changes and 10 ties in the first half, the Cougars seized control and led for the final 13:44 of the game. Fiorentinos knocked down a pair of free throws at the 3:41 mark to give SIUE its largest lead at 68-59.

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Eastern Illinois women's basketball won their first season opener since the 2011-12 season in front of an energetic home crowd at Lantz Arena as the Panthers outlasted IUPUI 77-71 in overtime. Grace Lennox led the team with a career high 19 points as five different Panthers scored in double digits. Lennox finished the game with nine rebounds, seven assists, and three steals in 41 minutes on the court.

The match started out all IUPUI as the Jaguars took the lead following an Akilah Sims layup in the first 15 seconds of the first quarter and would not relinquish it until late in the fourth period. This is the first season that women's basketball will be played in four 10 minute quarters as opposed to two 20 minute halves. IUPUI was relentless in the first quarter as they shot 64.3% from the field and 3-4 from beyond the arc to finish the quarter with a 26-19 lead over EIU.

The second period was much more defensive for each squad as both EIU and IUPUI only sank four buckets a piece. The Jaguars ended the final four minutes of the match with a 7-2 run to take a 36-27 lead into the locker room.

IUPUI came out shooting in the second half as they extended their lead to 12 points, their largest of the night, leading 43-31 with 6:36 left to play. Alece Shumpert stopped the Jaguar momentum as she hit two big three pointers back-to-back to pull the Panthers within six points as IUPUI led 43-37 midway through the third period. Shumpert finished the match with 11 points. The crowd came alive during the third period as the Panthers turned up the heat, but EIU could not break the six point lead set up by IUPUI. The Jaguars ended the period leading 52-45.

EIU came out in the fourth period fired up as Brittin Boyer sank a jumper to immediately send the Panthers on a 6-1 run to start the final period cutting IUPUI's lead to two. The freshman would finish the match with 10 points to start her career as a Panther. It wasn't until the 2:12 mark that EIU would earn their first lead of the night after another three pointer from Shumpert put the Panthers ahead 64-63 with time winding down in the match. A three pointer from Lennox followed by a free throw from Shakita Cox looked to have the game wrapped up for the Panthers as they led 68-65 with less than 20 seconds left in the game. The Jaguars did not go without a fight as IUPUI's Sims sank a three pointer as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Sims finished the match with 22 points.

The Panthers were first on the board as Mariah Madison sank a jumper to put EIU up 70-68. Madison finished the match with a career high 14 points, six coming in the fourth period alone to help propel EIU to overtime. Madison and Lennox were the only players to make a basket in overtime with free throws from Boyer and Cox wrapping up a 77-71 overtime victory for the Panthers. Erica Brown had two of her four blocks in the match coming in overtime to help seal the win, as she finished the match with 12 points.

EIU has a quick turnaround as the women's basketball team heads to Memphis for a 2 p.m. match Sunday against the Tigers.

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Indiana closed the first half with a 27-3 run over the final 8:48 as the 15th ranked Hoosiers beat Eastern Illinois 88-49 in the 2015 season opener.

It marked the second time in school history EIU had faced Indiana, the previous time was in the opening round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament in Boise, Idaho. EIU returns to action on Monday playing at Ball State.

The Panthers took a 3-2 lead as Trae Anderson converted a three point play with 18:57 to play.  Anderson finished with 12 points for EIU.

James Blackmon Jr., answered with a 3-pointer that put the Hoosiers back in front.  Indiana was 4-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half and 9-of-27 for the game behind the arc.

The Hoosiers slowly increased their lead in the first half leading 18-11 with 11:54 to play and 25-14 with a media time out at 7:40 to play.

Cornell Johnston knocked down a 3-pointer for EIU at the 8:48 mark.   Anderson would hit a free throw and Joe Kuligoski converted a lay-up to account for EIU’s final three points of the half.

Blackmon had 12 points to lead IU in the first half as they led 49-17.  Indiana held a 26-6 rebounding advantage in the first half with ten offensive boards.

The Panthers continued to fight early in the second half as the Panthers opened with a pair of 3-pointers by Casey Teson with a 10-6 run taking the Panthers to the first media time out of the second half.

Indiana shot 53 percent for the game opening the first half at 57 percent.  The Hoosiers finished with 26 second chance points and a 51-17 rebound advantage.   Thomas Bryant led IU with nine rebounds.

A.J. Riley led the Panthers with 13 points.

IU had six players finish in double figures with Blackmon leading the way with 17.