EIU Men, Women Claim Victories

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Published on February 9 2016 8:34 am
Last Updated on February 9 2016 8:34 am
Written by Millie Lange

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri both lit up the nets in the first half.  In the second half EIU had more left in the tank as the Panthers won their fifth straight game, beating SEMO 78-69 Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena.
 
EIU improved to 11-13 overall, 7-4 in the OVC.  EIU hosts Austin Peay on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on American Sports Network.  SEMO dropped to 5-19, 2-9 in the OVC.
 
SEMO led 42-40 at the half before EIU opened the second half with a 7-0 run.  Luke Piotrowski opened the run with a lay-up followed by a lay-up by Trae Anderson and 3-pointer by Cornell Johnston.   Anderson was key for the Panthers all day finishing the day with 27 points.  Anderson opened the game hitting his first eight shots from the field, finishing the night 12-of-17 from the floor.   His jumper giving EIU a 44-42 lead with 19:20 put EIU for the remainder of the game.
 
Joel Angus III stopped EIU’s run with a jumper in the lane.  EIU countered with a 3-pointer by Anderson and free throws by Piotrowski as EIU pushed its lead to eight points.
 
Antonius Cleveland’s basket with 14:24 to play cut EIU’s lead to one possession at 54-51.  That would be final time in the game SEMO would cut the Panthers lead to one possession.  Patrick Muldoon gave EIU a five point lead at 12:29.  The Panthers biggest lead of the game came in the final seconds as Luke Norman sank a pair of free throws to close out the game.
 
Anderson was one of two EIU players that posted a double-double pulling down 12 rebounds to go with his 27 points.  Demetrius McReynolds added 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Johnston had 11 points and seven assists.
 
EIU shot 54 percent in the opening half, SEMO connected at 50 percent going 14-of-28.  The Redhawks cooled off in the second half shooting 30 percent in the half and 39 percent for the game.
 
SEMO and EIU had seven ties and four lead changes in the first half.  SEMO led by seven points with 3:35 to play in the first half on a jumper by Trey Kellum that gave the Redhawks a 38-31 lead.  Anderson and Johnston combined to give EIU a 9-4 run to end the half.
 
Cleveland led SEMO with 15 points and ten rebounds.  Isiah Jones added ten.


EIU Women 64, Southeast Missouri 59

Eastern Illinois women's basketball snapped their 21 game losing streak with a 64-59 victory over Southeast Missouri Saturday [Feb. 6] afternoon. The Panthers relied on a big second half effort to end the nation's second longest streak.

With the win EIU improves to 2-21 and 1-10 in the OVC earning their first conference win of the season, while SEMO falls to 14-10 and 7-4 in the OVC.

Three different Panthers recorded double figures as Erica Brown earned a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Redhawks jumped out in front to start the game going on an 11-4 run following a layup from Erin Bollman at the 4:30 mark in the first quarter. Bollman finished the game with 14 points. EIU then went on a quick 7-2 run to pull the game close ultimately closing out the quarter trailing SEMO 15-11.

The Panthers went cold in the second period only shooting 20 percent as SEMO extended their lead throughout the closing minutes of the first half. EIU managed to keep the Redhawks within striking distance despite finishing the first half down 29-18.

EIU came out of the locker room fired up opening the second half matching Southeast Missouri shot for shot. A layup from Shakita Cox at the 7:56 mark sparked a 9-1 run for the Panthers as EIU pulled to within two points. Cox earned seven points in the game to go along with six rebounds and three assists.

Back-to-back jumpers from Phylicia Johnson made the score 34-32 in favor of SEMO with 5:23 left in the third quarter. Both teams traded points until a big three-point bucket from Alece Shumpert, her only points of the game, gave the Panthers their first lead of the night 39-37 with 2:26 left in the period. SEMO scored the final six points of the third quarter to head into the final period up 43-39.

It was all Panthers in the fourth quarter as Brown opened up the period with three points the hard way following a foul from SEMO's Hannah Noe. Johnson would build on EIU's fourth quarter start with back-to-back three-point buckets to give EIU the lead 48-43 with 8:03 left in the game. Johnson scored 15 points in the final quarter for EIU to keep the Panthers in front the entire period. Johnson finished the game tying her career high with 19 points all coming in the second half.

Both teams traded shots the rest of the fourth quarter as EIU managed to keep the Redhawks at arm's length leading by as much as seven points following a free-throw from Johnson with 23 seconds left in the game.