EIU, SIUE Men Win, EIU Women Lose

Eastern Illinois defense clamped down defensively midway through the second half and used a key 10-2 run in the final six minutes of the game as the Panthers handed South Alabama its first loss of the season with a 72-62 win on Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.
 
EIU improved to 4-2 on the season and will wrap up its four-game home stand on Tuesday evening hosting Bradley.  South Alabama dropped to 5-1 on the year.  The Jaguars were ranked No. 23 in this week’s CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
 
Leading 36-33 at the half Eastern Illinois held South Alabama to only two free throws for just over eight minutes as EIU opened a 46-44 lead at the 14:43 mark into a 56-46 lead until 6:30 remained in the game.  Nick Stover broke the long field goal drought with a 3-pointer that cut the Panthers lead to seven points.  Stover was one of two USA players in double figures finishing with 13.
 
During the defensive stand EIU scored on jumpers by Cornell Johnston, Ray Crossland, Montell Goodwin and Patrick Muldoon.  Goodwin’s jumper was a 3-pointer as he was one of five EIU players in double figures with 14 points.
 
South Alabama closed the gap to five with 5:19 to play on a jumper by Shaq Calhoun.  EIU answered with a 10-2 run that gave the Panthers a 13 point lead with 3:01 to play on another 3-ponter by Goodwin.
 
Stover sank three free throws with 24 seconds left to cut the lead to seven points.  Crossland and Johnston put the game away as EIU scored its final six points at the free throw line.
 
USA shot 50 percent in the first half before EIU limited the Jaguars to 39 percent shooting in the second half.  EIU finished the game shooting 44 percent from the floor and 45 percent from 3-point range.
 
The two teams had five ties in the first half with South Alabama taking the lead at 11-10 with 14:26 to play in the first half.  EIU led by as many as seven points in the first half.
 
Crossland led EIU with 15 points and three steals.  As a team EIU had 11 steals marking the third straight game that EIU posted double digit steals.  Muusa Dama just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.  Johnston had ten points, eight assists.  Demetrius McReynolds finished with ten.
 
Ken Williams led all players with 24 points scoring 12 in each half for South Alabama.

SIUE 76, Grand Canyon 64

SIUE men's basketball scored the first 12 points of the game, built a 20-point halftime lead and held out for a 76-64 win over Grand Canyon in nonconference action Monday night at GCU Arena.

"It's very impressive," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "Our guys didn't get fazed by the environment and it was tremendous. This is one of the best environments I've been in at any level. I applaud our guys for coming in, executing the game plan for a full game and sticking together."

The Cougars have won two straight and improved to 4-3 for the season. The win is the second true road win of the year for SIUE. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Grand Canyon which fell to 3-3.

Burak Eslik opened the scoring with a three-pointer to get the Cougars off and running just over a minute into the game. Jalen Henry scored four points, Christian Ellis added three and Carlos Anderson scored two to give SIUE a 12-0 lead at the first media timeout with 15:11 remaining in the first half.

Women -- Indiana State 88, EIU 61

The Eastern Illinois women's basketball team fell to Indiana State 88-61 Monday night as the Sycamores could not seem to miss early in the game. ISU shot 60 percent for the game, going 6-for-8 from the three point line in the first quarter to build an early lead.

Following the loss the Panthers drop to 4-3 on the season while Indiana State improves to 3-3.

Grace Lennox led the Panthers in scoring recording 16 points while adding four assists.

The Sycamores came out shooting in the first quarter building a nine point lead following a 13-5 run capped off by a layup from ISU's Ashley Taia at the 4:07 mark to make it 19-10. ISU built a 10 point lead closing out the first quarter leading 29-19 after going 6-for-8 from the three-point line in the first quarter.

The Panthers seemed to battle back in the second quarter as both teams traded buckets throughout the period. Indiana State maintained their 10 point lead headed into halftime leading 43-33 as each team scored 14 points in the quarter.

Both teams finished the first half shooting over 50 percent from the floor with EIU shooting 52 percent compared to ISU who shot 58.6 percent. Lennox finished the first half with 11 points.

After a layup from Jennifer Nehls to open the second half, Indiana State proceeded to go on a 10-2 run eventually stopped by a layup from Jalisha Smith to make it 53-39 with 6:13 left to go in the quarter. Nehls finished the game with five points, while Smith netted two points and one rebound seeing limited time on the floor.

The Panthers got as close as 13 points near the end of the third period thanks to buckets from Lennox, but the Sycamores scored the final seven points of the quarter to lead 67-47 heading into the final period.

Indiana State maintained their 20-point cushion throughout the fourth quarter as a three-pointer from Freja Christensen in the dying seconds of the game secured the final score of 88-61.

Erica Brown was the only other Panther to score in double-digits finishing the game with 14 points and six rebounds. Allison Van Dyke finished with seven points and four rebounds.

Indiana State had three players score in double-figures as ISU's Taia finished the game leading all scorers with 19 points. The Sycamore's Wendi Bibbins nearly earned a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. ISU finished the game going 11-for-19 from three-point range.

The Panthers head back out on the road Thursday as they travel to Indiana State at 7 pm.