Illinois Drubs Central Michigan, 92-73

Tracy Abrams proved that he was back to top shape - or even better - when he scored a career-high 31 points and led Illinois in a 92-73 drubbing of Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon.

Abrams scored 23 points in the first half and finished 7 of 8 from 3-point range on a day when he scored his 1,000th career point with Illinois (8-3).

It's been a long road for the guard from Chicago who missed the last two seasons with knee injuries. Despite the difficult journey, Abrams had a priority for whom to credit for his on-court success.

''My teammates for giving me the ball and just the hard work, being in the gym a lot.'' Abrams said. ''It just shows that hard work pays off.''

Illinois shot at or above 50 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes, but a six-minute Central Michigan scoring drought allowed Illinois to go on a 23-3 run and lead by as many as 19 points in the first half.

Leron Black played another compete game from the bench, scoring a career-high 21 points.

Illinois played its last nonconference game at home of the season, a game in which coach John Groce thought his team continued to grow and find its identity.

''It was our most complete performance of the season,'' Groce said. ''I think it's something that we can build upon.''

Marcus Keene led Central Michigan (8-3) with 25 points and Braylon Rayson added 18.

Illinois won the rebound battle 49-25 and outscored the Chippewas in the paint 34-14.

EIU 63, Western Illinois 49

Four players scored in double figures on Saturday afternoon as Eastern Illinois picked up a 63-49 road win at Western Illinois.

EIU improved to 6-4 on the year and will play next Saturday at Missouri.  WIU fell to 2-7 on the season.

The first half witnessed seven ties and four lead changes as the two in-state rivals battled back and forth for the first 12 minutes of the game.  A lay-up by Ray Crossland tied the game at 18-18 with 8:21 left to play in the first.
Crossland’s lay-up started a 14-3 run for the Panthers that included eight points by Cornell Johnston with a floater in the lane and a pair of 3-pointers.  Johnston’s 3-pointer with 4:34 put the Panthers up 30-21.  The junior guard had all 11 of his points in the first half.

EIU would extend its first half lead to ten points on a Crossland jumper with 1:41 to play in the half.  C.J. Duff would hit one-of-two at the foul line in the final minute to cut EIU’s halftime lead to 36-27.   Duff finished with ten points, one of three WIU players in double figures.

Montell Goodwin propelled the Panthers offense in the second half scoring 13 of his 17 points in the second half.  Goodwin scored five straight points as the Panthers pushed the lead to 49-35 with 12:24 to play in the game converting a three-point play and sinking a jumper in the lane.

The Panthers defense helped do the rest as Western Illinois shot 37 percent in the opening half and cooled off in the second half to finish the game shooting 30 percent.  EIU won the battle on the glass with a 43-36 rebound advantage.
Muusa Dama posted his second double-double of the season finishing with 11 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.  Crossland was the fourth EIU player in double figures with 12 points and nine rebounds.

EIU played the final five minutes without Johnston as he left the game with an injury at the 4:55 mark with EIU leading 58-40.

Garret Covington and Mike Miklusak led WIU in scoring.  Covington had 12 points.  Miklusak scored 18.

Western Illinois 83, EIU Women 62

The Eastern Illinois women's basketball team fell to Western Illinois 83-62 Saturday afternoon as WIU used a big performance from the three-point line to secure the win. With the loss EIU drops to 4-7 on the year while the Leathernecks improve to 8-3.

WIU finished the game going 12-for-28 from the three-point line.

Erica Brown set a new career high leading the team with 25 points while adding eight rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.

Halle Stull was the only other Panther in double-digits setting a new season high with 15 points.

Eastern Illinois started the game off building a 5-1 lead following a Brown bucket at the 6:57 mark. The Panthers managed to maintain their lead throughout most of the quarter despite WIU tying it up twice in the period. The Leathernecks earned their first lead of the game at the 1:16 mark as WIU's Emily Clemens sank a three-pointer to pull ahead 16-15. A jumper from Brown closed out the quarter with a score of 18-17 in favor of WIU.

Stull scored the opening bucket for the Panthers in the second quarter to make it 21-19 at the 9:22 mark, but the Leathernecks would answer going on a 10-0 run. Brown finally halted WIU's run with a layup bringing the score to 31-21 with 5:27 left in the half.

It was all Western Illinois in the second quarter as WIU outscored the Panthers 22-6 in the period to lead 40-23 at the half.

WIU shot 50 percent in the second quarter while the Panthers recorded 10 turnovers in the period.

Both teams opened the second half with big third quarter performances as EIU and WIU traded buckets throughout the period. The Panthers found their offensive groove in the quarter shooting 61 percent in the period while recording only three turnovers. WIU managed to keep EIU at bay throughout the period seemingly answering every Panther bucket with a three-pointer as the Leathernecks went 6-of-8 beyond the arc in the quarter.

Eastern Illinois went into the fourth quarter trailing 69-48 as Stull drained a three-pointer as time expired.

The Panthers managed to get within 12 points of WIU early on as EIU opened the fourth quarter on a 10-3 run capped off by a jumper from Brittin Boyer to make it 72-60 with 4:14 left in the game. That would be as close as EIU would get though as the Leathernecks closed out the game on a 9-0 run to earn the final score.

Grace Lennox finished the game with nine points and four assists.

The Leathernecks had five players in double-figures led by Clemens with 20 points.

The Panthers now have the next week off before traveling to New Mexico to take on the Lobos Sunday, Dec. 18.

Missouri Western State 49, SIUE 44

SIUE men's basketball dropped its third consecutive game Saturday, falling to Missouri Western State 49-44 at Vadalabene Center.

SIUE is now 4-6. Missouri Western improved 2-8.

The Cougars shot just 29.5 percent (13-44) from the field and just 1 -15 (6.7 percent) from three-point range.

"I thought our defense was a little better. Offensively, we're really struggling," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "The thing I told the guys is that the only way you solve offensive struggles to trust teammates to share the ball and drive into traffic to force the issue and you have to get into the gym."

SIUE got out to a quick start and built an eight-point (12-4) lead after a pair of free throws from Jalen Henry with 14:07 to play in the half.

Missouri Western then went on a 21-4 run to take its largest lead of the game (25-16) with a three-pointer by Cole Clearman with 3:27 left before halftime.

"We settled for too many jump shots during that stretch," Harris said.

The Cougars scored the last seven points of the half