Illini Down Austin Peay, EIU Drops Loss To Green Bay

Michael Finke scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help Illinois to a 64-57 victory over Austin Peay on Wednesday night.

The Illini (7-3) snapped a three-game losing streak.

Illinois made 6 of 9 shot attempts to start the game and jumped out to an early 13-6 lead but went scoreless for almost six minutes. The Governors went on an 11-0 run to take the lead but weren't able to sustain an offensive rhythm either, shooting only 41.4 percent from the field.

The turning point came with just under five minutes left in the game. Locked at 50, Kipper Nichols stole an entry pass to the post and pushed the ball ahead. On the other end, Da'Monte Williams spotted up on the right wing, and nailed a 3-pointer to push the Illini ahead for good.

With 19.6 seconds left, Te'Jon Lucas was fouled on a layup attempt. He knocked down both free throws to make it a two-possession game and seal the victory.

In his first career start, Williams finished with five points, four rebounds and a team-high three steals.

The Governors were led by freshman Terry Taylor and senior Averyl Ugba. Both players combined for 28 points and 15 rebounds, but their performances weren't enough to help Austin Peay (4-5) steal a victory from its fourth Power Five opponent of the season.

Illinois has now won 12 consecutive non-conference home games.

TEAM NOTES

    Illinois forced 24 turnovers, its fourth time in the last six games forcing 20+ turnovers. Opponents are averaging 20.6 turnovers per game.
    Illinois ended a three-game losing streak.
    Illinois was 15-of-20 shooting from the line in the second half, tied for its second-most free throws made in a half this season (19-20, first half vs. Southern).
    Illinois overcame a poor shooting first half. The Illini's first-half marks in points (26), field goals (10) and three-pointers (1) all tied season lows for a half.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

    RS Junior forward Michael Finke led all scorers with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He also had a team-high eight rebounds to be two rebounds away from his third career double-double.
    RS Junior forward Leron Black had 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, his seventh straight game scoring in double figures. Black is averaging a team-best 14.8 points per game

Green Bay 59, EIU 57

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Sukhjot Bains hit a driving lay-up with 14 seconds remaining in the game to give Green Bay a 59-57 win over Eastern Illinois.

EIU fell to 2-6 on the season and will return to action on Dec. 16 at South Alabama.   Green Bay improved to 3-4.

EIU opened quickly before Green Bay took its first lead of the game, 14-13, at the 12:45 mark of the first half.  That would be the only lead of the game for the Phoenix until the final basket by Bains.

The Panthers went on an extended 18-2 run in the first half with Montell Goodwin scoring ten of EIU's points in the run.  Goodwin finished with 19 points.

EIU lead 39-26 at the half.  In the first half Terrell Lewis passed out an assist on a Lucas Jones 3-pointer.  That assist was number 500 of Lewis' EIU career as he became the 9th player in Ohio Valley Conference history to score 1,000 points and pass out 500 assists for their career.  Lewis finished with four assists.

Green Bay opened the second half with an 11-2 run as they cut the EIU lead to 41-37.  Khalil Small had a pair of 3-pointers in the early Phoenix second half run.

Goodwin finally broke the Green Bay run knocking down EIU's first field goal of the second half at the 13:36 mark.

Green Bay whittled down the EIU lead to 54-51 with 2:10 left to play on a Small lay-up.  Small had a game high 20 points for Green Bay

Ray Crossland answered for EIU with a 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:50 to play that put EIU up 57-51.   Small and Bains would hit 3-pointers for Green Bay.  Bains 3-pointer with 1:18 to play tied the game at 57-57.   Bains finished with ten points.

EIU was held to 38 percent shooting. The Panthers won the battle on the glass 36-34 with Muusa Dama pulling down ten rebounds.