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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Ousmane Cisse picked up his second double-double in the last three games to lead Eastern Illinois to a 71-61 win over Tennessee State in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both schools. Cisse finished with a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds.

EIU improved to 2-4 on the year, 1-0 in the OVC. The Panthers will host Austin Peay at 7 p.m. on Saturday night. TSU falls to 0-1 in the OVC, 2-4 overall.

Cisse nearly collected his double-double in the first half scoring 8 points and pulling in 8 rebounds. Tyler Laser led the Panthers with 10 first half points as they opened with a 37-26 halftime lead. Laser would finish with 15.

Laser pushed the EIU lead to 13 points at 49-36 with 11:56 left in the game before Tennessee State made it interesting. The Tigers used a 6-0 run at the 8 minute mark to close the margin to 56-53 as Jerrell Houston and Gerald Robinson made back-to-back lay-ups. Jeremiah Crutcher pulled TSU to within three points with 3:55 left on a pair of free throws but that was as close as the Tigers would get.

#T.J. Marion answered the call for EIU making three baskets late in the shot clock as he finished with 12 points. Dewayne Wright Jr.# and Laser each knocked down free throws in the final 30 seconds to ice the contest.

Robinson led TSU with 14 points while Crutcher and Stephen Evans each added 13.

It was the first OVC opening win for EIU since 2003-04.