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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois dominated all facets of the game as the Panthers improved to 7-4 with a 100-40 win over NCAA Division III member Franklin College on Tuesday night at Lantz Arena. It marked the first time that EIU had hit the century mark since Feb. 27, 2001.

EIU jumped out to a 12-0 lead as James Hollowell scored six of his 12 points in the opening 14:54 of the game. The redshirt freshman from Indianapolis narrowly missed a double-double as he finished with nine rebounds as the Panthers dominated the glass with a 45-31 margin.

Matt Dorlack would convert back-to-back buckets at 10:20 and 9:56 to put the Panthers up by twenty points as they pulled away to lead 47-20 at the break.

EIU continued to extend the lead in the second half as they scored 42 points in the paint, 39 points off turnovers and 57 points off the bench. Jay Smith led the players off the bench with 14 points while Curry McKinney chipped in with 12 points. Senior Romain Martin saw his first action of the season after missing the opening five weeks with a knee injury. Martin scored five points in 14 minutes of action.

Tyler Laser rounded out the EIU players in double figures with a team high 15 points. EIU shot 58 percent from the field and 53 percent from 3-point range.

Franklin College fell to 4-7 on the season with Gunner Erwin leading the Grizzlies with 12 points. Franklin was limited to 31 percent from the field but also shot just 29 percent from the free throw line. It marked the fourth straight game that EIU held an opponent to 37 percent shooting or less from the field.

EIU returns to action on Dec. 29 at Saint Louis.