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RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky used a 19-0 run midway through the second half as the Colonels pulled away for a 73-55 win over Eastern Illinois to move EKU ahead of EIU for fifth place in the OVC standings.
EKU improved to 16-10, 9-6 in the OVC while EIU fell to 11-14, 8-7 in the OVC.
Mike Rose sparked the big Colonels second half run with two 3-pointers and two baskets as he finished with a game-high 28 points. Rose was 6-of-10 from 3-point range.
The Panthers trailed by two at the half before Justin Stommes hit a 3-pointer to open the half. Romain Martin hit a jumper to cut the margin to three points but EIU never got closer than 15 points in the second half after the Colonels run.
The first half was marked by runs by both teams before Eastern Kentucky headed to the locker room with a 33-31 lead. EKU connected on 8-of-18 from 3-point range while EIU shot 65 percent in the first 20 minutes. EIU trailed in large part due to 10 first half turnovers.
EIU turned the ball over on its first five possession as the Colonels built an early 11-3 lead with Stommes, Josh Taylor and Rose all draining 3-pointers.
The Panthers responded with a run of their own to first tie the game at 11-11 with 12:01 left on an Edin Suljic basket. Martin capped the 11-0 EIU run with a 3-pointer as he had hit 4-of-7 from 3-point land in the first half.
Stommes drained a 3-pointer at 2:09 to finish off an 8-0 EKU run that put the Colonels up 33-26. EIU closed out the half with a Martin 3-pointer and a pair of Suljic free throws.
EIU had 16 turnovers which EKU converted into 22 points. The Colonels shot 55 percent from 3-point range hitting 16-of-29 including a 68 percent clip from the field in the second half. EIU shot 50 percent in the loss but had only 36 shot attempts.
Martin led EIU with 17 points with Tyler Laser adding 11. Laser increased his streak of consecutive free throws without a miss to 39.
EIU will host UT Martin on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. for their senior night game honoring Billy Parrish prior to the contest.
