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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Tyler Laser scored 14 straight first half points and finished with a game-high 21 as he helped lead Eastern Illinois to a 60-46 win over UT Martin on Saturday night in Lantz Arena. The win ended a four game losing streak for EIU as they improved to 11-9 overall, 5-5 in the OVC.

The Panthers quickly built a 10-0 lead as Jeremy Granger opened the scoring with a jumper from the free throw line and #T.J. Marion# scored on a short range jumper. Laser followed with 14 straight points that ended with EIU leading 18-6 at the 13:20 mark as Laser knocked down three 3-pointers in that spurt to move into eighth placed on the Panthers career 3-pointers list.

EIU would limit UT Martin to only 20 percent shooting in the opening half as the Panthers built a 31-19 half time lead. Laser finished with 14 first half points. His 21 for the game came with a 4-of-6 effort from beyond the arc.

The Panthers extended the second half lead to 35-19 as Edin Suljic and Ousmane Cisse hit back-to-back buckets to open the second half. The Skyhawks (2-16, 0-9 OVC) refused to go away as they continued to look for their first OVC win of the season.

UTM trimmed the Panthers lead to three with 8:27 left as Marquis Weddle knocked down a 3-pointer. Benzor Simmons cut the margin to one point with a pair of free throws before the Panthers could regain their offensive form. Suljic sparked an 11-0 run at the 7:35 mark that ended on a Granger jumper with 2:10 left as the Panthers closed the game on a 17-4 run.

Ron Spencer was the lone double figure scorer for UTM with ten points as the Skyhawks finished the day shooting 27 percent including only 17 percent from 3-point range.

Granger and Marion both reached double figures for EIU with Granger chipping in 11 and Marion 10. Suljic just missed a double-double as he pulled down 12 rebounds to go with eight points. Cisse grabbed ten rebounds to move into sixth place on the Panthers career rebounding list.

EIU begins a three game road trip on Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. game at Tennessee Tech.