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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois held off a late charge by in-state rival Western Illinois as the Panthers won their third straight in the long standing series with a 61-58 victory over the Leathernecks. EIU improved to 4-6 while WIU fell to 5-5.

The Panthers held a five point lead at the half shooting 50 percent from the floor and connecting on all eight trips to the free throw line. James Hollowell was on his way to his second career double-double for the Panthers with six first half points and five first half rebounds. He would finish with 14 points and 10 rebounds including making one of two at the free throw line that helped clinch the EIU victory.

EIU extended the lead to fifteen at the 13:35 mark of the second half as Shaun Pratl finished off a 14-4 run for the Panthers. Pratl would end the game with ten points as three Panthers reached double figures. During the run EIU had five different players score.

EIU kept the lead at double digits until the 5:56 mark of the game as Western Illinois started to capitalize on 13 EIU turnovers. The Leathernecks finished with a 21-3 points off turnovers advantage as WIU only turned the ball over seven times in the game.

Jack Houpt was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 30 seconds remaining and sank all three to close the lead to 58-55. Jeremy Granger would then answer with a pair of free throws to push the lead back to five points.

Matt Lander connected on his third 3-pointer of the game with 22 seconds left to close the margin to two points. Hollowell would then make 1-of-2 from the stripe to keep it at a three point advantage. Lander and Kaimarr Price both missed 3-point looks in the final five seconds of the game. Price led WIU with 14 points while Lander added 13. WIU shot only 46 percent from the free throw line at 11-of-24.

Granger led all players with 15 points including making all seven free throw attempts. EIU did not hit a 3-pointer in the game marking the first time that EIU had not accomplished that since last year's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinal loss to Murray State.

The Panthers will take this week off for finals returning to action a week from Sunday at Tennessee Tech. That game will be a 4 p.m. broadcast on Comcast Sports South.