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EASTERN ILLINOIS (3-6) vs. Western Illinois (5-3)

Dec. 5, 2012  •  7 p.m.
Lantz Arena  •  Charleston, Ill.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM  •  TV: WEIU
Mike Bradd & Jack Ashmore

GAME 10
Eastern Illinois hosts Western Illinois on Wednesday night in the 154th meeting between the two schools.  EIU is coming off a road loss at Stony Brook and is 3-6 on the season.  The Panthers are 1-3 in Lantz Arena this season with the win coming over Houston Baptist on Nov. 24.  Josh Piper led EIU in scoring with 14 points at Stony Brook and is the only Panthers player averaging in double figures with 12.1 points per game.  Sherman Blanford is the top rebounder with 5.4 rebounds per game.  Western Illinois comes into the contest at 5-3 overall having won back-to-back road games to open Summit League play.  WIU is 2-3 in road games this season. Both squads average less than 60 points per game.

AKERS ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER RATIO
Senior guard Austin Akers passed out six assists without a turnover on Saturday at Stony Brook.  For the season Akers ranks 38th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.92-to-1.  He has passed out 38 assists compared to only 13 turnovers with his 100th career assist coming at Stony Brook on Saturday.  Over the last two games Akers has passed out 11 assists with only one turnover against Central Arkansas.  He only has one game this season, the season opener at Bradley, where he had more turnovers than assists. 

BLANFORD WORK ON OFFENSIVE GLASS
Junior forward Sherman Blanford continues to lead the Panthers in rebounding this season with 5.4 rebounds per game.  Even more impressive is that half of Blanford's work has come on the offensive glass as he has pulled down 24 offensive rebounds with 49 total rebounds this year.  At Stony Brook on Saturday he had four offensive boards marking the third time this season he had more offensive than defensive rebounds.  Blanford is currently fifth in the OVC in offensive rebounds.

UP NEXT
Saturday - December 8 vs. Toledo - 6 p.m. (Lantz Arena)

LAST TIME OUT
Eastern Illinois trailed by one point on two occasions late in the second half before Stony Brook ended the game on a 16-3 run to beat EIU 66-52.  The Panthers closed to 50-49 inside of six minutes but SBU blocked shots on the next two possessions to prevent EIU from taking the lead.  The Panthers last bucket in the game was near the one minute mark.  EIU was led by Josh Piper with 14 points while Malcolm Herron pulled down eight rebounds.  EIU was even with SBU on the glass with 32 rebounds each, the Panthers pulling down 12 offensive rebounds.

SCOUTING WESTERN ILLINOIS
Western Illinois comes into the game with a 5-3 record following a pair of road wins to open play in the Summit League.  WIU beat South Dakota by two points Thursday night and beat UMKC by five points on Saturday.  The Leathernecks have played seven of their eight games away from Macomb this season.  Ceola Clark leads WIU with 14.5 points per game shooting 52.2 percent from 3-point range.  Terell Parks averages just shy of a double-double with 13.4 points and 9 rebounds per game.  WIU holds opponents to 39.4 percent shooting.

SERIES INFORMATION
Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois will meet for the 154th time on Wednesday in the longest running active rivalry for the two schools.  EIU holds a 77-76 all-time series lead with the two schools having played at least once each season since 1935.  Western Illinois won 64-48 last season in Macomb to snap a three game series win streak by the Panthers.  EIU is 47-22 all-time against WIU in games played in Charleston.  The last win by WIU in Charleston was Dec. 2, 1996 a 79-78 Leathernecks win, the first meeting as non-conference opponents.

PIPER FROM 3
Sophomore forward Josh Piper knocked down 3-of-5 3-pointers on Saturday at Stony Brook giving him seven straight games with at least one made 3-pointer.  Piper leads the Panthers in 3-point shooting at 44.4 percent which ranks 10th in the OVC.  Piper's best game from long range was a 4-of-6 night in the EIU win over IPFW at the ICE Man Classic in Michigan.

PANTHERS SIGN WISCONSIN POST
Eastern Illinois head coach Jay Spoonhour signed Wisconsin post player Jake Verhagen as the first player in the 2013 class.  Verhagen is a 6'6 post at Appleton West HS where he averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds as a junior earning All-Fox Valley League honors.  He is rated the 26th best player in the state.  Appleton West is ranked 8th in the Wisconsin preseason poll. 

ONE LINERS
• EIU had its best day shooting at the free line all season making 6-of-7 at Stony Brook.  Josh Piper leads EIU hitting 87.5 percent while Malcolm Herron is second at 83.3 percent.  As a team EIU is shooting 58.7 percent this season.

• Senior guard Taylor Jones continues to contribute with 3-pointers for the Panthers as he has made at least one 3-pointer in ten straight games.  Jones was 2-of-5 from 3-point range on Saturday at Stony Brook.  He is 40-of-122 for his career (32.8%).

• Malcolm Herron had his biggest day as a Panther on the glass at Stony Brook pulling down eight rebounds.  Herron has 13 rebounds over the last two games with 10 on the defensive glass.  Herron made a 3-pointer at SBU giving him 9 this year.

• EIU limited SBU to only 41 percent shooting on Saturday marking the fourth time this season EIU has held an opponent to 41 percent or less.  EIU is 3-1 in those contests this season. 

• EIU enters the game with WIU ranked 84th in the nation in scoring defense allowing just 61.3 points per game.  WIU is ranked 10th allowing 53.5 points per game.

EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH JAY SPOONHOUR
Jay Spoonhour enters his first season as the Panthers head coach having been hired on April 9, 2012.  Spoonhour was most recently the head coach at Moberly Area Community College where he coached for three seasons.  He is a long time assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level and served as the interim head coach at UNLV to complete the 2004 season posting a 6-4 record and taking the team to the finals of the Mountain West Conference along with an NIT appearance.  In 2001 Spoonhour was named the National Junior College Coach of the Year leading Wabash Valley College to the NJCAA National Championship with a 36-1 record.  He is the son of the late legendary coach Charlie Spoonhour.  Spoonhour played basketball at Pittsburg State earning his degree in 1994.  He was an honorable mention All-Conference selection.  He has assistant coaching stops at Central Missouri, Saint Louis, UNLV, Missouri and Texas San Antonio.  Spoohour's career mark is 109-38, 9-10 at NCAA Division I.

PANTHERS PICKED 5TH IN OVC WEST
Eastern Illinois was picked to finish in 5th place in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division this season.  The Panthers finished 10th last season in the one division format missing the OVC Tournament.  With the addition of Belmont to the OVC this season, the conference will play in two six team divisions.  Murray State was picked to win the West Division followed by Southeast Missouri, Austin Peay, SIU Edwardsville, EIU and UT Martin.  Belmont was selected to win the East Division after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference last year.

OVC GROWS, SPLITS TO DIVISIONS
The Ohio Valley Conference grew to 12 members with the addition of Belmont for the 2012-13 school year.  The OVC will now play in Divisions - East & West for men's and women's basketball.  Each school will play a home & home series within its division and one game against opponents from the opposite division (3 home games, 3 road games).  The two eight schools in the conference based on record will advance to the OVC Tournament in Nashville with the division winners seeded first and second.  SIU Edwardsville is now eligible to play in the OVC Tournament.  Due to NCAA APR penalties, Jacksonville State is not eligible for the OVC Tournament this season.

FATHER, SON COMBINATIONS
Jay Spoonhour and his late father, Charlie Spoonhour, are one of several father/son combinations that have coached in collegiate basketball.  Entering the season the two have combined to win 376 NCAA basketball games, all coming at the Division I level.  Only 17 father/son combinations have ever won 600 or more games with Eddie, Scott and Sean Sutton topping the list with 1,091 wins between the three.  Scott is currently the head coach at Oral Roberts.  Only three father/son combinations have ever won more than 1,000 games at the NCAA level.

OVC DIGITAL NETWORK
Basketball fans can watch each Eastern Illinois home game and all OVC road games for free online this year on the OVC Digital Network streaming platform.  Fans can view games by visiting - www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com