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CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Panther men's basketball team picked up a 73-64 exhibition win over Oakland City on Saturday night inside Lantz Arena.
 
EIU used a balanced offense as 10 players scored in the victory, led by Josh Piper's 15 points. Sherman Blanford added a double-double as the senior forward scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds.
 
The Panthers jumped out to a 17-2 lead and never trailed in the contest. OCU cut its deficit to five (21-16) at the 7:42 mark, but the Panthers would outscore the Mighty Oaks 14-10 in the closing minutes of the first half to take a 35-26 lead into the locker room.
 
Trailing by 14 (54-40) with 11:51 left in the contest, OCU scored 13 unanswered points to get within one (54-53) with just under eight minutes remaining in the game. The Panther defense held the Mighty Oaks to 2-for-9 shooting down the stretch and posted a 19-9 run to end the contest and seal the victory.
 
Reggie Smith chipped in 11 points and a game-high five assists while Alex Austin went 4-for-7 from the floor with 10 points to round out the double-figure scoring for the Panthers. EIU finished the night going 25-for-61 from the floor and 17-for-27 from the foul line.
 
OCU's Kendall Wittmer went 5-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe for a game-high 18 points while Matt Lucas added 15 points. Ryan Helfert chipped in 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Lawrence Kinney dished out a team-high five assists and scored nine points.

 EIU had 13 more rebounds (43-30) than OCU and forced 14 turnovers, converting the miscues into 17 points. The Panthers also added 16 second-chance points and had nine steals.
 
The Panthers open the regular season at Northwestern on Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m.