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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois jumped out to a commanding 40-16 halftime lead as the Panthers advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since 2010 with a 61-46 win over SIU Edwardsville on Saturday.

EIU improved to 11-20 overall, 6-10 in the OVC.  The Panthers will play as the No. 7 seed against Southeast Missouri on Wednesday night with a scheduled 8 p.m. start at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium.  SIUE ends the season at 9-18 overall, 5-11 in the OVC.

The Panthers opened the game with a 13-2 run in the first 5:41 of the game with a balanced scoring attack.  Morris Woods hit a lay-up with 14:19 to play in the half as he led EIU with 13 points off the bench.

EIU extended the lead to 16 points when Woods hit a pair of free throws with 6:31 left, pushing EIU's lead to 27-11.  Alex Austin hit a transition three followed up by a dunk with 2:45 left to give EIU a 37-13 lead.  The Panthers finished the half with an Austin Akers 3-pointer.  Akers had eight points and eight assists.  EIU shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half passing out nine assists with no turnovers.

SIUE chipped away at the EIU lead in the second half hitting 4-of-5 shots to open the half.  Michael Messer's 3-pointer with 15:50 to play cut EIU's lead to 42-25.  Josh Piper answered with a 3-pointer for EIU as the Panthers ended the night 6-of-15 from 3-point range.

Woods hit lay-up with 11:33 to play giving EIU a 49-25 lead.  The Panthers would then go cold from the field failing to hit a field goal for the next eight-plus minutes as SIUE cut the margin to 13 at 51-38 as Mark Yelovich converted a lay-up.  Yelovich led SIUE with 16 points, the only Cougar player in double figures.

EIU them slammed the door on the come back as Sherman Blanford had a dunk in transition followed by a Woods lay-up on the next play after Taylor Jones picked up a steal in the paint.  EIU closed the game at the free throw line.

Blanford had 10 points.  Jones had nine points and three steals.

The field for the 2013 OVC Tournament is now set with action beginning on Wednesday night in Nashville.   Belmont is the No. 1 seed and Murray State the No. 2 seed.  Both of those teams will receive a double-bye to Friday.  Eastern Kentucky is the No. 3 seed and Tennessee State the No. 4.  Morehead State enters as the No. 5 seed, SEMO the No. 6, EIU the No. 7 and UT Martin the No. 8 seed.