PDF Box |
CLEVELAND -
Chris Olivier scored the final five points for Eastern Illinois as a late 10-0 run gave the Panthers a 67-65 road win at Cleveland State on Tuesday afternoon. It was the third straight win for EIU and second straight on the road.
EIU improved to 6-6 on the year and will open Ohio Valley Conference play on January 1 against Tennessee Tech at 3:15 p.m. CSU fell to 6-7 on the year.
The Panthers took a five point lead with just over four minutes to play as they finished off a 10-0 run that put EIU up 62-57.
Josh Piper hit his third 3-pointer of the day to put the Panthers up with 3:52 to play.
Cleveland State tied the game at 63-63 with 1:37 to play as Trey Lewis scored five straight points for the Vikings with a 3-pointer and lay-up.
Olivier anwered with a jumper as Andre Yates tied it for CSU with 50 seconds to play on a lay-up. Olivier then hit what proved to be the game winner with 28 seconds left to play. EIU was able to make two defensive stands to close out the game. Olivier was one of two EIU players with 12 points.
Trae Anderson also had 12.
The Vikings shot 50 percent in the opening half to lead 36-35 at the break. Charlie Lee and Lewis combined to hit 8-of-11 3-pointers on the afternoon as Lee had 15 points and Lewis 13. CSU cooled off slightly in the second half shooting 48 percent for the game.
After turning the ball over four times in the first four minutes, EIU finished the game with seven total turnovers including just one in the second half. EIU shot 50 percent from the field in the second half.
Luke Piotrowski rounded out the double figure scorers for EIU with 11.