Box Score

BOX (PDF)  |  BOX (HTML)

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.  – The Panther men's basketball team wrapped up regular-season action with a 78-74 win over SIU Edwardsville on Saturday evening at the Vadalabene Center. EIU improves to 11-18 on the year and 7-9 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
 
SIUE started the game by hitting four of its first seven shot attempts, taking a 10-0 advantage at the 16:33 mark. The Panthers shook off the cold start and battled back to take their first lead of the game, 25-24, with 3:31 on the clock on a Chris Olivier layup. The redshirt-sophomore forward scored the Panthers final six points of the half as EIU took a 31-26 lead into intermission.
 
The Cougars started the second half on a 9-4 run to tie the game at 35. SIUE would tie the game at 41 at the 14:19 mark before the Panthers went on a 17-8 run to take their largest lead of the game, 58-49, with 5:59 left on the clock.
 
EIU led by nine again, 66-57, with 1:10 left in regulation before SIUE fought back to get within four late in the game. The Panthers would seal the victory with free throws down the stretch as they went 14-for-16 from the foul line in the final minute and 10 seconds of regulation. The Panthers finished the game going 31-for-41 from the foul line while SIUE went 9-for-23.
 
Oliver and Reggie Smith paced the Panther offense with 19 points each. Olivier went 8-for-15 from the floor while Smith went 2-for-5 from the floor and 15-for-17 from the charity stripe.
 
Sherman Blanford posted his 13^th career double-double in the win, scoring 13 points and grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds. Alex Austin also scored 13 points as the sophomore guard went 5-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-6 from behind the arc.
 
EIU held a 40-36 advantage on the glass and had five more blocks (7-2). Olivier nearly missed his second career double-double as he had nine rebounds. Ray Lester had a double-double for SIUE, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
 
Donivine Stewart led the Cougars with 15 points and a game-high six assists. Keaton Jackson and Tim Johnson both added 12 points in the loss while Kris Davis rounded out the double figure scorers with 11 points.
 
EIU went 22-for-53 from the floor and 3-for-11 from behind the arc while SIUE hit 50 percent of its shot attempts (29-for-58) and 58.3 percent of its three-point shots (7-for-12).
 
The Panthers will be the No. 7 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and will play Southeast Missouri at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5 in Nashville, Tenn.