PDF Box |
Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. –
Casey Teson hit the shot that sent the game to overtime.
Cornell Johnston hit the shot that gave Eastern Illinois the lead in overtime as the Panthers rallied from 11 points down in regulation to beat Morehead State, 84-82, on Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena.
Teson's 3-pointer came with seven seconds remaining in regulation. Morehead State missed a shot with 0.4 seconds remaining and
Aboubacar Diallo knocked the entry lob pass out of bounds for EIU to finish regulation tied at 73-73.
In overtime Johnston drained a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to give EIU an 80-78 lead.
Demetrius McReynolds iced the game with four free throws as EIU improved to 6-12 overall, 3-3 in the OVC. Morehead State dropped to 9-8, 3-2 in the OVC.
The Eagles shot 57 percent in the first half including 60 percent from 3-point range to build a 46-38 halftime lead. Xavier Moon had all of his 17 points in the first half for MSU with Corban Collins chipping in with ten.
EIU stayed within striking distance with
A.J. Riley scoring ten points. Riley would finish with 22 points including four points in the overtime session.
Collins scored five of Morehead State's first seven points to open the second half as MSU extended its lead to 13 points. Collins free throws at 18:04 made it 53-40.
The Panthers went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes with 3-pointers by Johnston and
Luke Norman. Collins stopped the EIU run with a 3-pointer at 15:15 as he led all scorers on the day with 28 points.
Back-to-back baskets by Riley brought EIU to within two points at the 13:29 but EIU was unable to the lead as the Panthers missed three consecutive 3-point shots that would have put EIU in front.
Three offensive rebounds by Treshaad Williams kept MSU possessions alive as the Eagles slowly pushed the lead back to 11 points on a jumper by DeJuan Marrero with 5:11 left to play.
EIU closed regulation with a 15-4 run holding MSU without a field goal for the final 5:11 of the game. Morehead State's final four points of regulation all came at the free throw line. During the EIU run Teson had a pair of 3-pointers, the biggest coming with seven seconds remaining.
Johnston posted his second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. McReynolds added 14 points.