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Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois collected 16 offensive rebounds on Thursday and second chance points proved to be the difference as the Panthers beat UT Martin, 82-74, in Lantz Arena. EIU converted those 16 offensive boards into 16 second chance points with
A.J. Riley pulling down four of his 11 rebounds on the offensive glass.
EIU improved to 8-13 overall, 5-4 in the OVC. EIU will play at SIU Edwardsville on Saturday at 5 p.m. with the game televised on Fox Sports Midwest. UTM fell to 10-12 overall, 2-5 in the OVC.
The second chance points along with some timely 3-point shooting allowed the Panthers to overcome a 50 percent shooting night by the Skyhawks.
Demetrius McReynolds had the hot hand for the Panthers in the second half scoring 20 of his 27 points in the half. It was the third time this season the junior guard has scored 19 or more points in a half. McReynolds opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers allowing EIU to extend the lead to four points. McReynolds big shot of the half was a four-point play which gave EIU a 59-55 lead with 12:44 to play.
UT Martin countered by dumping the ball in the paint where they had a 38-24 points in the paint scoring advantage. Javier Martinez had 12 points off the bench with six of them during a six minute stretch that saw UTM take a 71-68 lead with 5:53 to play. Jacolby Mobley sank a pair of 3-pointers during the same time frame for the Skyhawks.
After Mobley's second 3-pointer at the 5:53 mark, EIU went on a 9-0 run with two free throws by McReynolds, two buckets by
Trae Anderson and a 3-pointer by
Cornell Johnston. Johnston's 3-pointer with 3:14 left to play staked EIU to a 77-71 lead as the Panthers held off the Skyhawks with three free throws and an Anderson lay-up. Anderson scored 17 points with eight rebounds. Johnston had 18 points. Riley had seven points and six assists to go with his 11 rebounds.
UT Martin shot 50 percent in both halves but was 8-of-23 from 3-point range on the night. Twymond Howard led UTM with 14 points. Myles Taylor (11 points) and Alex Anderson (10 points) also finished in double figures.