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Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
SAINT LOUIS – Eastern Illinois led 44-33 at the half but the Panthers opened the second half cold from the floor as they lost 74-69 at Saint Louis on Thursday night.
SLU improved to 2-1. EIU fell to 1-2 and will host Western Illinois at 7 p.m. on Saturday night in Lantz Arena.
EIU was held scoreless for the first six and half minutes to open the second half as SLU took a 44-43 lead on a 3-pointer by Davell Roby with 17:08 to play in the game. Roby would lead the Billkens with 18 points as four SLU players finished in double figures.
EIU ended the scoring drought with a
Casey Teson jumper that stopped a 15-0 SLU run. Teson would tie the game at 57-57 for the Panthers with a 3-pointer. Teson had eight points. The sophomore guard from just outside Saint Louis had a chance to win the game for EIU as
Cornell Johnston stole the ball with 16 seconds remaining. Teson's 3-pointer was contested and fell short off the rim.
Saint Louis closed out the game at the free throw line hitting 7-of-10 down the stretch. The Billikens shot 51.7 percent in the second half to finish at 49.1 percent for the game.
EIU cooled off in the second half shooting 38.2 percent for the game. Johnston led EIU with 18 points and seven assists.
Eastern Illinois closed the first half with a 16-3 run as the Panthers were hot from 3-point range in the first half. EIU was 8-of-16 from 3-point range in the opening half with four of those in the final 3:29 of the half.
Demetrius McReynolds hit a 3-pointer to start the run as he had 13 points, all in the first half.
Saint Louis native Johnston had 14 first half points as he followed McReynolds late first half 3's with back-to-back 3-pointers that pushed EIU's lead to 39-30 with 2:01 to play in the half.
After Reggie Agbeko stopped an 11-0 EIU with a basket in the low post,
Montell Goodwin drained a 3-pointer to give the Panthers a ten point lead. McReynolds had a tip in in the final four seconds of the half to give EIU a 44-33 halftime advantage. Goodwin had 11 points in the game.
EIU held a 17-16 first half rebound margin with
Muusa Dama pulling down ten first half rebounds, his second straight double figure rebounding game. Dama finished the game with 15 boards.
Agbeko finished with 18 points before fouling out in the final minutes. Jermaine Bishop added 14 points and Elliott Welmer had 15.