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PEORIA, Ill. – Eastern Illinois was held to 33 percent shooting on Friday night as the Panthers fell on the road 67-56 at Bradley.
EIU dropped to 2-5 on the season. Bradley improved to 7-1 on the season.
Both teams had scoreless stretches in the first half as the Braves ended the first 20 minutes of action with a 25-22 lead.
EIU opened with a 10-7 lead at the first media timeout as
Terrell Lewis dished out three early assists. The senior guard finished with three assists and 13 points as he became the 37th player at EIU to score 1,000 points for his career. He needs three assists for 500 for his career.
Bradley took its first lead at the 12:08 mark on a jumper by Darrell Brown that gave the Braves a 14-13 lead. Bradley would push the lead to 21-14 as the Panthers went on a scoring drought of just over seven minutes. Aboubabcar Diallo broke the EIU scoreless run with a lay-up with 5:58 to play in the first half.
Bradley would go cold to end the first half as the Panthers ended the half with an 8-0 run. Bradley went the final 4:34 of the half without a scoring.
After falling behind quickly to open the second half EIU was able to cut the Braves lead to 35-33 after the Braves bench was hit with a technical foul. Lewis and
Muusa Dama both hit a pair of free throws. Dama finished the game with 20 points.
Several possessions later Bradley extended the lead to double figures at 46-35 as they scored seven points on one possession. Jayden Hodgson hit a 3-pointer while EIU was called for a flagrant foul on the rebound. Bradley hit both free throws and then Hodgson closed the run with a running lay-up.
Hodgson finished with 12 points while Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye had a double-double for the Braves with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Bradley finished with a 39-30 rebound advantage.
Elijah Childs added 14 points and Brown finished with 11. Bradley shot 52 percent from the floor for the night.
EIU returns to action next Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game at Green Bay.