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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Delano Spencer stole a pass and raced the length of the court for a lay-up with 39 seconds left as Tennessee State pulled away late to steal a win at Eastern Illinois, 69-65, on Thursday night.
 
TSU improved to 7-9 overall, 2-3 in the OVC.  EIU fell to 6-10 overall, 2-3 in the OVC.  EIU will host Belmont on Saturday afternoon at 3:15 pm in Lantz Arena.
 
During a defensive battle that saw both teams shoot under 40 percent from the night and commit a high number of turnovers, it was Spencer's late steal that helped be the difference. 
 
The two teams had traded the lead back-and-forth over the final five minutes of action during a game broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Net.  Jajuan Starks gave EIU a one point lead at 61-60 only to see Spencer answer at the other end to put TSU back in front.
 
Muusa Dama then had a bucket to give EIU a one-point lead before Armani Cheney converted one of his two free throw attempts to tie the game at 63-63.
 
Spencer then stepped in front of a pass at the top of the key and raced the length of the floor for the go ahead lay-up.  EIU had a chance to tie the game again with six seconds remaining but could only knock down one free throw.  Spencer was fouled on the inbounds pass and sank two free throws.  He finished with 12 points, one five Tigers in double figures.
 
EIU opened the game with a 12-1 run as Montell Goodwin scored four early points as part of his game-high 17 points for EIU.  TSU would eventually cut into the lead and EIU was up 30-28 at the half.
 
The Panthers pushed the lead out to seven points to open the second half as Mack Smith connected on a 3-pointer and Dama had a jumper.  TSU slowly battled back to set up the dramatic finish. 
 
Ray Crossland had 12 points for EIU while Starks added 11.  Dama had a team high eight rebounds as EIU won the battle on the glass 37-31 with 15 offensive rebounds.
 
Darreon Reddick and Kamar McKnight had 12 points each for TSU.  Ken'Darrius Hamilton had 11 points while Christian Mekowulu finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.