PDF Box Score |
Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
EVANSVILLE, IND. – Eastern Illinois held off a late Tennessee State rally in the final 43 seconds as the Panthers won 73-71 on Wednesday night in the opening round of the OVC Tournament. The Panthers will play No. 3 seed Austin Peay at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night at the Ford Center.
EIU improved to 12-18 overall as EIU won its first OVC Tournament game since the 2015 season. TSU ended the year at 15-15.
EIU was up 24-22 at the half and appeared to take command of the game on back-to-back 3-pointers by
Mack Smith and
Ray Crossland with 7:36 to play that put EIU up 55-44.
TSU would chip away at the lead cutting it down to three points with 1:25 to play on a 3-pointer by Stokley Chaffee. TSU was 7-of-12 from 3-point range in the second half after opening the game 2-of-10 from behind the arc.
Smith countered for the Panthers knocking down a 3-pointer with 1:04 to play giving EIU a 68-62 lead. Smith had 15 points as he was one of three Panthers in double figures.
??Crossland made one of two at the foul line with 43 seconds remaining that gave the Panthers a three possession lead. Missed free throws nearly haunted the Panthers down the stretch as they were 16-of-27 in the second half but were 5-of-12 in the final 43 seconds.
Delano Spencer quickly attacked for TSU following each EIU offensive possession scoring seven points in the final 37 seconds as he finished with 17 points. On the final play of the game Spencer had his desperation 3-pointer blocked by Crossland as time expired.
Crossland had two blocks, 11 points and seven rebounds in the win.
Montell Goodwin led EIU in scoring with 20 points. EIU shot 59 percent from the floor in the second half.
The first half had a defensive tone as TSU's Christian Mekowulu scored 13 of the Tigers points. In the second half EIU held Mekowulu to just two points. He would pull down 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Armani Chaney had 15 points to round out the TSU scorers.