Box Score  |  Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Josiah Wallace scored 20 first half point as Eastern Illinois raced out to a 20-point halftime lead and held off a late UT Martin challenge to pick up a 95-83 win on Thursday night at Lantz Arena.
 
EIU won its third straight moving to 10-9 on the season, 3-4 in the OVC.  UT Martin fell to 5-13 overall, 1-6 in the OVC.
 
Wallace was 8-of-10 from the floor including 4-of-4 from 3-point range in the opening half as EIU shot 59 percent from the floor to build a 57-37 halftime lead.  Leading 22-15 with 12:39 to play in the first half, Wallace and Kashawn Charles both drained 3-pointers to spark a 10-0 EIU run that gave the Panthers a commanding lead.
 
George Dixon had a lay-up with 8:37 to play in the first to put EIU up 20 points at 37-17.  EIU would push its lead out to as many as 26 points as Mack Smith sank a 3-pointer with 3:38 to play in the half.  Smith knocked down three 3-pointers in the game as he extended his consecutive games streak with a made 3-pointer to 68 games.  Smith finished with 17 points.
 
UT Martin closed the half on a 5-0 run to give the Skyhawks some momentum into the second half.  Parker Stewart hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the half as he finished the game with 27 points.
 
In the second half UTM would whittle the Panthers lead down to single digits with 8:34 left in the game as Stewart hit a pair of free throws to trim EIU's lead to 77-68.
 
Shareef Smith and Dixon responded with lay-ups to push EIU's lead back out to double figures where it would remain for the rest of the contest.  Dixon just missed a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds.  Shareef Smith had ten points.  Wallace led EIU with 22 points as EIU shot 54 percent for the game.
 
Quintin Dove joined Stewart for top scoring honors in the game with 27 points for UTM going 10-of-14 from the field.