CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois men's basketball bounced back from its first home loss of the season as the Panthers jumped out early and never trailed during a 71-65 win over Morehead State on Saturday afternoon.
 
EIU moved back to .500 for the season at 12-12 overall, 5-7 in the OVC.  Morehead State fell to 12-13 overall, 6-6 in the conference.
 
Josiah Wallace had the hot hand early for the Panthers as EIU raced out to an 11-2 lead with Wallace scoring five of the 11 points.  Wallace had back-to-back 3-pointers that pushed EIU's lead to 19-4 with 14:14 left in the half as he scored 16 of his 25 in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Morehead State chipped into the early EIU lead driving to the hoop for four free throws before trimming the margin to single digits on a Tyzhaun Claude dunk with 13:06 left in the half. 
 
EIU would push the lead back out to double figures and hold a 40-30 lead at the break.  Mack Smith's 3-pointer at the 5:37 mark gave EIU its biggest lead of the half at 34-18.  The 3-pointer moved Smith into a tie with Wally Lancaster of Virginia Tech for second place on the NCAA Division I all-time list for consecutive games with a 3-pointer made at 73. 
 
The Panthers were able to keep a multiple possession lead for most of the second half.  James Baker cut the lead to two possessions with 9:22 left in the game on a lay-up.  Wallace immediately answered for EIU.
 
Ta'lon Cooper would twice get the Eagles to within five in the final six minutes, first on a jumper at the 5:52 mark and then with a 3-pointer with 4:22 left.  Smith and George Dixon responded for EIU on both Cooper buckets.
 
EIU held on in the final minute with defense as they made only one of four free throw attempts.  Morehead State would miss its final four shots in the final minute after cutting the lead to five a final time with 53 seconds left in the game on a four-point play by Cooper.
 
Claude led the Eagles with 14 points while Djimon Henson scored ten off the bench.   Morehead State pulled down 17 offensive rebounds to offset a 35 percent shooting night from the floor.
 
Smith was the only other EIU player in double figures with 11 points.  JaQualis Matlock and Jordan Skipper-Brown both collected nine rebounds for the Panthers.