COLUMBIA, Mo. – Eastern Illinois men's basketball went toe-to-toe with Southeastern Conference member Missouri in the early portion of the Tuesday night's contest at Mizzou Arena.
EIU led 17-15 with 7:36 remaining in the first half before Mizzou answered with a 10-0 run to eventually pull away for a 72-44 win over EIU.
Jermaine Hamlin gave the Panthers the 17-15 lead with an early bucket as he was the lone EIU player in the game to reach double figures, finishing with ten.
DaJuan Gordon triggered the Tigers run with a quick transition basket as Mizzou scored 18 fast break points in the game. Gordon scored 14 points, one of four Tiger starters that finished in double figures.
The Gordon basket started a 10-0 run as Mizzou led 32-21 at the half.
Rodolfo Bolis would end the Tigers run with a basket with 2:50 left in the first half.
In the second half EIU would trim the Mizzou lead to nine points on back-to-back baskets by
Kejuan Clements and Hamlin. Hamlin's bucket made it a 38-29 Tigers lead with 13:57 remaining in the game.
Missouri would give itself some breathing room with a 14-5 run over the next five minutes extending the lead to 54-36 with 8:30 left on a basket by Kobe Brown. Brown would finish with a double-double, 11 points, and 11 rebounds.
The Tigers finished shooting 62 percent in the second half with all 18 baskets coming on two-point baskets. Mizzou shot 51 percent for the game to improve to 5-4 on the season.
EIU fell to 2-8 on the year and will play at Butler on Saturday afternoon. Bolis finished with eight points and
Dan Luers added six for EIU.