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Box Score  |  Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois men's basketball opened with a flurry as the Panthers shot 72 percent in the opening half during a 86-72 win over Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena.
 
EIU came firing out of the gates as they opened the game with a 16-3 run as Kashawn Charles closed the run with a 3-pointer with 15:34 to play in the first half.  Henry Abraham extended the EIU lead to 21-5 with another 3-pointer at the 13:14 mark as EIU was 8-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half.  The Panthers finished the day 11-of-18 from behind the arc.
 
Marvin Johnson's 3-pointer doubled up the score at 36-18 as Johnson drained a 3-pointer with 4:46 to play.  Johnson finished the game with his second double-double of the week scoring 25 points to go with 10 assists.  He had 18 points and 10 rebounds earlier this week in a win at SIUE.  
 
EIU led 48-26 at the half and extended its lead to a high of 24 points on a Johnson jumper giving EIU a 56-32 lead just three minutes into the second half.
 
TSU used a 17-2 run to climb back into the contest.  Mark Freeman knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the run as he finished with 28 points.  Monty Johal capped the run with a steal and lay-up as TSU cut the lead to 67-60 with 8:47 left in the game.  TSU had 12 steals.
 
Abraham ended the TSU run with a 3-pointer on the next EIU possession as the freshman scored 16 points for the Panthers on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point land.
 
The Tigers would close to within seven points one more time on a Josh Linder dunk with 6:31 left in the game.  Sammy Friday IV answered for EIU and the Tigers never got any closer in the remaining six minutes of action.
 
Friday returned to the EIU line-up for the first time in two weeks finishing with 17 points.  Jordan Skipper-Brown posted a double-double for EIU with 13 points and ten rebounds.  He becomes the fifth different EIU player to get a double-double in a game this season.
 
Shakem Johnson just missed a double-double for TSU finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds.  Ravel Moody had 12 points as TSU was held to 39 percent shooting for the game.   EIU finished the game shooting 62 percent from the floor.
 
The win moved EIU to 7-14 overall, 4-10 in the OVC.  TSU fell to 3-14 overall, 2-12 in the OVC.