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Box Score  |  Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

CHARLESTON, Ill. – It came down to the final shot of the game with a last second Lindenwood attempt rolling off the rim to give Eastern Illinois its third straight win with a 55-54 victory in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams.
 
EIU improved to 5-9 overall, 1-0 in the OVC as the Panthers have won three straight for the first time since closing out the 2019-20 season with five straight wins.   Lindenwood was playing its first-ever OVC conference contest falling to 5-9 overall, 0-1 in the OVC.
 
EIU led by six points 55-49 with 2:57 left in the contest on a pair of Dan Luers free throws.  Lindenwood trimmed the lead down to one on a bucket by Jacob Tracey and 3-pointer by Kevin Caldwell Jr., the 3-pointer coming with 1:12 left in the game as the final points for either team.
 
Caldwell had one final 3-point attempt with five seconds left that missed and an offensive rebound put-back rolled off the rim as time expired and Luers pulled down the rebound.
 
EIU led by as many as 11 points late in the first half as a 3-pointer by Caleb Donaldson gave the Panthers a 26-15 lead with 4:59 left in the half.  EIU held a 32-28 lead at the half.
 
In a match-up of the top two defensive teams in the OVC, both teams finished the game shooting under 40 percent from the field.
 
Kinyon Hodges led EIU with 15 points, the lone EIU player in double figures.  Paul Bizimana provided a second half offensive spark finishing with nine.
 
Cam Burrell had a double-double to lead the Lions with 17 points, 11 rebounds.