Box Score |
Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois used balanced scoring and consistent shooting on Saturday night as the Panthers rolled past Blackburn College, 93-43, in the first meeting between the two Illinois based schools in more than a century.
EIU had four players score in double figures on the night led by
Caleb Donaldson with 16 points as he was 7-of-8 from the floor passing our five assists.
The Panthers jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the game only to see Blackburn tie the contest at 8-8 with a Troy Cole Jr., 3-pointer with 16:04 left in the opening half.
EIU responded with a 16-0 run over the next seven minutes to put the game out of reach.
Kinyon Hodges scored five of his 11 points for the game off the bench in the Panthers run. EIU led 45-21 at the half.
Kyle Thomas added 13 points and
Sincere Malone 12 points to round out the EIU double figure scorers as the Panthers connected for 55 percent in the game.
Thomas and
Nick Ellington both had six rebounds to lead EIU as they won the battle on the glass by a 46-31 margin.
Izayah Talmadge led the Beavers with eight points as they shot 25 percent from the floor in the game.
EIU improved to 2-7 on the season, Blackburn is 3-3.