EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. –
Dan Luers scored a season high 21 points playing all 40 minutes on Monday night as Eastern Illinois wrapped up its four-game in eight days road trip with a 66-52 loss at SIUE.
Luers was forced to play the point a majority of the game as guard
Kejuan Clements went down with an early injury. Clements entered the game ranked fourth in the OVC in assists per game.
SIUE was able to convert 15 EIU turnovers into 22 points as the Cougars built a 33-16 lead at the half.Â
The Cougars hit six of their first seven shots to open the second half extending the lead to as high as 29 points with 13:47 remaining in the contest.
Eastern Illinois cut into the lead late in the contest with Luers scoring 17 of his 21 points in the second half.Â
CJ Lane added 12 points off the bench as the Panthers hit 5-of-11 from 3-point range in the second half.Â
Shamar Wright led SIUE with 13 points while Courtney Carter added 11 points. DeeJuan Pruitt pulled down ten rebounds as SIUE won the battle on the glass 40-31 including 14 offensive rebounds leading to 12 second chance points.
EIU fell to 5-24 overall, 3-13 in the OVC. SIUE improved to 10-19 overall, 4-12 in the OVC.Â