NORMAL, Ill. - Eastern Illinois built an early lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by
Dan Luers only to see Illinois State close the half on a 21-4 run as the Redbirds won 69-61 on Wednesday night at CEFCU Arena.
EIU had built a 20-13 lead with early points by Luers who finished with 12 points, all in the first half.
The Redbirds then went on a 10-run to take the lead at 23-20 with 4:41 to play in the first half.  ISU had good production off the bench during the run with seven points by Johnny Kinziger and nine points by Luke Kasubke who went 3-of-3 on first half 3-pointers. Kasubke finished with 12 points.
ISU led 34-24 at the half.
In the second half EIU would make several runs to cut into the Redbirds lead. The first run cut the margin to four at 48-44 with 11:25 to play as
Sincere Malone had a steal and fed the ball ahead to
Jaylin Gibson for a bucket, Gibson finished with nine points.
Later EIU was able to get as close as three points on a 3-pointer by
Nakyel Shelton as the junior guard led all players with 22 points.  Shelton had another 3-pointer with 2:04 left in the game that made it a two-possession game at 63-57.
ISU held on with big free throws in the final minutes including four by Dalton Banks who was 8-of-10 at the stripe to finish with 12 points.  The Redbirds kept the Panthers at an arms-length with solid play on the offensive glass converting 18 offensive rebounds into 16 second chance points.
EIU falls to 1-3 on the season while ISU improved to 2-1.