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Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois shot 53 percent from the field on Wednesday night but that effort could not overcome a hot night from 3-point range by Morehead State as the Eagles clinched the outright Ohio Valley Conference title with a 69-63 win at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena.
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Morehead State was 7-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half building a 39-25 halftime lead.
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EIU warmed up again in the second half as the Panthers shot 63 percent from the floor and were 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Â
Cameron Haffner,
Kyle Carlesimo,
Kinyon Hodges and
CJ Lane all sank 3's for the Panthers in the second half.
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Hodges would lead EIU with 17 points with Carlesimo scoring 12 off the bench on a 5-of-5 shooting night. Â
Sincere Malone scored a season high 14 points flirting with a double-double as he finished with eight rebounds.Â
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Jermaine Hamlin provided the final lift off the bench for the Panthers finishing with seven points including two monster dunks.
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EIU trailed by 23 points with 5:37 remaining as the Eagles led 67-44 on a Branden Maughmer basket. Maughmer had 12 points off the bench, one of four Morehead State players in double figures.
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EIU closed the game on a 19-2 run.Â
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Kalil Thomas scored 20 points to lead MSU going 6-of-7 on 3-pointers. Jake Wolfe had 11 and Alex Gross ten.
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EIU wraps up the regular season hosting Tennessee Tech at 3:30 pm on Saturday. EIU will honor seniors
Yaakema Rose Jr., and
CJ Lane.
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Morehead State is now 20-10 overall, 13-4 in the OVC.  EIU fell to 9-21, 5-12 in the OVC.Â