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Eastern Illinois built a 14 point halftime lead and held off a second half surge by Lindenwood to pick up a 68-62 win on Saturday afternoon at Groniger Arena.
 
EIU moved into sole possession of second place in the OVC standings at 12-15 overall, 9-5 in the OVC.  Lindenwood dropped to 6-18 overall, 4-10 in the OVC.
 
EIU built a 38-24 lead at the break behind a strong first half scoring effort by Taris Thornton who finished with a team-high 16 points for EIU.
 
Lindenwood had a big run in the third quarter and cut the lead down to four points at 61-57 with 2:14 left in the game on a three point play by Justis Odom.  Odom had 21 points to lead the Lions.
 
Ellie Buzzelle had the answer for EIU with a 3-pointer with 1:29 remaining as EIU held on the for the win. 
 
EIU had four total players in double figures led by Thornton.  Macy McGlone posted her 21st double-double this year with 10 points, 14 rebounds.   Miah Monahan had 12 points and Charita "Tiny" Lewis added 11.
 
Ellie Brueggemann had 15 points on 3-of-8 shooting from 3-point range while Alyssa Nielsen rounded out Lindenwood's double figure scorers with 12 points.