Western Illinois held off a couple of Eastern Illinois late second half runs to beat the Panthers 79-70 on Tuesday night at Western Hall in the Old Railsplitter Ax rivalry game.

WIU used a 10-0 run to build a 36-26 lead capped by Marcus Pigram's 3-pointer.  The Leathernecks would lead 39-31 at the half.

EIU used several small runs in the second half to cut into the WIU lead, the first a 5-0 run led by a Preston Turner 3-pointer and Terry McMorris jumper cutting WIU's margin to 51-45 with 12:35 to play.  Turner finished with 18 points.

Kooper Jacobi brought the Panthers to within two points converting a three-point play to make it 62-60. Jacobi posted his second double-double this season finishing with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Lucas Lorenzen answered Jacobi's three-point play with a pair of free throws to make it a two possession game.  The Lorenzen free throws opened a 7-0 run for the Leathernecks as they pushed the lead to 69-60 and held it at that margin the remainder of the game.

Zion Fruster added 14 points for EIU as the Panthers fell to 10-16 overall, 6-9 in the OVC.

Lorenzen had 24 points as WIU snapped a 14-game losing streak improving to 5-21 overall, 1-14 in the OVC.

Pigram had 12 points and was joined in double figures by Isaiah Griffin (12) and Francis Okwuosah (11).