Feb. 14, 2007

Box Score

Charleston, Ill. - Eastern Illinois jumped to an early 20-4 lead and led by 18 at the half on the way to a 77-69 Ohio Valley Conference win over Southeast Missouri State.

The Panthers shot 57% from the field, 43% from three and 80% from the line in the first half as they built up a 37-19 halftime lead. Southeast came back strong in the second half, but the Panthers hit key free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.

The win keeps the Panthers, 9-18 overall and 5-13 in the OVC, mathematically alive in the battle for one of the eight post-season tournament berths and the loss kept Southeast, 10-17 oerall and 8-10 in the league, from clinching one of the tourney spots.

Romain Martin led EIU with 17 points while Jake Byrne added a season-high 16 points including 8-8 from the free throw line.

The Redhawks were led by freshmen guards Roderick Pearson and Marcus Rhodes. Pearson had 17 points including 3-7 from three while Rhodes added 15 points.

Southeast returns to the Show Me Center on Saturday, 7:30 p.m., to host Louisiana Tech from the Western Athletic Conference in an ESPNU BracketBuster game. It will be the final game of the season at the Show Me Center.