Belmont tops Eastern Illinois 75-66 behind Windler's 25

Jan 13, 2018, 11:44 pm

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Dylan Windler scored a career-high 25 points with five 3-pointers, Kevin McClain added 20 points, and Belmont pulled ahead early to beat Eastern Illinois 75-66 on Saturday to win eight of its last nine games.

Amanze Egekeze scored 11 points with three 3s and Austin Luke added nine points with 12 assists for the Bruins (13-6, 5-1 Ohio Valley Conference), who hit 13 3-pointers and shot 51 percent from the floor.

Muusa Dama's layup capped a 12-3 run and EIU closed to 52-50 with 9:04 to play, but Windler's 3 sparked a 13-4 run for a 69-56 Bears lead with 1:13 left. Montell Goodwin scored five straight points in a 10-6 run, but the Panthers couldn't catch the Bruins.

Egekeze's 3-pointer put Belmont up for good, 7-4, and the Bruins led 36-29 at halftime after holding the Panthers to 32.2 percent shooting from the floor and 1 of 8 from 3.

Goodwin scored 26 points with four steals and Jajuan Starks added 13 points for the Panthers (6-11, 2-4).