SIU-Edwardsville holds off Eastern Illinois late, wins 76-74

Feb 14, 2020, 04:23 am

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Mike Adewunmi had a career-high 25 points plus 11 rebounds as Southern Illinois-Edwardsville held off Eastern Illinois 76-74 on Thursday night.

The Cougars trailed at intermission but took the lead for good on a layup by Zeke Moore with 17:35 left to play and led by as many as 10 points midway through the final half.

Eastern Illinois got within four points on two free throws by Mack Smith with four minutes to go, then hit a 3 and followed it with three straight free throws with :326 left go get the Panthers within two, 74-72. Brandon Jackson answered with a dunk with :02 left and Smith knocked down a jumper with a second remaining to set the final margin.

Moore had 16 points for Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (7-19, 4-9 Ohio Valley Conference), which broke its five-game road losing streak. Shamar Wright added 12 points. Tyresse Williford had seven assists.

Smith scored a season-high 25 points for the Panthers (12-13, 5-8). Josiah Wallace added 20 points. Jordan Skipper-Brown had 12 points and nine rebounds. George Dixon had 7 points and 12 rebounds.

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville matches up against Southeast Missouri on the road on Saturday. Eastern Illinois takes on UT Martin on the road on Saturday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com