FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Ohio 78,
Eastern Illinois 67
@#14 Illinois 92,
Lindenwood 59
OHIO 78, EASTERN ILLINOIS 67
ATHENS, Ohio - Good 3-point shooting was the story of the game on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Bobcat Battle in Athens, Ohio.
Eastern Illinois had the hot hand shooting from outside in the first half. Ohio had the hot hand in the second half as the Bobcats picked up a 78-67 win.
Yaakema Rose Jr carried the Panthers in the opening minutes of the game scoring ten of the first 12 EIU points as they jumped out to a 12-6 lead. Rose would finish the game with 23 points leading all scorers.
The Panthers were 7-of-12 on 3-pointers in the opening half with Kyle Carlesimo knocking down a pair as he finished with eight points. Cameron Haffner had a 3-pointer with 1:35 left in the first half which gave EIU a 35-32 lead.
Ohio closed the half with a 5-0 run with Ben Roderick hitting a 3-pointer with 1:07 to play to tie the game at 35-35. Jaylin Hunter had a lay-up with 44 seconds left in the half to give Ohio the 37-35 lead at the break.
In the second half Ohio warmed up from outside hitting seven of its first ten shots from the outside. Ohio used runs of 10-2 and 8-0 to pull out to a 65-51 lead with 7:32 left in the game. The Bobcats finished 7-of-14 in the half from 3-point range.
Ohio was led by Roderick with 15 points including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Miles Brown was 4-of-4 from 3-point range adding 14 points. Four total Ohio players finished in double figures.
Nick Ellington scored 11 points for the Panthers in the post. Carlesimo had a team-high five rebounds as Ohio won the battle on the glass including 19 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second chance points. EIU finished the game 8-of-19 from 3-point range.
Ohio moved to 2-3 on the season. EIU fell to 1-5.
#14 ILLINOIS 92, LINDENWOOD 59
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Lindenwood men's basketball team (3-5) dropped Friday's game to No. 14 Illinois by a final of 92-59 in Champaign, Ill.
Lindenwood played a tight game with the Illini early in the game, as a pair of free throws by Kevin Caldwell Jr. made it a 12-9 deficit at the 16:22 mark. Illinois built a multi-possession lead, and eventually turned it into double digits halfway through the first 20 minutes. The Illini got hot from three-point range, and held a 49-25 lead at the half.
Illinois kept momentum into the second frame, but the Lions rallied for an 11-point run to make it a 62-38 deficit. The Illini proved to be too much in the 92-59 win on Friday. Lindenwood was able to notch 34 points in the pair, led by Keenon Cole who ended the night with 20 points.