THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 75, IUPUI 58
@Central Arkansas 75,
Little Rock 71
EASTERN ILLINOIS 75, IUPUI 58
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois men’s basketball received great production from its bench on Thursday night led by Corey Sawyer Jr., with 15 points as the Panthers improved to 4-0 at Groniger Arena this season with a 75-58 win over IUPUI.
The win moved EIU to 5-5 on the season while IUPUI dropped to 3-7.
IUPUI opened the game with a 7-0 run over the opening 2:30 of the contest.
Rodolfo Bolis snapped the run for the Panthers with a basket off the bench with 16:14 left in the first half. The basket by Bolis sparked a 13-0 run by the Panthers as they took the lead on a Bolis basket with 13:25 to play in the first and never trailed again. Bolis scored seven points off the bench as the Panthers finished with a 41-24 advantage in bench production.
Sincere Malone scored off the bench with 9:04 to play in the first to give the Panthers their first double digit lead of the contest. EIU would take a 34-28 lead to the locker room at the half.
The Panthers extended their halftime lead to double digits with two quick baskets in the opening minute of the second half by Jermaine Hamlin and Tiger Booker. IUPUI would never get the lead back to single digits again as EIU shot 64 percent in the second half and 52 percent for the game.
In the second half, Sawyer scored eight of his 15 points as he finished 6-of-10 from the field on the night. Kooper Jacobi joined Sawyer with team-high honors with 15 points while also hauling in 15 rebounds.
Jlynn Counter led the Jaguars with 19 points, the lone IUPUI player in double figures.
CENTRAL ARKANSAS, LITTLE ROCK 71
CONWAY, Ark. - The Little Rock men's basketball team lost 75-71 at Central Arkansas Thursday. Four Trojans scored in double-figures with Jamir Chaplin leading the team with 21 points.
Chaplin was 9-of-13 from the field and added seven rebounds. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson recorded his first career double-double of the season with career highs of 13 points and 15 rebounds. Cougar Downing scored 13 points, while Bradley Douglas added ten in the loss.
Central Arkansas opened the first half with a jumper, before the Trojans scored their first points on a layup by Douglas followed by a three-pointer by Chaplin to give Little Rock the 5-2 lead.
At the 15:50 mark, a jumper by the Bears sparked a 9-0 run including four points off of Trojan turnovers. A free throw by Creed Williamson at the 12:45 mark followed by a three-pointer by Downing cut the Central Arkansas lead to four.
Both teams exchanged points, before the Bears used a free throw and a dunk to regain a 16-12 advantage. Crocker-Johnson scored the next three points off of free throws for Little Rock.
A Trojan turnover sparked an 8-3 run for Central Arkansas with Little Rock's points coming from a Douglas three-pointer.
With 2:21 left in the half, a Central Arkansas turnover led to a Downing three-pointer.
The Bears answered with a three-pointer, before Little Rock closed out the half on a 6-0 run to take the lead 31-30.
The Trojans opened the second half on a put back and one by Crocker-Johnson to take their largest lead of the game at four. After both teams exchanged points, including a dunk by Chaplin, the Bears knocked down a layup to cut the advantage to one.
At the 17:12 mark, a layup by Downing sparked a 9-2 run to take the 45-37 lead. The Bears etched into the advantage cutting the lead to four on a jumper with 12:29 remaining.
After five-straight points by Little Rock, a three-pointer by Central Arkansas started a 9-0 run to tie the score at 52 with 9:26 remaining.
Little Rock took a four point lead on a three-pointer by Douglas, before Central Arkansas score five-straight point and took their first lead of the second half 59-58 at the 6:14 mark.
Both teams exchanged points with a steal and dunk by Chaplin giving the Trojans a 66-63 lead. The Bears followed up with a three-pointer and layup to go ahead by two with 2:53 remaining.
The score tied twice, before a Central Arkansas layup put the Bears up 72-70 with 47 seconds left. A missed Little Rock layup followed by a Bear rebound which drawed a foul gave the Bears the 74-70 lead.
DeAntoni Gordon was fouled and went 1-of-2, before Central Arkansas ended the game with a free throw 75-71.