Issue date: 1/12/09 Section: Sports

Junior guard T.J. Marion attempts a jump shot during Eastern's game against Western Illinois on Dec. 13 in Lantz Arena. The Panthers defeated Southeast Missouri 83-63 Saturday to move into third place in the Ohio Valley Conference. Eastern's bench scored 30 points against Southeast Missouri. (Karla Browning/The Daily Eastern News)

The Eastern men's basketball team improved to 3-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference Saturday with an 83-63 road win against Southeast Missouri on Saturday in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

The win puts the Panthers in sole possession of third place in the conference.

The bench for the Panthers (6-9, 3-2 OVC) was the difference in the game as they scored 30 points, led by junior forward Edin Suljic who tied junior center Ousmane Cisse for a team high with 16 points.

The Panthers have not won three conference games this early in the schedule since the 2001-02 season. They are a win away this season from matching their total wins last season (7).

Five Eastern players finished in double figures as sophomore guard Tyler Laser scored 14 points and junior guard T.J. Marion and freshman guard Jeremy Granger each added 10 points.

Eastern went into the half with a 35-28 lead after opening up a close game with a 14-5 run with 7 minutes, 42 seconds remaining in the half. The Tigers cut the lead to three on a dunk by junior forward Calvin Williams, but he was called for a technical foul. Laser hit the two free throws for the technical and the Panthers opened up the scoring. In the second half, the Redhawks cut the lead to four points with 14:23 left, but Eastern responded with an 11-2 run as Laser hit a 3-pointer.

Redhawks' senior guard Kenard Moore led all scorers with 20 points, while Williams was kicked out of the game in the second half for receiving his second technical foul.

Eastern split its Winter Break games, finishing with a 3-3 record while winning two of its three OVC conference games. The Panthers lost to Chicago State, Bowling Green and beat Missouri Valley College. The Panthers lost at Tennessee Tech on Jan. 5 67-60 before Saturday's win against SEMO. The Panthers will return to action on 8 p.m. Thursday as they take on Eastern Kentucky at Lantz Arena.


OVC Men's basketball standings

Team / OVC / Overall

Austin Peay: 5-1 / 9-7
Morehead State: 5-1 / 8-9
E. Illinois: 3-2 / 6-9
E. Kentucky: 3-3 / 9-7
Tennessee State: 3-3 / 5-11
Tennessee-Martin: 2-3 / 9-6
Jacksonville State: 2-3 / 8-6
Tennessee Tech: 2-3 / 8-7
Murray State: 2-3 / 7-8
Southeast Missouri: 0-5 / 3-13


Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.

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