OVC – Scrappy Eastern Illinois

Winning Tight Games Elevating the Panthers

(St. Louis, MO) – Winning hotly contested games has scrappy Eastern Illinois contending for an upper echelon spot in the Ohio Valley Conference. EIU has been spectacular in single digit games. Jay Spoonhour’s team is 10-and-3 in contests decided by seven points are less.

The Panthers are 4-and-0 in overtime games.

After having some early success in ‘coin-flip-games’ Spoonhour’s remade Panther squad is confident in tight situations.

 

 

Numerous players have contributed to the early success. He says virtually everyone in his rotation has led the team in scoring at some point, or made the winning free throws. Unlikely heroes have sparked scrappy Eastern Illinois to twelve wins and a 5-and-3 OVC record.

Josiah Wallace leads the Panthers with a 15.4 points-per-game average while Rade Kukobat is the leading rebounder (5.4 per game). Shareef Smith leads in assists by handing 3.9 per game and Mack Smith has made the most three-point baskets (49). Spoonhour’s team is truly balanced.

Eastern Kentucky visits Lantz Arena Thursday and Spoonhour says the Colonels are a team with a star player and they play fast-paced, pressing basketball. A.W. Hamilton’s team leads the nation in steals and Spoonhour says Colonel senior Nick Mayo can do it all.

 

 

Mayo is EKU’s all-time leading scorer and is 12th in OVC history with 2,072 points. The Colonels (10-11, 3-5) dropped their first four conference games, but have won three of their last four contests.

The Ohio Valley Conference has some great star power. Mayo, Murray State’s Ja Morant, Belmont’s Dylan Windler and Austin Peay’s Terry Taylor have elevated the entire league. Belmont’s Rick Byrd has built a dynastic type of program and Jacksonville State has joined the Bruins and Murray as league favorites.

OVC – Better Than Ever

Spoonhour says the OVC is on the rise. He describes the thrill it is to compete with players like Morant and tells us JSU’s Ray Harper has elevated the Gamecock program to elite OVC status.

 

 

Of course there are no discussions about the OVC that don’t include legendary Belmont coach Rick Byrd. Spoonhour says Byrd, who has won 793 games has developed a program that is second to none. The EIU coach is in his seventh year in Charleston, Illinois and is effusive in his respect for the Belmont leader.

Since joining the OVC, Byrd’s teams have won over 82 percent of their conference games. Spoonhour says coach Byrd makes it look easy, but it’s not as easy as it looks. ‘Spoon’ says Byrd is one of the nicest men he has ever met.

 

 

Murray State and Jacksonville State are tied for first with 7-and-1 records. Belmont and Austin Peay stand at 6-and-2. The top four OVC teams receive preferential treatment at the conference tournament. Spoonhour’s team is in fifth place.

Scrappy Eastern Illinois leads Morehead State (Saturday’s opponent) by one game and EKU by two. The next two home games are standings shaping kinds of games for scrappy Eastern Illinois.

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