EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Eastern Illinois used a 16-2 run over the first 4:29 of the second half Saturday to pull away from SIUE. The Panthers went on to a 60-46 win to claim first place in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division.

Eastern Illinois improved to 9-13 overall and 6-4 in OVC play. SIUE dropped to 4-18 overall and 1-9 in the OVC.

The Panthers carried a 22-20 lead into the second half before essentially closing out the game before the first media timeout in the second period.

The second-half surge negated strong individual performances by the Cougars. Carlos Anderson led SIUE with his first career double-double. He scored 10 points and hauled in 11 rebounds. Josh White tied for the team lead in scoring with a career-high 10 points, and Mike Chandler grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds of his own.

SIUE dominated EIU on the glass, outrebounding the Panthers 48-33, to tie its season high in rebounding. The Cougars grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, which turned into 16 second chance points.

"We did some good things on the defensive end and did a phenomenal job on the boards, but we just couldn't get shots to go in the rim," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "Some of that is us, but you have to give Eastern a lot of credit for that."

The Cougars struggled from the floor, finishing with a season-low .274 field goal percentage. The Cougars connected on 17 of 62 shots for the game.

"Sometimes you aren't going to make your shots," Harris added. "You just have to be that much better defensively."

EIU finished the game 22 of 52 (42.3 percent) from the field, but knocked down 50 percent (13 of 26) of its shots in the second half. The Cougars turned the ball over 16 times, which turned into 11 points for the Panthers.

"A few too many turnovers was probably the difference," Harris said. "When you're struggling on offense, you have to give yourself every opportunity to get a basket."

Trae Anderson led all scorers with 19 points for the Panthers. Cornell Johnston scored 14 points while Demetrius McReynolds and Joe Kuligoski each scored nine points.

SIUE now has a week between games. The Cougars will continue their four-game home stand with a Saturday game against UT Martin. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m.