CHALRESTON, Ill. – Mike Adewunmi scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead SIUE to a 76-74 road win at Eastern Illinois Thursday.

The win is just the second in 11 games all-time for SIUE at EIU. The Cougars improved to 4-9 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 7-19 overall. Eastern Illinois dipped to 5-8 in the OVC and 12-13 overall.

"(Eastern Illinois) is a well-coached team and they have really good players and that's why I like this win so much," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said.

Adewunmi notched his second career double-double collecting career-highs in points and rebounds to lead the Cougars. He scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half.

"To start the game, he was a little frustrating," Barone said. "He changed the dynamic. He had an and-one, he had a follow-up layup in transition and he had a huge three when we needed it. Defensively he did some good things in being in gaps and helping. He had 11 rebounds and eight defensive rebounds and (EIU) is a good rebounding team."

Zeke Moore scored 16 points, including 12 in the second half. Shamar Wright scored 12 points. Brandon Jackson added eight points and Tyresse Williford collected seven assists.

"The game changed in the first half when it was 12-2 and the second unit came in," Barone said. "And then in the second half started with an injury to Tyresse and Iziah James has to come in and execute the play. He was ready to roll just as the guys were in the first half. In the second half we just took off."

Eastern Illinois had several chances to pull even down the stretch, but couldn't take advantage. After Mack Smith drained all three free throws after a foul, the Cougars led 74-72 with 27 seconds to play. The Cougars missed a free throw and the Panthers' Josiah Wallace and Jordan Skipper-Borwn missed back-to-back attempts before Brandon Jackson secured a rebound for SIUE. When Jackson missed a free throw, the Panthers again had a chance with 12 second to play when Williford stripped Wallace of the ball and started a fast break the other way. Jackson secured the SIUE win with an emphatic two-hand dunk to make it 76-72. Mack Smith scored on the ensuing play for EIU for the final margin.

"At the end of the game we 'walled up,'" Barone said of SIUE's defense.

After trailing by as many as eight points in the first half and 32-31 at halftime, SIUE didn't take its first lead until a steal and a layup by Zeke Moore made it 36-34 SIUE with 17:35 to play. The Cougars' largest lead of the game came when Moore buried a three-pointer to put SIUE up 55-44 with 10:56 to play.

Mack Smith finished with 25 points to lead Eastern Illinois. Wallace scored 20 points and Skipper-Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds.

With the win, SIUE moved to within a game of eighth place in the OVC. The top eight teams advance to the conference tournament.  

"A lot of these guys haven't been privy to the importance of basketball games in conference," Barone said. "They were sheltered from it. That's not how we're building this program. If you want to be in the race, you have to explain to these guys the importance of this game and the importance of the next game. We have an opportunity to play for something. We're not playing for Spring Break."