Sophomore guard Lalani Ellis led Eastern with 26 points as the Panthers beat the Illinois Wesleyan Titans 70-67 in an exhibition game Monday night at Groniger Arena.
Ellis was injured for 12 games last season and came out strong tonight shooting 9-12 from the field and 3-3 from three-point range.
Ellis said her goal was to just kill whenever she got the ball.
“When my teammates gave me the ball, it was hot. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to do it,” Ellis said.
Eastern was able to take over the game in the third quarter with a 14-point run over four minutes.
They led the Titans 60-53 going into the fourth quarter. However, that is not how the game started.
Eastern started the game slow, trailing 16-12 after the first quarter. The Panthers only shot 21.4% from the floor in that time.
The second quarter was much of the same, as Illinois Wesleyan was able to go on a 12-2 run over three minutes to make the game 30-18.
Eastern had 14 turnovers in the first half, and the Titans were able to capitalize, converting 19 points out of those turnovers. Eastern was trailing 40-28 at halftime.
First year head coach Marqus McGlothan said that the slow start was because of nerves from the players and the staff. McGlothan explained that he did not do a great job of calming the players down during the first half.
“For me, just could have done a better job of just setting them up at the beginning of the game, relaxing them a little bit more,” McGlothan said.
After half time things changed. The 14-point run was not the only thing going well for Eastern.
In the third quarter the Panthers shot 76.5% from the floor and outscored Illinois Wesleyan 29-13.
“We just went there as a team, told each other don’t hang your head,” Ellis said. “We know we’ve been through this before in practice, so just do what we did in practice, and we did. Came out with a nice little run.”
The fourth quarter started very slow for both teams. Only eight points were scored by both teams in the first half of the fourth quarter.
The Titans were able to get the lead with 2:08 left after a 9-0 run. Seven of those nine points were made off free throws, as Eastern got into foul trouble as well.
Transfer senior guard Kiyley Flowers finished the game with 10 points but fouled out with 3:25 left in the game. Redshirt sophomore Ella Lune finished the game with five rebounds, but also got fouled out with 2:32 left.
The next two minutes had multiple blocks and steals by both teams until reigning OVC player of the year senior forward Macy McGlone was able to go on a 6-2 run by herself to finish the game.
This game was an exhibition game for the Panthers, so the win does not count on their record.
This is also McGlothan’s first game as head coach for Eastern. However, McGlothan said that it does not feel like his first game as they are still 0-0.
“First game somewhat is out. But for me right now, we’re still 0-0. We still got stuff to prove,” McGlothan said.
Eastern plays North Dakota in North Dakota on Friday at 7 p.m.
Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at pfschmitz@eiu.edu.
