CHARLESTON, Ill. — Sophomore Tre King matched his career high with 22 points to lead the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team to a 91-84 road victory over Eastern Illinois on Thursday night at Lantz Arena.
It is EKU’s (12-12, 9-2 OVC) sixth consecutive win, making it the Colonels’ longest regular season win streak since 2007.
Five Colonels reached double figures in the victory. Freshman Michael Moreno poured in a career-high 17 points, connecting on 5-of-5 shots from the field and 4-of-4 shots from three-point range.
Senior Ty Taylor had 14 points, sophomore Jomaru Brown chipped in 13 and junior Russhard Cruickshank had 10 points, all in the first half.
King and Moreno both pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
Eastern Kentucky led for most of the first half, and grabbed a seven-point advantage when Moreno drained a three-pointer to make it a seven-point game, 33-26, with 3:28 remaining.
EIU (11-12, 4-7 OVC), however, ended the half on a 12-4 run, and a dunk by Marvin Johnson gave the Panthers a 38-37 lead at the break.
The Colonels re-took control early in the second half. A jumper by Brown capped an early 8-2 run and gave EKU a 45-40 lead at the 16:48 mark. A three-pointer by Taylor at the 12:08 mark ballooned the lead to nine, 60-51.
A pair of free throws by Moreno gave EKU its largest lead, 82-68, with 1:04 left.
The Colonels shot well on the night, going 30-of-60 from the field (50 percent) and 8-of-17 from deep (47 percent).
EKU returns to action on Saturday at SIUE. Tip from Edwardsville, Illinois is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET.
