RICHMOND, Ky. – A 17-0 run in the first half helped Eastern Kentucky cruise to a 74-50 victory over Chicago State in a non-conference men's basketball play here Tuesday night at EKU's McBrayer Arena. The Cougars fell to 5-15 on the year, while the Colonels hiked their season record to 14-6.
After the Cougars closed an early EKU lead to 10-9 after a jumper from junior Christian Wall (New Orleans, LA/John Ehret) (New Orleans, La.) at 14:49, the home team later scored 17 unanswered points over the final 6:47 to head into intermission with a 40-19 halftime lead. During the opening stanza, junior Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Chicago, Ill.) became the eighth Division I member of the CSU 1,000-point club after a putback from a rebound at the 7:58 mark.
The Cougars could get no closer than 17 points for the second half as the Colonels finished big to earn the win.
Wall paced Chicago State with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while juniors Jonathan Montgomery (Chicago, Ill.) and Antonio Lofton (Chicago, IL/Parkland College) (Chicago, Ill.) each contributed nine points. Senior Brandan Smith (Bolingbrook, IL/Bolingbrook) (Bolingbrook, Ill.) recorded five assists for the Cougars.
Junior Justin Stommes led three Eastern Kentucky players in double figures with a game-high 16 points, while seniors Papa Oppong and Josh Taylor each contributed 15 points.
Chicago State concludes its five-game road swing on the East Coast this Saturday afternoon with a Great West Conference battle at NJIT with the tip-off set for 3 p.m., Eastern Time.
~CSU~
