CHARLESTON, Ill. – Illinois State jumped out to an early lead, and held on late, as ISU picked up a 54-49 win over the Eastern Illinois Panthers on Thursday evening, as Redbird head coach Ryan Pedon picked up the first coaching victory of his young career.
For the second consecutive game Luke Kasubke had a career-high scoring effort, scoring a game-high 16 points tonight, making 4-of-5 shots from long range and all four of his free throw tries. Malachi Poindexter scored 11 points, while Joe Petrakis added 10. Kendall Lewis pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds – his second consecutive 14-rebound game to open the season, which ties the school record for most rebounds over the first two games of a season.