Southern Illinois-Edwardsville used a late 3-pointer by forward Jerome Jones to go ahead 45-43 over the Eastern men’s basketball team with 55 seconds remaining. 

From there, the Cougars would never look back.

The Cougars overcame a 10-point deficit in the final 11 minutes on their way to a 49-45 win over the Panthers.

The Panthers, whose three-game win streak was snapped, fell to 6-17 overall and 3-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Meanwhile, the Cougars held onto to second place in the west division of the OVC as they improved to 8-11 overall and 4-5 in conference play.

Eastern held its largest lead at 37-27 with 11:29 left, but four straight free throws by Ray Lester and Kris Davis cut the lead to six, fueling a 22-8 run for Edwardsville to close out the game – allowing the fewest points surrendered in a game in the Cougars’ Division I era.

Eastern would only make four shots over the last 11 and a half minutes of the game. 

But senior guard Morris Woods scored the last two of his game-high 16 points on a basket in the paint with four minutes left to give the Panthers a 43-42 lead. 

Woods shot 8-of-15 for the game. 

He was the only player to score in double-digits for the Panthers, as no other player added more than six points.

Over the next three minutes, the two teams would remain scoreless, as Eastern shot 5.9 percent from 3-point range (1-of-17) and 36.4 percent from the free throw line (4-of-11) for the game.

The Panthers then became victim to Jones’ eventual game-winning 3-pointer for the Cougars. 

A pair of free throws by Derian Shaffer and Mark Yelovich was then enough to seal the Edwardsville win. 

Both teams shot 36 percent from the field for the game.

Yelovich and Davis led the Cougars with 13 and 11 points, respectively. 

Jones was the third player to score in double-digits for the Cougars with 10.

Yelovich and Jones added eight and seven rebounds, respectively.

It was the third consecutive game the Cougars trailed in the second half, but fought back for a lead.

The win also guaranteed Edwardsville a winning season at home, marking two years in a row. 

The Cougars improved to 7-3 at home with three home games remaining.

Eastern is 1-10 on the road this season with two games left on its three-game road trip. 

The Panthers are also 3-7 at home this season. 

Of their last seven remaining games, just three of them are at home. 

The Panthers’ next game will be against Tennessee-Martin. 

The Panthers beat the Skyhawks in Lantz Arena 69-56 earlier this season on Jan. 24. 

In OVC standings, Eastern is ranked ninth, sitting above Tennessee-Martin in 11th. 

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Thursday on the road. 

Anthony Catezone can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].