ST. CHARLES, Mo. (Interstat) — Kooper Jacobi scored 30 points Thursday night to lead Eastern Illinois to a 71-67 Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball victory over Lindenwood.

The Panthers built a 36-29 halftime lead at Robert F. Hyland Performance Arena and withstood a second-half push by the Lions. Anias Futrell scored 27 points for Lindenwood, which outscored Eastern Illinois 38-35 after halftime but could not complete the comeback. Markus Blackwell added 11 points for the Panthers.

Eastern Illinois improved to 12-18. Lindenwood dropped to 16-14. Attendance was 1,289.