Simmons leads Southern Indiana past Eastern Illinois 78-74

EVANSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Jelani Simmons' 21 points helped Southern Indiana defeat Eastern Illinois 78-74 on Thursday night.

Simmons shot 6 for 12 (6 for 10 from 3-point range) and 3 of 6 from the free throw line for the Screaming Eagles (13-9, 6-3 Ohio Valley Conference). Jacob Polakovich added 20 points while going 8 of 19 and 4 of 9 from the free throw line, and they also had 24 rebounds. Isaiah Swope recorded 11 points and shot 4 for 11, including 2 for 5 from beyond the arc.

Cameron Haffner led the way for the Panthers (7-15, 3-6) with 17 points. Yaakema Rose Jr. added 14 points for Eastern Illinois. Nick Ellington also had 11 points and six rebounds.

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These two teams both play Saturday. Southern Indiana visits UT Martin while Eastern Illinois hosts Southeast Missouri State.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.