Fruster, McMorris lead Eastern Illinois to 77-71 OT win over SIU-Edwardsville in OVC Tournament

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Zion Fruster scored 23 points and Terry McMorris added five in the overtime as Eastern Illinois took down SIU-Edwardsville 77-71 on Wednesday in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Fruster shot 10 of 14 from the field and 3 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Panthers (12-19, 8-12 Ohio Valley Conference). Kooper Jacobi scored 18 points while shooting 7 for 15, including 2 for 5 from beyond the arc, and added eight rebounds. McMorris shot 7 of 7 from the field to finish with 15 points, while adding 13 rebounds and three blocks.

Tyler King finished with 19 points and six rebounds for the Cougars (19-12, 12-8). Arnas Sakenis added 15 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks for SIU-Edwardsville. Jordan Pickett had 12 points.

Fruster scored 12 points in the first half for Eastern Illinois, which led 40-31 at halftime. Eastern Illinois was outscored by nine points in the second half and the teams finished regulation tied at 65. McMorris went 2 of 2 from the field on the way to five points in the overtime.

Eighth-seeded Eastern Illinois will play No. 4-seed Tennessee-Martin in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

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

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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