Rice University
1-4
Eastern Illinois
1-5
Rice defeats E. Illinois, 55-49
11/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2007
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Patrick Britton converted a three-point play and Jasen Williams hit a key three-pointer in the final minute as Rice defeated Eastern Illinois 55-49 Friday and propel the Owls to the championship game of the Hawkeye Challenge.
Rice, now 1-4, moves to the championship game of an in-season tournament for the first time since 1998 when the squad played in the title game of The Tribune Holiday Classic in Ames, Iowa. The Owls will take on Louisiana-Monroe, a 72-67 winner over Iowa in overtime, at 5:45 p.m. for the tournament championship.
Against Eastern Illinois Friday, Rice trailed 49-47 with 2:55 to play when Romain Martin made a pair of free throws.
The Owls had an opportunity to tie the game at the other end, but Paulius Packevicius failed to convert a pair of free throws. Martin looked to extend the Panthers' lead but missed a pull up jumper.
The Owls would regain the lead when senior forward Patrick Britton drove inside and was fouled by Bobby Catchings while scoring. Britton's ensuing free throw put Rice in front 50-49 with 1:25 to play. The three-point play was Britton's only points of the second half after he scored 11 in the first half. He finished with 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds, both season highs.
After an EIU timeout, the Panthers looked to go inside to regain the lead but a pass by Julio Anthony intended for Ousane Cisse went out of bounds.
Back on offense, Rice was patient with Williams draining a three-pointer with 28.5 seconds to play to extend the Owls' lead, 53-49.
Martin would miss a three-point shot in an effort to cut in the Owls' lead before Williams put the game out of reach with a pair of free throws with 18 seconds to play.
Williams finished with a career-high 20 points to go along with four rebounds. Rodney Foster added 10 second-half points including a pair of field goals from behind the arc.
Rice held Martin, Eastern Illinois' leading scorer, to just a 3-for-4 performance from the free throw line. Martin entered the game averaging 14 points per game but went 0-for-9 form the field, including an 0-for-5 night from behind the arc.
Eastern Illinois was led by Mike Robinson's 12-point night.
The game featured 13 lead changes and 10 ties. Before Williams' two free throws in the closing seconds, the Owls' biggest lead was five points, 18-13 in the first half.
Bobby Joliff's turnaround jumper with 20 seconds to play in the first half gave EIU a 25-24 lead but Williams answered with a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Rice a 27-25 lead at the break.
