Eastern Illinois hit two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to sink Little Rock, 56-54, Monday afternoon in a game played at Hyland Arena on the campus of Lindenwood University.
After Nakyel Shelton hit two free throws to give the Panthers the two-point advantage, Little Rock called timeout.
The ball was inbounded to
Tuongthach Gatkek, who dribbled the ball in the frontcourt to the left side and pulled up from about 15 feet. He made the shot, and the officials ruled it good but immediately reviewed it. After watching the video replay and conferring, the shot was waved off by the officials and the win awarded to the Panthers.
Ante Beljan led the Trojans with 14 points.
Isaiah Lewis added 11 points and Gatkek collected 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
The Trojans led for much of the game and second half and held a seven-point lead with just under two minutes to play.
Little Rock led 23-21 at halftime and took control in the second half. Beljan's jumper with 14:54 left gave the Trojans a 36-26 lead with just under 15 minutes to play. EIU hung around and cut the lead to three with 6:30 left in the game. Gatkek's layup with 2:48 remaining pushed the lead to six.
After EIU trimmed the advantage to five,
Johnathan Lawson gave the Trojans a 53-46 lead with 1:56 to go. However, EIU rattled off a 10-1 run to finish the game.
Little Rock had won five straight games, including four road contests. Monday's game was originally scheduled for Little Rock on Dec. 21 but was postponed after Trojans' student manager Josh Claxton passed away in a car accident that morning.
Little Rock will now play host to Tennessee State at 7 p.m. Thursday night for the first of a two-game home stand.
