Josiah Wallace had 22 points as Eastern Illinois narrowly defeated Western Illinois 92-88 on Saturday.

Sammy Friday IV had 16 points for Eastern Illinois (3-4). Mack Smith added 13 points. Marvin Johnson had 11 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks.

Justin Brookens had 37 points for the Leathernecks (1-4). Ramean Hinton added 19 points and eight rebounds. Will Carius had 10 rebounds.

Tamell Pearson, who led the Leathernecks in scoring coming into the contest with 15.0 points per game, shot only 20% for the game (1 of 5).