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MARSHALL, Mo. - Central Methodist got 21 points from Melvin Tillman, and the Eagles got revenge for a Jan. 10 loss versus Missouri Valley with a 76-72 win Thursday in Heart of America Athletic Conference men's basketball action in Grover C. Redford Gymnasium.
The win is the first for the Green and Black in Marshall since a 68-49 conquest of their arch-rival on Dec. 3, 2009. Central Methodist has won four of the last seven games between the two teams in Redford Gym.
Tillman shot 9-of-14 for the Eagles (16-11, 9-6 HAAC), while guard Eric Franklin added 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. Franklin was also 3-of-3 at the free throw line.
Coming off a season-high in scoring last Saturday at Avila (Mo.), Michael Banks, Jr. chipped in 13 points on Thursday night in the winning effort. Elliott Black tallied 10. Tillman and Black had five rebounds apiece. Tillman and Banks, Jr. each hit three three-pointers.
Alex Barner totaled eight points and nine rebounds for Central Methodist, which shot 50 percent (29-of-58) for the second straight game. The Green and Black also made 11 treys (11-of-25) compared to only four (4-of-19) by the Vikings (9-18, 4-11 HAAC), who have lost a league-high six straight games.
Missouri Valley led 18-13 eight minutes into the game courtesy of a Kevin Stander three. The home team held a five-point lead twice in the first 20 minutes which also saw eight ties.
Trailing 37-34 at the break and by five points three minutes into the second period, Franklin and the Eagles went to work, eventually taking their first lead, 46-45, since the 15:33 mark of the first half on one of the Columbia, Mo., native's four treys on the night. Tillman then scored nine straight points for his team, leading to a five-point cushion, 53-48, with 11:08 to go.
With his team down by two at the 7:07 mark, a Franklin steal led to a conventional three-point play that sparked a 16-3 Central Methodist scoring run in the span of 4:59. Franklin's free throw put the Eagles up 60-59, a lead the visitors would never relinquish. Later, Franklin gave the Green and Black a 73-62 advantage on a nine-foot jumper.
The Vikings cut the deficit to one possession, 73-70, with 23 seconds on the clock following a Law Brown rebound and putback, but Black and Franklin combined to convert three free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
Kendall Hays led Missouri Valley in scoring with 14 points. Brown and Jordan Epps each tallied 12. However, after shooting 50 percent from the floor against the Eagles in Fayette on Jan. 10, Epps, the leading scorer in the HAAC coming into Thursday, was held to just 6-of-16 overall, 0-of-6 from distance and six points below his season average.
Brown also had nine rebounds.
Central Methodist hosts Benedictine (Kan.) on Saturday inside Puckett Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. CT.
