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RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team shot 57.9 percent from the floor en route to a 78-71 non-conference victory over Longwood Sunday afternoon in McBrayer Arena. With the win, the Colonels (12-9) move to 8-0 in home games this season.

Senior Jaron Jones paced Eastern with 23 points, marking the seventh time this year he has scored at least 20 points in a game. Junior Mike DiNunno added 14 points while sophomore Jeff Johnson tallied a career-high nine rebounds to go along with 11 points off the bench.

Tristan Carey carried the Lancers (7-13) on offense with 25 points thanks to going 5-for-8 (62.5 percent) from three-point range. Meanwhile, center Antwan Carter finished with 19 points and nine boards.

Longwood led for the majority of the first half and took a 40-35 lead into intermission. Back-to-back Carey three-pointers in the first minute of the second stanza quickly gave the Lancers their largest lead of the contest, 46-35.

Eastern slowly chopped away at the deficit and a Jabs Newby three-pointer, just his second of the season, put the Colonels back on top, 53-52, with 12:40 remaining.

The game was back-and-fourth over the next four minutes before six straight EKU points put the home team ahead for good, 67-61, with 6:42 left. Longwood was only able to get as close as three points the rest of the way.

Eastern Kentucky shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from the floor in the second half while outscoring the Lancers, 43-31. The Colonels’ overall shooting percentage (57.9) was the highest against a Division I opponent in 2011-12. Fifty of EKU’s 78 points came in the paint.

This was the first-ever meeting between the two teams. Longwood is one of three independent Division I programs.

Eastern Kentucky returns to conference action Thursday night, Jan. 26 when the Colonels conclude their three-game home swing against Tennessee Tech. Game time is set for 7 p.m.