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RICHMOND, Ky. – Senior Jaron Jones led three Colonels in double figures with 22 points as the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team defeated IPFW Saturday night in McBrayer Arena, 78-69.

The Colonels now stand at 15-14 overall and 6-0 in home non-conference games this season. IPFW, out of the Summit League, falls to 10-17.

The game was created as part of the ESPN Sears BracketBusters series. This was the first meeting between the two teams since 2002.

Jaron Jones reached the 20-point plateau for the third consecutive game. The guard was also one rebound away from his first career double-double. Fellow senior Joshua Jones equaled a personal high with five three-pointers as he finished with 17 points. Junior #D’Mitri Riggs# chipped in with 12 second half points and a career-best six assists.

Frank Gaines was the lone IPFW player in double figures. The guard equaled a career-high with 30 points. Gaines entered the contest ranked 14th nationally (Division I) in scoring at 20.1 points per game.

Trailing 30-25 late in the first half, Eastern Kentucky regrouped with an 11-3 run to head into intermission ahead, 36-33.

The Colonels carried their momentum into the opening portion of the second half. Nine straight points, capped by a Riggs three-pointer, stretched the advantage to 14 points, 53-39.

Six minutes later, a Jeff Allgood trifecta gave Eastern its biggest lead of the contest, 67-51. The Mastodons never seriously challenged EKU the rest of the way. The Colonels shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from the floor in the final 20 minutes and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from behind the arc.

Eastern Kentucky concludes the regular season next weekend with a pair of home OVC contests against SIUE (Feb. 23) and Eastern Illinois (Feb. 25).