GREENVILLE, Ill. - A historic evening in H.J. Long Gymnasium ended in favor of Greenville's men's basketball team when they scored the second most points in school history and handed MacMurray a 167-145 defeat.
The 167 point outing trails only the 2016-17 squad who tallied 178 points against Lincoln Christian in a contest on Nov. 22 that season.
Greenville's scoring mark set the record for points scored by a team in a SLIAC league game. Ironically, Greenville and Fontbonne battled in a 164-154 overtime game exactly one year ago on Jan. 31, 2018. That contest ended with Fontbonne on top.
Tonight's game also established the SLIAC records for three-point field goals by one team in a game. Greenville's 30 three-pointers ended as a new conference high, breaking Greenville's previous record of 28 treys last year.
The 312 combined points in the game fell just short of Greenville and Fontbonne's 318 combined total last season.
The Panthers scored 80 points in the opening half and took a 80-73 lead to halftime. In the second period, Greenville added 87 points and held MacMurray to 72 points.
The Panthers featured two players who scored 25 points - Eric Williams and Isiah Price. Williams completed a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Johari Dix picked up 23 points in the game and added six assists to establish the new SLIAC record for career assists. In four season's wearing the GU uniform, Dix has accumulated 453 assists, surpassing the previous conference record of 449 set by Greg Martin of Westminster from 1990-93.
Marvin Bateman and Rakim Murphy each gave Greenville 19 points.
Barry Nixon and Austyn Contreras provided 13 points apiece, and Contreras finished just short of a double-double himself with nine assists.
Greenville forced MacMurray into committing 38 turnovers, gaining 20 steals in the process. Justin Cross had Greenville's team-high with four steals.
The Panthers (13-6, 10-2 SLIAC) will host Fontbonne on Saturday at 3 p.m. Prior to the game, Greenville will recognize its seniors in a ceremony.