TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- For the ninth time in the last ten seasons, the Indiana State Sycamores emerged victorious in their season opener following a 79-72 victory over Eastern Illinois in front of 5,706 fans inside Hulman Center.

Indiana State begins the year 1-0 while the Panthers fall to 0-1.

Carl Richard led the way for Indiana State with a 15-point, six-rebound performance and was one of four Sycamores to reach double figures scoring. Joining Richard was Jake Odum who scored 14, Myles Walker with 11 and Dwayne Lathan scored 11 off the bench.

Richard scored the first points of the season to give the Sycamores a quick 2-0 lead out of the gate. The Sycamores would lead by as many as six points in the first half of three seperate occasions -- the final a 17-11 advantage with 12:30 left before the break on a Walker jumper in the paint.

Eastern Illinois took a brief 37-36 lead with 1:57 remaining before intermission, but Odum hit a pair of free throws to make it 38-37 and then Lucas Eitel hit the third of three first half three pointers for a 41-37 Sycamore cushion at the 1:23 mark of the opening stanza.

Eastern Illinois hit a pair of free throws with just under a minute on the clock as the Sycamores led 41-39 at the half.

The second half featured a pair of Sycamore runs which gave ISU a lead as big as six points on two occassions before a James Hollowell 3-pointer with 10:28 on the clock cut the Indiana State lead down to 55-54.

The Sycamores responded with a 3-pointer by Jake Kitchell and a conventional 3-point play by Carl Richard with 9:26 left to make it 61-54 in favor of the Trees. Richard added another jumper in the paint at the nine minute mark and then Odum added a free throw with 8:11 left to give the Sycamores a 64-54 advantage.

Indiana State's lead would grow to many as 11 at 70-59 with 5:21 left in the contest on another Odum free throw. EIU responded with a 6-0 spurt to make it 70-65 in favor of the Trees with 3:35 on the clock, but Walker hit a pair of free throws with 3:14 remaining for a 72-65 advantage.

A 3-point play by Jeremy Granger with 53 seconds on the clock cut the Sycamore lead down to 75-72 before Steve McWhorter hit a pair of charity tosses to extend the lead out to 77-72 with 20 seconds left. Lathan sealed the contest with two more free throws with nine seconds left as ISU walked away with a 79-72 season opening victory.

While Eastern Illinois was perfect at the free throw line with a 12-of-12 effort, the Sycamores were 29-of-36 from the charity stripe.

Granger led the Panthers with 26 points, hitting 10-of-16 shots from the field, plus a 5-of-5 mark from the free throw line.

Odum paced ISU with seven assists and three steals to go with an 8-of-11 mark from the free throw line.

Indiana State returns to action on Monday, November 14 when they travel to Louisiana-Monroe. Tip-off is slated for 8:05 p.m. (ET).