EVANSTON, Ill. — Jalen Leach delivered an impressive performance with a season-high of 27 points while Nick Martinelli contributed 16 points, leading Northwestern to a hard-fought overtime victory against Eastern Illinois with a final score of 67-58 on Friday night.

The Wildcats improved their record to 3-1, while the Panthers fell to 1-3. In an intense extra period, Northwestern managed to keep Eastern Illinois scoreless. Leach played a crucial role, scoring the last seven points for the Wildcats in regulation play and finishing with the final five points of the overtime session.

With just 31 seconds remaining in regulation, Nakyel Shelton of Eastern Illinois made a running jumper to tie the game at 58. Northwestern was unable to convert three shot attempts in the final four seconds, which sent the game into overtime.

Leach, in his first season with Northwestern after transferring from Fairfield, struggled from the floor, hitting only 5 of 12 shots, including 2 of 7 from beyond the arc. However, he excelled at the free-throw line, going 13 of 14. Before this standout game, he had been averaging just over 10 points per game.

Ty Berry added 10 points to the Northwestern tally, while Matt Nicholson was strong on the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds to aid his team’s efforts.

For Eastern Illinois, Shelton led the scoring with 19 points, while Kooper Jacobi contributed 14 points.

Martinelli made a notable impact, being the first Northwestern player since John Shurna in 2010 to achieve 25 points or more in three consecutive games. He came into this matchup as the leading scorer in the Big Ten and ranked sixth nationally, averaging 28.3 points per game. On Friday, he shot 6 of 12 from the field but missed his only 3-point attempt.