By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

MACOMB, Ill. — Western Illinois is winning close home games.

It’s a little late when it comes to the Ohio Valley Conference standings, but it comes at a perfect time in the schedule.

The Leathernecks made a late run to take a 70-66 win over Eastern Illinois on Thursday night at Western Hall.

Western Illinois (19-11 overall, 12-5 OVC) clinched the fourth seed in next week’s conference tournament in Evansville, Indiana, which guarantees a bye into the quarterfinals.

The Leathernecks are a game out of the three-way tie for first place in the conference heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale against SIU-Edwardsville, and it would be easy to lament the missed opportunities — three of those home losses were by a combined seven points.

Instead, there’s the bigger picture — the Leathernecks are winning during the most crucial part of the calendar.

Western Illinois has won back-to-back single-digit home games — the Leathernecks won 82-76 over Southern Indiana, and now add this win.

“We’re doing it at the right time,” said senior guard Quinlan Bennett, who led the Leathernecks with 14 points and eight rebounds. “At the beginning of the season, we weren’t finishing games. So this is a great time to do it.”

“I think we’re holding the line a lot better,” said center Drew Cisse, who had 10 points, two on a dunk that gave the Leathernecks a 57-55 with 4:08 to play. “We’ve had a lot of experience now in close situations, so we’re not as tense anymore. We have faith we’re going to pull it out at the end.”

Western Illinois built a 14-point second-half lead before Eastern Illinois (14-17, 8-10) rallied to tie the game. It was a similar trend to those earlier close home losses, but something feels different with the Leathernecks now.

“It didn’t have the feel of the other games,” Western Illinois coach Chad Boudreau said. “Our guys were relaxed. I thought the guys looked relaxed, felt relaxed.”

“I think we’re coming together more,” Bennett said. “In the previous games, we would break down, fall apart. Now we’ve got more trust, more faith in each other.”

Cisse’s dunk off a missed layup from teammate Ryan Myers started an 8-0 run, the final Leatherneck burst.

“Everyone was ball-watching,” Cisse said. “I saw there was an opening where I could go if he missed the shot. He missed perfectly for me, and I was able to get it and get the dunk.”

“Coming down the stretch, these guys are seniors, this is the last hurrah,” Boudreau said. “I want to tip my hat to the older guys for keeping it together. It was a boxing match at the end, they kept taking shots, but we hung in there and won the game.”

Western Illinois held the Panthers to just one field goal in the opening 7:40 of the second half, but Eastern Illinois went on a 21-9 run that included five 3-pointers, including one that Dan Luers turned into a four-point play after he was fouled.

“We stopped scoring, and they got a couple of threes,” Boudreau said. “That four-point play was big.”

“Everybody was locked in,” Cisse said of the Leathernecks’ defense to start the half. “They were letting us play a little bit, and everyone was on the same page. When we’re like that, things go well, but when we get in foul trouble, it all unravels.”

It didn’t unravel this time.

Boudreau looked through some of the other statistics in the box score.

“We got a lot of second-chance points (17), we pounded the ball inside (32 points in the paint), we made more free throws than they attempted (16 to 12), and somehow pulled it off at the end,” Boudreau said.

JJ Kalakon had 13 points for the Leathernecks. Myers had 10.

Nakyel Shelton had 24 points to lead Eastern Illinois.

The Leathernecks retained the Old Railsplitter Ax, which goes to the winner of this in-state rivalry.

“I think we need as much momentum as we can get heading into the OVC tournament, so we can get into the NCAA tournament,” Cisse said. “And we don’t want to lose to an in-state rival, so that’s big for us, too.”

Boudreau said he wasn’t concerned about where his team would be seeded in the conference tournament.

“This group is very competitive, probably the most competitive I’ve ever been around,” he said. “These guys just want to win. We won’t talk about seeding, who we’re going to play. We’ll just keep playing.”

The calendar said it’s the right time.

“Last weekend at home, it’s great momentum for us,” Bennett said.

“I think we know we’re building something special,” Cisse said.

Photo: Western Illinois guard Quinlan Bennett (right) looks to get past Eastern Illinois’ Lazar Grbovic in Thursday’s game. (Photo courtesy of WIU Athletic Communications)