Henry Domercant is good. He’s really good.

“I don’t think there’s any team in the country that can guard him man-to-man and stop him,” Panther head coach Rick Samuels said of Domercant. “I don’t even think anyone, even Illinois, could find one person to put on him and shut him down.”

And then comes the but …

“But we have to find scoring support for him,” Samuels said.

Write that down, because that’s the No. 1 key to whether the Panthers will be chumps or champs again this season.

Domercant made some remarkable shots in Eastern’s 86-82 exhibition win at Lantz Arena Saturday night. He scored 45 points, 28 of which came in the second half. He shot 16-of-24 from the floor, including 6-for-10 from three-point range.

But those were not the most important statistics of this early November exhibition game. Neither was the score. It’s nice to win, but that’s not what exhibition games are for. The most telling stat of the game was that Oh Henry outscored his teammates 45-41.

Don’t get me wrong – it was great to see Domercant fly off the hook for 45, but Eastern can’t win every game that way. Heck, they may not be able to win any games that way.

It was odd to watch Eastern step out onto the floor without guards Matt Britton and Kyle Hill from a year ago. It was weird to watch the Panther offense running out of sync for much of the game. But it’s time to realize last year is gone and this season is upon us.

Last year’s squad was unbelievably efficient on the perimeter and short in depth. The 2001-2002 edition of the Panthers is nearly the opposite, deep in talent, short on pure shooters. At least so far.

Junior transfer J.R. Reynolds showed some promise, sinking 5-of-11 shots, for a second-best 16 to Domercant’s scoring rampage. Returning guards Craig Lewis and Rod Henry were cold for the floor shooting a combined 3-of-11 for 7 points. Henry shot just three times in 26 minutes.

Domercant scored 45 in just 31 minutes on the floor. That’s where Eastern must improve. They have to spread the ball around and get others involved. That includes the big men too.

Domercant’s good. He knows it. His teammates know it. His coach knows it. Everyone in Lantz Arena knows it. And many across the country know it.

But it won’t be his shooting stroke alone that Eastern’s season will ride on. It will be his leadership skills. Hill and Britton are gone and it’s time for the flamboyant kid from Naperville to take the reigns.

His ability to get his teammates involved, like Britton and Hill got him involved last season, will determine which way the arrow will point on the chumps or champs meter.

Because sooner or later Domercant will have that off night or get shut down, even if it takes a triple-team effort. The key is who steps up and who he gets involved. For now, I’d say place your bets on Reynolds. He’s the front runner.

“I think J.R. will be a lot like Henry coming off screens once he gets used to the offense,” sophomore center Jesse Mackinson said. “Then that will give us a good 1-2 punch.”

The Panthers better hope that’s the case. And they better hope Oh Henry stays oh healthy.