Junior forward Henry Domercant carried Eastern to a 86-82 win over BC Albacomp Thursday night at Lantz Arena, scoring 45 points in the Panthers’ first exhibition game of the season.

“Our coach teaches us to be competitive every game on the court,” Domercant said. “You never know when it’s going to be your last game, and we definitely wanted to win and show everyone that we’re still a team to be reckoned with.”

Not only did Domercant score over half of Eastern’s points, but he finished 6-of-10 from three-point range and a perfect 11-for-11 at the line.

“It’ll take some time to find a scoring support for Henry,” head coach Rick Samuels said. “But I don’t think there’s any team in the country that can guard him man-to-man and stop him.”

While Eastern was able to maintain control of the game throughout most of the first half, the professional team from Budapest, Hungary took over the lead four minutes into the second half and didn’t relinquish it until the game’s final minutes.

It was a technical foul and series of six free-throws from Domercant, sophomore center Jesse Mackinson and junior transfer J.R. Reynolds to pull the Panthers ahead 78-76 with 2:59 left in the game.

But BC Albacomp came back to tie the game on Henrik Gobi’s layup. But Reynolds got a wide-open look in the corner and his three-point shot with 1:47 on the clock, putting Eastern ahead 81-78. BC Albacomp would tie the game at 81, but two free throws from Mackinson put the Panthers ahead for good.

“We’ve got some work to do,” Samuels said. “I liked the first five minutes and the last five minutes. In the first five, we were loose and made jump shots. In the last five, we toughened it up and did a good job defending and rebounding.

“Free throw percentage was a good indication. That’ll win games for us.”

BC Albacomp came to Eastern for its 10th game of the season, already 6-2 in their European professional league while also playing the University of Illinois-Chicago Monday.

“They definitely had some talent,” Domercant said. “It’s a good measuring stick.”

Helping Eastern on the offensive end was Reynolds in his first game for the Panthers. The junior transfer finished with 16 points.

“J.R. Reynolds was the guy who showed he could score some points,” Samuels said.

While junior center Jan Thompson didn’t attempt a shot Thursday night, he led the team with four rebounds. Senior forward Todd Bergmann finished with six points while Mackinson added five.

“We need to get chemistry on the floor and get chemistry from the new guys,” Mackinson said. “We learn new things on our offense every day.”

BC Albacomp’s lone American player, forward Damon Williams, led the team with 39 points and six rebounds.

“We were tired. We don’t have game legs yet,” Samuels said. “We need to continue to build on this.

“We just needed to play somebody. Now we’ll be refreshed and have something to focus on at practice. This is the team we’ll have to fine-tune. It’s going to take us some time.”