Battling a stomach ache throughout the night, sophomore Henry Domercant still came through with a season-high 33 points and 15 rebounds to lead Eastern to a 86-76 win at Evansville Wednesday.

“He didn’t eat the meal and he was not very good on the bus. His stomach was bothering him,” head coach Rick Samuels said after the game. “He battled though, and we’ll take the effort.”

The win on the road boosts the Panthers to a 5-3 record while the Purple Aces fall to a 2-4 record, taking their first home loss of the season.

“There’s no question we’re making nice progress,” Samuels said. “We saw solid play and we’re finding out what we can do.

“If we continue, we’ll have a blended offense. There’s some good things going on. This was a good win for us on the road.”

Evansville took the lead in the first half by as much as seven before Domercant made a series of three-point shots to bring Eastern to a 42-39 lead before the half. Evansville broke into the second half and scrambled to tie the game for the eighth time at 50.

Evansville squeezed in two more points for its last lead of the game 52-50 before scoring 11 consecutive points for a 61-52 lead. With under six minutes to play, sophomore center Dan Lytle made two shots at the charity stripe to cut Evansville’s lead to five at 69-64.

Eastern’s offense took control to extend its lead to 13 with a 20-foot shot by junior guard J.R. Reynolds for an 82-69 game and less than two minutes on the clock.

“J.R. made some big baskets down the stretch,” Samuels said. “He scored the last big baskets we needed. We had the momentum, we just needed those big possessions.”

Evansville landed a three-point shot at the minute mark to cut its deficit to 10, but it didn’t help the Purple Aces’ cause as time ran out.

“We weathered their offense and their onslaught in the second half,” Samuels said. “We came to battle in the second half.”

Joining Domercant in the double figures was Reynolds, putting up 20 points for a career-high while grabbing six rebounds for the Panthers. Sophomore Jesse Mackinson finished with 14 points in his first college start.

Sophomore guard Jason Wright shared time with sophomore guard Chris Herrera as Wright came up big for Eastern with nine assists and three points. But more impressive as a point guard was Wright’s ability to avoid any turnovers in the game.

“It’s good to see our assists coming up,” Samuels said. “Our turnovers were lower (14) and that’s a good indication.

“Point guard is solidifying with Jason and Chris.”

Senior forward Todd Bergmann also stepped up against Evansville, playing what Samuels credits to be “his most solid game of the season,” playing 26 minutes. Leading the offensive efforts for Evansville was Lytle, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Adam Seitz added 18 while teammate Ian Hanavan finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Seitz crashed the 1,000-career point mark, coming into Wednesday’s game with 999.

“We didn’t let anyone else (other than Lytle) uncork,” Samuels said. “I didn’t think they were comfortable executing their offense.”

On the defensive end, Eastern dominated the rebounds 41-37, but also executed from a distance, hitting 9-of-19 three pointers for its best showing of the season.

“This is a good one for the kids,” Samuels said.