The sixth man doesn’t get announced in the starting lineup and run down the line of teammates onto the court, but he can still make the winning shot in the final seconds of the game.

“Having a weapon off the bench is critical,” head coach Rick Samuels said. “The sixth man in basketball is very valuable. We try to find that every year.”

Junior Craig Lewis has been the men’s basketball team’s sixth man who came off the bench Thursday at Murray State and later sunk a three-pointer with six seconds left for an 88-86 win over the Racers.

“It’s just like starting. I feel that coming off the bench and starting are the same thing,” Lewis said. “I feel more confident coming off the bench because it’s helpful to see how everything is working out on the court first.”

The guard from Keokuk, Iowa sunk the same clutch three-pointer at the University of Tennessee-Martin Saturday with four seconds left in the game to send Eastern into overtime.

“The team has confidence in each other and coach had confidence in me to make that shot,” Lewis said.

Lewis is averaging nearly 20 minutes each game as Eastern’s third leading scorer.