For Thursday night’s men’s basketball game against Austin Peay, 5,039 fans filled Lantz Stadium – more than any other home game this season.

And Eastern won by three points.

But now the Panthers will begin a four-game road trip, beginning Thursday in undefeated terrritory – Tennessee Tech – and they won’t come home again for two long weeks.

After such a strong turnout, will Panther fans miss their team so much they will pack the pit once again for the Valentine’s Day game against Murray State? Or will the long road trip give those time to forget about the No. 2 team in the Ohio Valley Conference?

But maybe the more important question is how well the team can fare without over 5,000 fans yelling “airball” at every sour shot by an opponent, heckling and jeering at the players.

The Panthers are 3-6 on the road, taking its lone conference road win at Murray State. Eastern has the potential to come back to Lantz Arena with a 9-2 record, but the worse can always come true.

Of course, you have to take into consideration that Eastern won for the first time at Murray State this season, but they have won just 50 percent of all their road games. And four other teams have already defeated Murray too.

But now, how difficult are places like Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State, Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State?

True, Eastern had to deal with these extended road trips before, but the results have not been positive. The Panthers finished 1-3 at the Las Vegas Invitational in November. And over the semester break, the Panthers finished 0-4 on their second four-game road trip.

Maybe the third time’s the charm.

Tech and Morehead should be the most difficult of the games left for Eastern on the road. Tech is 7-0 in the league and 14-4 overall while Morehead is tied with Eastern’s 5-2 OVC record and is 11-7 overall.

Eastern is 13-8 after playing larger teams such as University of Illinois, Ohio State and Oklahoma, two of which are ranked in the nation’s top 25.

The other two upcoming road games, Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky, sit near the bottom of the barrel in the league at 2-5 and 2-6 respectively after this weekend. Hopefully these two games will be momentum builders and not heart-stopping, buzzer-beating games.

Eastern had enough of those at Lantz Arena this season.

Which brings us back to the original question of the team’s ability to perform in front of 5,000 fans who aren’t cheering for Eastern.

Four of Eastern’s seven games have been decided by three points of less.

Half of those games were on the road.

It’s possible, but one thing is certain.

After two weeks on the road, the team will be looking for a reunion of 5,000-plus fans in Lantz Arena Feb. 14 to welcome Murray State to Panther territory. And hopefully they’ll have that 9-2 record before then.