On the night Henry Domercant became Eastern’s all-time leading scorer, Panther fans finally started to believe what he’s been saying for weeks about his teammates.

“I could never give too much credit to (Jan Thompson),” Domercant said “He’s always working to get me open.”

Senior center Jan Thompson scored the first five points in a game where he was two rebounds away from his first career double-double.

“It felt great when Jan got those points because any type of offense he gives us is a plus,” Domercant said.

Thompson came into game averaging less than one point per game and utilized his height advantage over a smaller Leatherneck front court.

“I think that those put-backs he had early provided us with a spark that started a early 14-5 run,” head coach Rick Samuels said.

In the season’s largest Lantz Arena home crowd, Domercant overtook Jay Taylor with 16:11 left in the first half and now leads Eastern with 1,952 points.

“Henry deserves to be leading scorer because he’s a tireless worker and shows great character off the floor,” Samuels said “I can’t count how many times somebody has told me that Henry talked to my five-year old child — college players just don’t do that.”

The Ohio Valley Conference preseason Player of the Year, Domercant scored 29 points while shooting 11 of 26 from the field and made two late free-throws to ice the game.

“Henry is a testament of hard work and I knew he was going to be a great player,” Thompson said.

However, Domercant shot four-of-12 in the second half but was picked up by J.R. Reynolds’ 12 second-half points. Reynolds is establishing himself as the Panthers second scoring threat and ended this night with 20 points.

“We need for J.R. to score more but not necessary shoot more,” Samuels said.

Jesse Mackinson is struggling to provide an offensive lift but is currently playing with his right thumb in a splint.

“When Jesse’s thumb gets better, he will hit his shots and gets 8-10 rebounds,” Samuels said.

With Eastern getting solid performances from players off the bench, Samuels currently has the best problem to have.

“I’m struggling to find a rotation because I don’t know who will perform well and when,” Samuels said.