A break from basketball is exactly what Eastern’s men’s team needs. After traveling all over the country and playing three ranked teams in their first eight games, the Panthers (3-5) welcome the week off before they travel to play in the Hawaii Adidas Festival.

“They are excited to get caught up academically and get out of this semester,” head coach Rick Samuels said. “With the amount of games and the travel we have had, it has been difficult for them.”

The team’s trip to Hawaii consists of games against Hawaii on Dec. 20 and California Polytechnic on Dec. 21.

The Rainbow Warriors (2-0) competed in the NCAA tournament last season and are led by Western Athletic Conference preseason player of the year, junior guard Carl English. English, a native of Ontario, Canada, is one of eight foreign players Hawaii has on its roster.

Cal Poly, a member of the Big West Conference, are currently 1-4 and has an experienced, senior-filled roster.

Eastern also gets a shot at another in-state rival in Northern Illinois. The Panthers are currently 1-2 against Illinois teams with their last being an 80-68 against the University of Illinois on Tuesday.

Samuels is grateful that he can get the Huskies at home and sees them as a young, but talented team.

Samuels is hoping his team’s early competition will prepare them for their Ohio Valley Conference opener against Southeast Missouri Jan. 4.

“I think we will be prepared, but we have work to do,” Samuels said. “If we can build on the effort from the Illinois game and polish

what we need to do, we will be ready.”

The Indians finished 8th in the conference last season, but young talent like last year’s OVC Freshman of the Year Derek Winans and junior college transfer Brandon Griffin, could put SEMO in the hunt for a middle position in the conference.

“They’ve been going through a rebuilding process,” Samuels said. “They are talented kids, and that process may start to pay off this year.”

The main thing that Samuels is still concerned about is scoring depth. Senior guard Henry Domercant provides Samuels with consistent double figures in scoring, but no one player has stepped up into the No. 2 scoring role.

“The concern still is if we can find balance in the scoring,” Samuels said. “That’s a must if we want to be consistent winners.”