It’s very possible that the Aurora Spartans had the crowd at Lantz Arena asking themselves one question – who would’ve known?

Who would’ve known that on the road, one of the nation’s best Division III teams could contend with a struggling D-I mid-major?

Panthers head coach Rick Samuels knew.

After his team’s disappointing overtime road loss to Austin Peay Thursday night, Samuels predicted in his post-game press conference this type of outcome against Aurora.

“It could be a long night,” Samuels said.

Samuels looked like a prophet as Eastern struggled to defeat Aurora 80-72 Saturday night.

With seven minutes left, Samuels was forced to call a 30-second timeout because the Panthers were up by a single point and weren’t sensing any fear out of the Spartans.

“They weren’t scared at all,” junior forward Jesse Mackinson said. “Our biggest problem was stopping their runs.”

After the timeout, Samuels made a crucial decision not just for this game but also for the entire season. The Panthers came out of the huddle without senior guard Henry Domercant. The nation’s second leading scorer sat for the rest of the half and watched his teammates outscore Aurora 18-8.

“We don’t want Henry to have to carry the team every night and right now he’s not getting any breaks,” Samuels said.

“(Henry) really wasn’t really up for the game tonight,” senior guard J.R. Reynolds said. “I saw it in his eyes.”

For the first time since the opening Boise State contest, freshman Josh Gomes came off the bench to provide a big lift for the Panthers. Gomes earned 12 points (all in the first half), seven rebounds and five assists.

“Josh Gomes had a nice outing and this home stand is specifically important for us to get Josh more minutes,” Samuels said.

However, Aurora was able to survive the late first half run to go into the locker room with a respectable 11-point deficit by matching the taller Eastern team in points in the paint.

Early turnovers and consecutive fast break points drew the Spartans to four points and forced Eastern to change offensive sets.

“We decided to go toward a UCLA high post offense,” Samuels said. “We just didn’t have anybody wanting the ball in the motion.”

A 12-4 Panther run would stretch the lead back to a comfortable 12-point margin but would suddenly face another Aurora scoring streak.

After a timeout, the Spartans outscored Eastern 11-2 in nearly four minutes. Aurora forward Charles Simmons who ended the game with a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds led the run. The score was suddenly 63-60 and the Panthers were taken out of cruise control very quickly.

“Aurora made some key three-pointers at key times and we had to play hard to win this game,” Samuels said.

Ohio Valley Conference preseason Player of the Year Henry Domercant finally attacked the basket and dunked over two Spartans to get the Lantz Arena faithful on their feet.

Domercant ended the game with a double double once again with a team leading 18 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes.

Eastern will have five straight home games coming up and planned on using this game against Aurora as a confidence builder.

“This team will separate itself from the pack in the next six games,” J.R. Reynolds said. “We are about to make a big surge.”