Eastern’s 75-69 victory over Morehead State Saturday was a story of the supporting casts from each team.

The highly anticipated matchup between the front-runners in the Ohio Valley Conference player of the year, Henry Domercant and Ricky Minard, was just a side-note as both players struggled at the beginning.

“We had outstanding games from support people,” Eastern head coach Rick Samuels said.

With Domercant and Minard both having slow starts, and the Eagles No. 2 man Chez Marks battling the flu, the teams had to find other players to step up.

Guards J.R. Reynolds and Josh Gomes picked up the scoring responsibilities while junior center Jesse Mackinson brought in a team high 11 rebounds.

“J.R.’s baskets in the second half against the zone, the two threes and then the put-back were big baskets,” Samuels said. “Mackinson’s contribution was big. It was a great win without a couple of kids (Domercant and Craig Lewis) that I think need to be really good for us down the stretch, and didn’t have their best games for us.”

The game was back and forth for the first 12 minutes until Eastern was able to make the game’s first run with the entrance of senior guard Ramon Taylor. With Eastern ahead 19-18, Taylor brought a spark off the bench with a three-pointer and a fast break dunk to lead an 8-0 Eastern run.

“He is like a ball of energy just waiting on the bench,” Domercant said. “It’s like you’re letting the animal out of the cage when you get him on the court. We all feed off of it and he changes the tempo of the game.”

The Panthers (11-12, 6-5) would soon lose the momentum as Morehead (15-7, 9-2) ended the half on a 15-5 run to take a 33-32 lead going into the half.

The near 5,000 fans packed into Lantz Arena saw more of the same as the teams kept the game close for the majority of the second half.

The Panthers received the biggest scare of the game, and most likely of the season, as Domercant fell to the court with 17:11 remaining in the half and left momentarily with an ankle injury.

“I was like, ‘can it get any worse?'” Domercant said. “I was 0-for-whatever from the field and struggled tonight, but I was feeling encouraged cause I was watching my teammates step up.”

Eastern was able to maintain a lead, and with the return of a hobbled Domercant, built an 11-point lead with 7:38 remaining.

The Eagles attempted one last come back, but their hopes were swatted away by Mackinson after he blocked an Ike Lopez shot with with less than a minute remaining and Eastern up by four.

Reynolds finished the night with a team high 19 points with Gomes adding 18. Domercant contributed 16 points and three steals.

Minard managed his season average of 21 points, but was unable to really get into the flow. Junior guard Marquis Sykes was the hot hand for the Eagles going 7-of-11 from the field for 20 points.

This marks the fourth straight victory for the Panthers who are seeing a reversal from last season when they dropped seven of their last nine games heading into the conference tournament.

“Everybody is starting to believe now,” Domercant said. “It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. Championships aren’t won in December, they are won in March.”