Thursday’s Senior Night game against Murray State will go down in Eastern men’s basketball history.

Eastern’s five seniors played their last regular season game at Lantz Arena.

The Eastern men’s basketball community said goodbye to four guards, Henry Domercant, J.R Reynolds, Ramon Taylor, Craig Lewis and one center, Jan Thompson.

The five seniors all played a huge role in a nail biting 80-76 win against Austin Peay.

Thompson said Samuels tried to motivate the seniors and the rest of the team at practice Wednesday by summing up the total of their games.

“Coach told us we had 240 minutes left of basketball to play, so let’s go and play as hard as we can for those last 240 minutes,” Thompson said.

And the team played 40 hard minutes in front of 5,020 screaming fans.

Domercant finished with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. His 11-12 performance from the free throw line helped finish off the Governors.

“I didn’t want coach to take me out, so if they scored two I was going to score three,” Domercant said.

Taylor, a player more well-known for his defensive skill, only had seven points, but had three assists and two steals to help push Eastern ahead.

“Taylor did more than just change the game with defense, he made good offensive plays tonight too,” Samuels said.

Thompson agreed with Samuels on Taylor’s offensive performance.

“They didn’t know what to do with ‘Mone,” he said. “He is so fast he is such a spark plug.”

Thompson ended his five-year career scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds and collecting a blocked shot and a steal. Domercant reflected on his fellow senior’s contributions.

“Jan has been getting me open for so many years,” Domercant said. “Jan and my other teammates always keep confidence in me, even if I am 0-12.”

Reynolds could not be stopped on his last night at Lantz, scoring 16 points, three assists and six rebounds.

“J.R. had a huge game tonight; he made one huge three and then he would make another huge three,” Domercant said.

Although Lewis played well throughout the whole game, he saved his best for last.

“Craig makes big plays to end the game. I don’t think we have any other kids who make big plays at the end like Craig,” Samuels said.

The lead switched back and forth from Austin Peay to Eastern, but Lewis kept making big points at the the end of the game.

Lewis had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.