While Eastern didn’t find much success over winter break in the victory column, the Panthers went 2-2 in five games. The team did improve, which was especially because of the two games against Big Ten teams Ohio State and Iowa.

The Iowa game, on Dec. 30, the Panthers played some of their best basketball of the season.

The team nearly pulled off one of their biggest upsets in the past few of years when the Panthers traveled to Iowa City and came away with the victory against Steve Alford’s Hawkeyes.

While Iowa had been struggling anyway, the team had lost two in a row entering the game against Eastern; a victory against a Big Ten team would have been a boost to a struggling team.

The Panthers almost pulled off the upset, as they entered the final two minutes and 49 seconds of the fourth quarter tied at 60. After that it was all down hill for Eastern as Iowa broke away from the Panthers with an 11-2 run in those last couple of minutes.

Besides the Iowa game, the Panthers did not fare as well when they played against the Big Ten. In the second game against the Big Ten, the Panthers traveled to Columbus to go against Ohio State.

The Panthers lost the match-up by a 19 point margin. At this point the Panthers were only 1-7 and had not become as solid of a team as they had by the Iowa game.

Coming off the two Big Ten games, Eastern played better against competition within the Ohio Valley Conference and a Division III team.

After the close game with Iowa, the Panthers matched-up much more favorably with the Division III Illinois College.

The Panther’s return home to Lantz Arena was a favorable one, as the Panthers defeated Illinois College by a score of 93-75.

Sophomore guard Josh Gomes had a career high 26 points and in the process repositioned himself as the team’s leading scoring option.

The final game of the four over break gave Eastern its first conference victory in their first chance.

The Panthers took on Tennessee Tech and won the game impressively by a 13 point margin. Eastern again showed that the Big Ten competition earlier in the break proved to be a bit of a turning point for the team.

Gomes again led the team in scoring, this time with 23 points, but against the Golden Eagles he also added a solid 10 rebounds.

Guard Jason Wright continued his hot hand with 20 points, 11 or which came in the second half.