If the Eastern men’s basketball team hopes to continue their recent dominance over Southeast Missouri State and improve to 2-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Panthers will need to shut down big man Brandon Griffin.

Eastern leads the all-time series with SEMO 15-12 and has won four of the last six meetings. But making that successful streak five of the last seven games will be a challenge, thanks in large part to Griffin.

Griffin, a 6 foot 8 inch senior center, ranks near the top in most of the major statistical categories for the Indians. Heading into Tuesday’s game with Eastern, Griffin is tops in field goal percentage (.513), and rebounds averaging just over seven per game. The Greensburg, La. native also leads the team with 44 assists and is third on the team averaging 11 points per contest.

Due to his solid all-around play, Griffin will more than likely give Panthers head coach Rick Samuels headaches during the game. If this is the case, Samuels should not feel in the minority. Griffin presented Tennessee Tech coach Mike Sutton plenty to worry about when the two squads met on Jan. 10.

“We spent a lot of attention in practice trying to stop him,” Sutton said. “He’s such a good passer near the permitter that he is difficult to guard.”

Thankfully for Sutton and the Golden Eagles, Griffin had an off-night on the offensive side scoring four points in 34 minutes of action, but made his presence felt grabbing eight rebounds and swatting a pair of shots.

“He probably didn’t have a typical “numbers” game against us,” Sutton said. “We kept him from getting the ball close to basket, but (defensively) he was the leading rebounder in the game.”

For the majority of his career Griffin has shined the brightest against tough competition. In December of 2002, Griffin dropped a career-high 22 points against a Southern Illinois University team that made the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Three weeks later, Griffin nearly put up a triple-double against Creighton’s NCAA tournament team with nine points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.

“He’s big and athletic and an extremely good passer,” Sutton said. “We tried to double team him, but he finds the open guy to pass too.”

Although Sutton has only coached against Griffin in three contests, he was quick to comment on the center’s leadership abilities.

“(Along with guard/forward Damarcus Hence) he is part of the senior leadership,” Sutton said. “He’s involved in all the plays and makes his presence felt.”

A transfer from Southwest Mississippi Community College where he won all-state honors averaging 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, Griffin established a new SEMO Division 1-A rebounding record with 314 last year. He was the runner-up for the OVC Newcomer of the Year award last season and this year was named as the top rebounder in the OVC by Lindy’s Basketball Preview.

“He’s definitely one of the premiere players in the league,” Sutton said.