In the midst of a dismal season, the Eastern men’s basketball team still find themselves winless on the road.

“It’s not real simple right now,” head coach Rick Samuels said. “Lately we have been playing the way we need to play to win on the road, but we have to be strong enough to stand the home team’s second-half run.”

Samuels said he thought the Panthers should have come away with wins from Iowa, Austin Peay, and Tennessee Tech.

At Iowa, the Panthers found themselves tied with the Hawkeyes with 2:49 remaining in the game. Iowa finished the Panthers off with a 11-2 run and won the game 71-62.

At Austin Peay the Panthers fell to the Governors after having a one-point lead at the half. Late in the second half, the Governors went on a 14-2 run to seal the Panthers fate with 4:13 left in the game.

Much like the Austin Peay game at Tennessee Tech, Eastern had a two-point lead at the half but couldn’t overcome the disparity in free throws. The Eagles hit 26 from the line while the Panthers hit only four.

Samuels said he feels the Panthers have been improving on the road as of late, and believes they can win all their remaining road games.

At the same time, Samuels expressed the immediate need for a win.

“The next two games worry me because they’re the next two,” Samuels said.

The Panthers next two road games come at Samford and at Jacksonville State, which were both added to the OVC last year.

Samuels said the next two games may be tough because they have never been to either Samford or Jacksonville State.

“We don’t know where our hotels are, or even how to find them,” Samuels said.

As important as it is for the Panthers to get a road win, or a home win as soon as possible, Samuels thinks Murray State will be the toughest road game they will have to play.

“You always have to worry about Murray State,” Samuels said. “It’s tough to get a win there any time.”

It will be even tougher to get a win there if the Panthers are still winless in road games by the time they have to travel to Murray State.

As bad as all the losing may seem, Samuels said he sees Emmanuel Dildy growing into the position of the Panthers starting point guard. Samuels also said Dildy plays well on the road because of his past experiences with New Mexico State.

“He’s traveled before so he knows how to prepare himself for the road,” Samuels said. “He has a different mentality than Patterson and Hollyfield.”

If Dildy can rub some of that road mentality off on the rest of his team, the Panthers may be able to start winning on the road.