The Eastern men’s basketball team seems to be falling into a pattern.

The Panthers get the lead, lose the lead, get the lead back before halftime, and then hit a dry spell where no shots fall for them but the hoop grows for the opposing team.

The Panthers lost by four at Samford 73-69.

The Panthers started the game hot with a 10-4 run in which Samford turned the ball over on three of its first four possessions.

Samford, who leads the league in three point field goal percentage, struggled from long range in the first half making only four of 14 attempts from behind the arc.

The Panthers’ 2-3 zone and two man full court press prevented the Bulldogs from running their Princeton style offense which contributed to their slow start.

“We know their guards don’t handle the ball that well so we had our two guards in a full court man and our small forward set to run at someone,” head coach Rick Samuels said.

The first half went back and forth with both teams having the lead on three separate occasions.

With five minutes remaining in the first half, the Panthers went on an 11-2 run and seemed to be running away with momentum. But their run was ended with a Tyson Dorsey three pointer.

Despite their advantage in turnovers, the Panthers let the Bulldogs crawl back to within three points before halftime.

“We have to challenge guys going to the basket a little more,” Samuels said. “We also have to get guys thinking ‘I am going to get fouled if I take it to the basket.'”

The Panthers switched between a 2-3 zone defense and man to man while trading baskets with the Bulldogs for the better part of the second half.

It wasn’t until late in the second half when the Bulldogs took control with an 11-0 run.

When the run started the Panthers were up five points, but when the run ended with a Jake Sinclair basket, they found themselves down by six points with under one minute left to play.

After Sinclair’s hoop the Panthers called a timeout and came back on the court in a full court press. Right when the ball was inbounded, Derek Hollyfield comitted his fourth foul on Dorsey.

Dorsey missed the free throw and the Panthers found themselves on a fast break. They got the ball to Jesse Mackinson on the block but his shot was grabbed by 6-foot-10 Romelli. The referee ruled it a jump ball and the Panthers found themselves in trouble late. Romelli haunted the Panthers all night leading all scorers with 22 points and added seven rebounds and two blocks.

Mackinson found himself with an opportunity to bring the Panthers to within two, but couldn’t find an open look.

Coach Samuels suggested perhaps Josh Gomes or Hollyfield needs to step up in key situations.

“We need Josh to step up and make the big basket,” Samuels said. “He doesn’t get to the line enough.”

The Panthers as a team don’t shoot enough foul shots. On Thursday night, the Bulldogs shot 15 of 21 from the line while Eastern shot just three of four.

The Panthers tried to claw their way back in the game by fouling and hoping for missed free throws. Samford calmly made the shots from the charity stripe ended Eastern’s hope.