Being mathematically eliminated from the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, Eastern went into Tennessee-Martin playing for pride.

“We’re just playing for the purity of the game tonight,” Eastern head coach Rick Samuels said before the game.

The Panthers came out of Tennessee-Martin with another loss as Eastern fell 77-73.

The loss overshadowed senior Jesse Mackinson’s 1,000th career point as a Panther.

Mackinson scored 1,000th point early in the first half. It was his eighth point of the game, but he would only score once more in the first half to bring his career total to 1,002.

The Panthers had their biggest lead of nine points in the middle of the first half.

The Skyhawks went on a 10-0 run and took the lead with just over three and a half minutes to play in the first half.

After the Panther run, the game went back and forth before the halftime buzzer sounded and Eastern found itself ahead 36-33.

Coming into the game, the Panthers led 11 games at halftime but have only won five.

In the second half, buckets were traded for the better part of 12 minutes. That’s when darkness fell.

The Panthers went six minutes without a field goal. In that same time, the Skyhawks were able to hit a 16-2 run that was finally ended with a Jake Sinclair three pointer.

By that time, it was too late for the Panthers to come back.

Eastern was forced to foul and the Skyhawks were able to hit their free throws down the stretch to clinch the victory.

“We have to get stronger as a group,” Samuels said. “We have to get to the basket and get into people.”

Toward the end of the game Samuels said his team played crazy and unpredictable as the 10 second half turnovers proved.

“We’re just not tough enough in crunch time,” Samuels said. “We don’t make plays at the end of games.”