TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – One word made all the difference Saturday night at Indiana State, as the Eastern men’s basketball team lost 76-57 to the Sycamores.

“Intensity – they played a lot harder than we did,” Eastern head coach Rick Samuels said.

The Panthers (2-2) failed to gain their first road win of the season against an Indiana State team that set the tone for the entire 40 minutes with their aggressive man-to-man defense.

“Intensity took over in the first five minutes of the game,” Samuels said. “This kind of defense didn’t surprise me from Indiana State; we’ve seen it every time we play Indiana State.”

The Sycamores’ (3-2) defense forced three five-second violations in the first-half en route to forcing Eastern to commit 23 turnovers for the night.

Senior guard Emanuel Dildy led the Panthers with 17 points and said the team has to adjust the way it handles defensive pressure.

“We’ve got to be more aggressive off the dribble,” Dildy said. “We have to start catching the ball strong.”

The Sycamores’ aggressive style on both ends of the floor made for a physical contest, something that led to 30 personal fouls by the Panthers.

Samuels said that while 30-16 foul-discrepancy left him less than happy with the officiating, the whistles went the way of the team that played harder.

“I can complain all I want, but the fact of the matter is that they were assertive and we were not,” he said.

The 30 personal fouls left the Panther frontline in a constant state of foul-trouble and resulted in the Sycamores making 32 of 43 free throws in the game. In the Panthers’ three previous contests, the team’s opponents combined to make 44 trips to the free-throw line.

Junior guard Josh Gomes said all the fouling made it difficult for the Panthers to get into a rhythm.

“You’ve got to expect that on the road,” he said. “We thought we didn’t get some foul calls, but then again, they played harder than us.

“We kind of got what we deserve.”

Gomes was held to 14 points with limited open looks at the rim, thanks to stifling defense from Sycamore junior guard David Moss.

Moss, who led Indiana State with 15 points, said he was well-prepared for the tough defensive assignment.

“He got 14 points, more than I wanted,” Moss said. “I wanted to keep (Gomes) under 10. But 14 – we’ll live with that.”

Despite turnover problems, the Panthers stayed with the Sycamores for much of the first half, before falling behind by 12 at the half.

However, three turnovers on Eastern’s first three possessions of the second half allowed the Sycamores to stretch their lead to 17.

But it wasn’t the start of the second half that sealed the Panthers’ fate, Samuels said, it was the team’s start in the first,

“The intensity of which the game was started was the downfall,” he said. “They were a step ahead of us.

“By the end of the game, they were two steps ahead of us.”