The Panthers men’s basketball team lost more than an early lead in its 77-62 loss to the Tennessee State Tigers Saturday night; the team lost a chance to record their first road win and gather momentum before its conference home-opener Thursday.

Eastern (5-10, 0-4 Ohio Valley Conference) raced to a 16-6 lead, but the Tigers’ full-court pressure forced the Panthers into turnovers.

Behind the stifling press, Tennessee State (8-10, 3-1) put together a back-breaking 18-2 run.

Panther head coach Rick Samuels said his team, which has lost four straight, would have responded to the pressure if it played with more confidence.

“We responded to these kinds of situations better in December, at home or on the road,” Samuels said. “But, now, when it snowballs, it’s gotten bigger and it’s hard for us to respond.

“It changed the game.”

Confidence also played a factor in the Panthers’ poor shooting. The team managed to connect on only 38.5 percent from the field and 25 percent from beyond the three-point arc, Samuels said.

“We had several good shots that just didn’t go down; part of it is confidence,” he said. “If we had handled their pressure better and not turned the ball over, maybe some of those open jumpers fall for us.

“But the pressure made us tentative, and it carried over to offense.”

Junior guard Josh Gomes led the Panthers with a game-high 25 points. Freshman guard Bobby Catchings had 14 points and a team-high five assists.

The Tigers had four players with double-digit scoring nights.

Gomes said his team’s cold shooting is only one facet of its struggles.

“Playing defense and turning the ball over have been the reasons we’ve been losing games,” Gomes said. “We’d turn it over, and they’d score off them.”

The Panthers are in the midst of a six-game losing streak, with all the games played on the road.

“Overall, the road was just tough,” Catchings said. “It’s something we’re going to have get over.

“Six road games in a row is tough, period.”

The Panthers now enter a stretch where they play 8-of-12 games at Lantz Arena, starting with a 7:35 p.m. match-up against Austin Peay (5-11. 3-1).

Gomes said playing on the road made the Panthers’ struggles more intensified.

“When you’re on the road and things aren’t going your way,” he said, “the little things start to add up.”