Cookeville, Tenn. – Senior guard Emanuel Dildy wasn’t quite ready.

The Panther men’s basketball team trailed Tennessee Tech 58-53 with 1:51 to go, and Dildy wasn’t ready for his team’s season and his collegiate career to end.

So he took over.

First he drove and hit a pull-up jumper, and the Panthers fouled. After two Tennessee Tech free throws, Dildy hit another jumper, and Eastern fouled again.

Two more made free throws put the Golden Eagles up 62-57 with 52 seconds to go, but Dildy wasn’t done. He drilled a long three-point jumper to make it 62-60 with 43 seconds to go.

Tennessee Tech made two more free throws, and, after stopping the Panthers, went to the line and sunk two more, giving them a 66-60 lead with 27 seconds to go.

But Dildy raced down the floor for a lay-up, cutting the lead to four. Two more free throws padded the lead to six, but Dildy hit another three-point basket with 14 seconds left to make the game 68-65.

Tech sank another pair of free throws before Dildy raced down the floor again, pulling up and hitting another three-point shot to make it 70-68 with seven seconds to play, but Tech made both free throws again, ending Eastern’s chances and Dildy’s efforts.

The Panthers lost to the Golden Eagles 72-68, knocking them out of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and ending their season.

“I really wasn’t thinking about it being the last game of my career,” Dildy said. “I was trying to win the game.

“I kind of regret not being more aggressive earlier.”

In the game’s previous 38 minutes, Dildy was held to five points, but after his late-game flurry he finished with a game-high 20 points.

Eastern head coach Rick Samuels said Dildy’s play down the stretch kept hope alive on the Eastern sideline.

“If they’d missed a couple free throws down the stretch, we’d have had a chance,” Samuels said.

Tennessee Tech senior forward Willie Jenkins said he knew Dildy would fight to the final buzzer.

“Dildy was playing hard, but he always is playing hard,” Jenkins said. “He showed why he’s a great player.”

Samuels knew Dildy wasn’t going to stop playing because it wouldn’t be his style.

“He wasn’t going to quit, wasn’t going to lose,” Samuels said. “He’s a very competitive kid.”

But Dildy said the Golden Eagles were just too much in the end.

“They’re the number one seed in the conference and probably going to the national tournament,” Dildy said. “They’re a good team, and they know how to win.

“They capitalized on our mistakes and didn’t make any down the stretch.”