With 5:55 left in the first half, Eastern was looking to make a run. It was their defensive effort that allowed them to do just that.

Eastern didn’t allow Indiana-South Bend to make a field goal from then on in the first half which created a 11-2 run and broke open the Panthers 64-49 win Wednesday night.

“It always helps when you can close out a half,” Eastern head coach Mike Miller said. “I thought we had a team that could hit a spurt offensively.”

IUSB’s 49 points were the lowest offensive output by an Eastern opponent since Southeast Missouri put up 49 last year. The Panthers had just held Iowa State to only 56 points at Hilton Coliseum and the last time Eastern held consecutive opponents under 60 points was 2001-2002.

The Panthers held IUSB, which had averaged 76 points per game throughout its NAIA schedule, to 38 percent shooting and two for 15 from beyond the arc.

“We had a few spurts in there that we played the way we need to,” Miller said.

Miller pointed out his team still has inconsistencies that Division I opponents will take advantage of.

“I don’t think we helped very much on the dribble-drive, ” Miller said. “I think that created situations particularly in the second half where we fouled too much

IUSB’s three primary scoring threats at the guard position, which consisted of Dewey Brown, Desmond Favors and Jeremy Herring, were held to a combined five for 12 and 11 points. In its previous five games, the Titan trio came into Lantz Arena averaging 41 points per game.

Favors received his second foul early in the first half and Titans head coach Micah Shrewsberry had to take his leading scorer out of the game. The transfer from Detroit had only one made three in the first half and ended the night with eight points.

“He had to sit for a real long time and that left us without another main scoring option,” Shrewsberry said.

Herring, who is coming off a season after taking a medical hardship leave, was a 2004-2005 first team All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference selection after averaging 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds a game. The 6-foot-7 forward was outmatched when guarded by Eastern’s bigger and stronger post players. The senior ended the night with 14 points and nine rebounds.

“We had to rely on Jeremy to do all the banging down low tonight and they would just run guys in on him constantly,” Shrewsberry said. “He just got worn down.”

With 12:31 left in the contest, Herring came off a pick-and-roll but charged into Eastern freshman Romain Martin committing his second foul.

The Elkhart, Ind. native was then forced to sit and watch his team on the bench down 50-35. “It gives you a boost because you feel like you can really put it to these guys,” Eastern forward Jake Byrne said.