Bobby Catchings hit a three-pointer to put Eastern up by four with 12 minutes, 9 seconds left in the first half and it appeared the Panthers were on their way to its second ever road win at Murray State.

A six-minute scoring drought, combined with a 19-0 Racers run in the first half and Eastern was faced with an uphill battle it could not overcome Saturday in its 53-50 loss.

“This is a game we should’ve found a way to win and simply couldn’t do it,” Eastern head coach Mike Miller said.

In the first half Eastern was held to 22 percent shooting and found themselves down 31-18 as both teams headed to the locker room.

“We lacked aggression in the first half,” Miller said. “I don’t really have any more explanations.”

The 50 points was a low for the Panthers in an Ohio Valley Conference road game under Miller.

“The lack of offense is something that we as staff are trying to figure out,” Miller said. “If you walk into somebody’s house and hold them to 53 points and shoot 50 percent in the second half, that should be a formula for a win.”

Murray State forward Shawn Witherspoon was held to seven points on only three of seven shooting but did bring down a game-high 11 rebounds. It was the fourth straight game the preseason OVC player of the year has failed to get double-digits in scoring.

In the final 20 minutes the Panthers used an 11-2 run to claw within five after the under 12-minute media timeout.

“We need to sustain our effort for a longer stand,” Murray State head coach Billy Kennedy said after the game. “I think our guys realize if we play like that we can be a pretty good team, we just have to play like that for 40 minutes.”

Eastern was led by freshman guard Romain Martin’s career-high 21 points on eight of 13 shooting from the field. The Minneapolis native seemed to be the only player to find a consistent jump shot throughout the evening.

“Romain was getting good looks and his teammates were finding him in the right spots,” Miller said.

Martin single handedly brought the Panthers closer with his own personal 11-0 run. Martin hit three jumpers, a 3-pointer and two free throws to cut the Racers lead to 45-44 with 3:59 left.

After Martin hit his final jumper, the Racers fumbled the inbounds pass out of bound and Catchings hit a jumper to cut the Murray State lead to one again with 1:36 left.

Murray State guard Bruce Carter hit a pair of free throws and Catchings missed a potential game-tying three at the buzzer to seal the Panthers fate.

Murray State’s defensive game plan revolved around stopping Panther guards Mike Robinson and Catchings. The duo combined for only 12 points, four of 17 shooting and two of seven from beyond the arc.

“We did a good job on the two guys we tried to limit in Catchings and Robinson,” Kennedy said.