The Panthers escaped being skinned by the Skyhawks by pulling out an 83-68 beating Tuesday in Martin, Tenn.

Eastern’s bench was the main difference in this game, with head coach Mike Miller using all seven reserves to gain a victory.

“We got a good stretch and then we would turn it over and be sloppy with the ball when we could’ve capitalized and lengthen the lead a bit,” Miller said in his WEIU-FM interview.

“We were fatigued today and didn’t have a lot of energy. If we didn’t have a deep bench, we probably wouldn’t overcome that. We put ourselves in a tough situation there, and got bailed out from a few people who came off the bench and were outstanding.”

Sophomore forward Zavier Sanders had a sweet shooting stroke in burying 8-of-10 baskets.

Sanders, a reserve, had a career-high 16 points in only 13 minutes of action.

Miller said Sanders was in a zone.

“Once he dialed it in, he was shooting that ball,” Miller said of Sanders. “He basically carried us in that first half where we could have a margin, regroup and come back.”

Miller said Sanders has not had many minutes because of the emergence of red-shirt freshman forward James Hollowell, but Sanders has been practicing every day and made key plays against the Skyhawks (4-22, 1-15 Ohio Valley Conference).

Junior guard Curry McKinney had eight points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench.

McKinney was able to stave off a slow start where Eastern (15-11, 9-7 OVC) trailed 8-2 early.

The guard’s aggressive play helped build a 35-25 margin by the half.

The Skyhawks picked up their play in the next half, hitting 52 percent of their shots.

They closed Eastern’s lead to 63-61 after a three-pointer from junior guard Marquis Weddle with 6:21 remaining.

Then, sophomore guard Jeremy Granger led a 12-0 run with seven points to end the Skyhawks’ chances.

Granger had 13 points and nine assists.

“(Granger) hit the pull up which was big,” Miller said. “Our offense made up for our defense tonight. The game we played here was a complete opposite of Charleston’s. That was a defensive game. This was more of a free-flowing (game).”

Junior guard Tyler Laser was faceguarded by the Skyhawks, limiting him to five points.

Miller said when the team puts all its attention on one player, others have to step up and produce.

Hollowell and senior guard T.J. Marion had 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Eastern won the battle of the boards 31-29 and converted 24 points off turnovers.

For the fourth straight game, Eastern has shot over 50 percent with 55.9 percent against Tennessee Martin.

The Panthers play Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. Saturday in Lantz Arena to finish non-conference action.

Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected].