Players were swarmed by the Panther faithful Tuesday night in Lantz Arena after a landmark victory, setting the stage for a monumental trip to Nashville, Tenn., this Friday.

The Panthers’ men’s basketball team punched its first ticket to Nashville since 2001 by defeating Eastern Kentucky 68-61.

“This year, our only goal was to get better every day and get to Nashville,” Eastern Illinois head coach Mike Miller said. “I’m glad they accomplished that part and it’s a new season.”

The turning point came with six minutes remaining on the play of red-shirt freshman forward James Hollowell.

With the Panthers leading 56-53, Hollowell blocked Colonels’ junior forward Spencer Perrin once and senior guard Papa Oppong twice on three straight possessions, two of them contested shots.

Hollwell had a layup to put Eastern Illinois on top 60-53 with 4:53 remaining.

“It was big,” Hollowell said. “I was just going to not let them get anything easy. I went up and contested a shot and came over to help.”

Hollowell said he was in better position on the help side while he saw the play develop.

Oppong and Colonels’ junior forward Justin Stommes hit back-to-back threes to tighten the screws 64-61 with one minute left.

Hollowell said he then saw senior forward Josh Taylor was sagging off beneath him in the 1-3-1 zone and was open.

“I knew Tyler was looking for me to pass it to the corner, so I pretty much knew I would shoot it,” Hollowell said.

His shot extending the Panthers’ lead to 66-61 with 34 seconds left and iced the victory.

Eastern Illinois shot 61.5 percent from the floor and held the Colonels to 41 percent. The Panthers out-rebounded Eastern Kentucky 34-18.

Part of that efficient attack was off the 6-of-7 shooting from sophomore guard Jeremy Granger.

“My teammates were hitting me with good looks,” Granger said. “I was finding the little gap in there and my teammates would find me for the open shots.”

Panthers’ senior guard T.J. Marion led the way with 15 points while Granger and junior guard Tyler Laser each added 14.

Hollowell had 10 points, eight boards, three assists and three blocks.

The Panthers would open up a 20-14 lead early with two Granger assists and a jumper, while freshman forward Shaun Pratl scored on a nice feed from Hollowell.

After Marion’s free throws made it 27-24, the Colonels made their charge with Stommes hitting consecutive treys.

Granger hit a jumper, but Perrin had an ally-oop jam and a jumper, leading to a 35-31 Colonel lead.

The Panthers shot 60 percent in the first half to the Colonels 46.7 percent; however, Eastern Kentucky had an 11-4 run to end the half.

“Early in the game, Eastern Kentucky was more aggressive,” Miller said. “They were playing at a better speed. Eastern Kentucky came out better and we had to catch up to it.”

Miller said his team defended Stommes poorly. However, the Colonel forward had only three second-half points on 1-of-5 shooting.

“He got some open looks in both halves,” Miller said. “They had guys step up and make some big shots to stretch out their lead and close gaps.”

Miller said he brought up the one and two guards to play a half court press in the second half to slow down the Colonels’ flow. He thinks it might have disrupted their flow.

The Panthers will face No. 1 Murray State (28-4, 17-1 OVC) in the semifinal game at 6 p.m. Friday at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

The Racers defeated Tennessee State 84-51 Tuesday in Murray, Ky.

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