It was simple.

Win and the Eastern men’s basketball team would be in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. 

But for the Panthers, it may have been simpler than anyone could have imagined — even themselves.

Even while suffering an eight minute drought without a made field goal in the second half, the Eastern men’s basketball team’s lead was never in question during its 61-46 win over Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Saturday.

Eastern’s dominance was never more evident than its 40-16 lead over Edwardsville at halftime.

“It was about as well of a half as we have played,” coach Jay Spoonhour said.

The Panthers clinched its first OVC Tournament berth since 2010 improving to 11-20 overall and 6-10 in the OVC. The Cougars, who fell to 9-18 overall and 5-11 in conference play, were eliminated from postseason contention with their loss.

Everything was in rhythm for the Panthers’, from their passing to their shooting, whereas the Cougars were the exact opposite, Spoonhour said.

Senior guard Austin Akers said the Panther’s defense translated into offense, which allowed them to gain a 15-4 lead over the first eight minutes.

Edwardsville coach Lennox Forrester said most of its turnovers were because of Eastern’s team defense.

“They had guys digging, collapsing on the basketball, and making it tough for us to get to the rim,” Forrester said. “They had three or four guys around the basketball all the time, because of their team defense.”

Edwardsville had 10 turnovers in the first half — five coming as steals by Eastern. The Panthers had 18 points of turnovers for the entire game.

Forward Mark Yelovich led the Cougars with a game-high 16 points, but he also had a game-high four turnovers.

“We really did a good job sagging in when Yelovich drove the ball, because he lost it a couple times. We were down there to scoop it up,” Spoonhour said. “I think that was a big deal.”

Meanwhile, Eastern did not commit a single turnover in the first half. Six Panthers scored seven or more points, with junior guard Morris Woods and junior forward Sherman Blanford scoring 13 and 10, respectively.

Eastern made 23 shots on 15 assists.

Edwardsville was not pressuring on defense, leaving the passing lanes open for Eastern, Akers said.

Even during the second half lull, where Eastern went without a field goal for eight minutes, Edwardsville was unable to get closer than a 13-point deficit, as everything seemed to be falling into place for the Panthers.

Akers said even when the Panthers were not scoring, they were making the Cougars work on defense.

“We wanted to run the clock down as far as possible before taking a shot,” he said. “We passed up some good looks to try and get a better look — sometimes we didn’t get it.”

Any team at any level plays worse with a lead, Spoonhour said but he would rather have a team, like Eastern, that stops attacking and plays smart than one that is ignorant when taking shots.

Eastern solidified itself as the No. 7 seed in the OVC Tournament. It will play No. 6 seeded Southeast Missouri at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Nashville.

The Panthers split the season series with the Redhawks, winning 78-72 at home in overtime before losing 77-64 on the road.

Anthony Catezone can

be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].