It was just two weeks ago that the Eastern men’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaking loss at home to California Davis.

The Panthers have a chance to redeem their 63-61 defeat at 9 p.m. Tuesday, when they travel west to take on the Aggies in a non-conference rematch.

Scheduling conflicts left the Panthers with an open date in their non-conference schedule, which was later made into another game with the Aggies.

“We’ve got to go that “W” back, Eastern guard LeTrell “Snoop” Viser said. “We’ve got to execute down the stretch more, especially on defense.”

In regards to their last matchup, Eastern coach Jay Spoonhour said that the Aggies guarded very well late in the game and set up a lot of ball screens.

“I thought they were really active, especially on Dylan (Chatman),” Spoonhour said. “Dylan did a great job and busted his tail, fighting through a lot of ball screens.”

Chatman finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists, but missed a buzzer-beating jumper, which would have sent the game into overtime.

The Panthers are riding a two-game winning streak, and are looking for their first three-game winning streak of the season. Eastern is currently 3-5, but is 0-3 away from Lantz Arena.

“We missed a couple of bunnies in the second half of that game, that’s going to be the key to this one,” Eastern forward Trae Anderson said.

Eastern was only 8-for-26 from the field during the second half, which was good for 31 percent. The Panthers finished shooting 38 percent en route to their two-point loss against UC Davis.

Skyhawks play road warriors during latest trip

Although winning away from home can be difficult even for the best teams in the country, Tennessee-Martin has found comfort on the road this season. The Skyhawks were victorious Saturday in a win over Big South conference member Longwood 77-67. That was the Skyhawks’ fourth road victory of this young season, and ties them for the most road wins in NCAA Division Ibasketball with Massachusetts-Lowell.

The Skyhawks are in the midst of a six-game road trip, with a 3-1 record, which will continue on Dec. 15^, when they travel up north to take on Illinois-Chicago, and Illinois State on Dec 17. Tennessee-Martin is currently 6-2 this season.

“It was a gutty win,” Tennessee-Martin coach Heath Schroyer said in a press release. “We didn’t play our best but we found a way to win. They cut it to seven points and we could have crumbled but I thought we showed a lot of character. Javier and several others really stepped up and made plays when they needed to.”

Forward Javier Martinez came off the bench and tallied 10 points and four rebounds in 11 minutes of action, helping his team to a 15-point lead. He scored eight of the Skyhawks’ 10 points during a span of 3:33 to help Tennessee-Martin stretch the lead with four minutes remaining.

Teammates Deville Smith and Twymond Howard led the team with 16 points, apiece. The Skyhawks lead the Ohio Valley Conference west division with a 5-2 record, with both their losses coming on the road to Marquette and Nebraska.

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