The Eastern men’s basketball season has come to a close, and it ended with a game that the Panthers never led in.

The Panthers were eliminated from the Ohio Valley Conference tournament Wednesday, as Murray State handed them a 78-62 first-round loss.

That was not a representation of what Eastern has done this season, but it showed how inconsistent this team can be.

Eastern had nine new players to begin the season, finished the year at 9-7 in the OVC, and finished 13-17 overall.

While the Panthers finished over .500 in the OVC, it took a while to get there.

The Panthers got off to a slow start against non-conference teams to begin the season.

Eastern was just 4-9 heading into the conference schedule and continued a little longer from there.

The Panthers opened conference play against some of the top teams in the OVC, and their record showed just that.

Eastern was 1-3 at the beginning of OVC play, and then the Panthers started to find a rhythm from that point.

After the slow start, the Panthers rode a five-game winning streak as they won seven of their next eight games.

With that stretch of wins, Eastern found itself in first place of the OVC West, and in the driver’s seat to a double-bye in the conference tournament.

In fact, that eight-game stretch came against the more difficult part of the Panthers’ schedule, while the rest of the season was filled with matchups against teams at the bottom of the OVC.

But Eastern would hit a bump in the road, as the team lost three-straight games en route to falling hard in the divisional standings.

Along with an upset loss at home to Austin Peay, the Panthers went on to lose to last-place Southern Illinois Edwardsville on the road.

And with a chance to make up ground in the standings, and take back first place in the West, the Panthers traveled to take on Tennessee-Martin in one of the final games of the season.

But it was to no prevail as Eastern dropped a tough overtime loss to Tennessee-Martin, allowing the Skyhawks to take control of the OVC West, and drop the Panthers further in the standings.

The Panthers found a way to bounce back in the OVC, winning their final two games of the season.

Eastern’s biggest win of the season may have been the final win, which came against Murray State at home.

The Panthers’ 11-point victory over the Racers seemed to be the one to send them into the conference tournament poised to make some noise.

Although they earned that big win, that three-game losing streak proved to be critical as Eastern earned the No. 7 seed in the tournament, while the chances of earning the No. 2 seed slipped away.

Even though the Panthers were disappointed with an early exit in the tournament, there were plenty of bright spots for the team.

Eastern has 11 players returning next season, while just one starter is graduating.

That starter was an important one though, as it was the team’s leading scorer, senior Trae Anderson.

Anderson had a career year for the Panthers, as he averaged 15 points per game as well as five rebounds per game.

His performance throughout the season was good enough to earn him First Team All-OVC Honors in his final year with Eastern.

The Panthers have plenty to build on, and expectations will be high for this team to return to the tournament next year.

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