Basketball teams have winless weekends

Adam Tumino, Editor-in-Chief

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams for Eastern are on two-game losing streaks as a result of weekend action. Both teams played on the road Jacksonville State Feb. 11 and then moved on to play Tennessee Tech two days later.

With the two losses over the weekend, the women’s team fell to 7-9 in OVC play and sit alone in eighth place in the conference while the men’s team falls 4-12 in conference competition and sit in 10th in the standings.

 

Women’s Basketball

The Panthers got third-leading scorer Karle Pace back against Jacksonville State following a four-game absence, but Pace’s presence alone was not enough to get the Panther offense going in a 58-56 loss.

Pace led the team with 14 points in her return, but the Panthers shot 39.2 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from three-point range. Eastern still outshot the Gamecocks, who shot 39.2 percent from the field and 24 percent from three.

Kira Arthofer, Jordyn Hughes and Abby Wahl joined Pace in double figures, with Arthofer and Hughes scoring 11 points and Wahl adding 10. Hughes also set a new career high with 8 rebounds, the most on the team. 

In the next game against Tennessee Tech, the Panther offense struggled, especially in the second and fourth quarters. After the first quarter was tied 14-14, Eastern shot just 3-of-12 in the second while scoring 6 points. Tennessee Tech scored 16 in the second quarter.

The third quarter was also close, with the Golden Eagles outscoring the Panthers 20-17. But the Eastern offense went stagnant in the fourth, shooting just 1-of-11 in the final quarter and scoring 8 points. As a team, the Panthers shot 16-of-54 from the field and 1-of-16 from three.

Wahl led the team with 11 points and 6 rebounds, but was the only Eastern player to score in double figures.

The Panthers play again Feb. 18 on the road against Murray State.

 

Men’s Basketball

The Panthers attempt to climb back in to a OVC Tournament took a hit over the weekend with the two losses.

The game Thursday against Jacksonville marked the return of senior guard Mack Smith after he missed eight games. Smith was one of three Panthers in double figures with 10 points, but a sluggish first half dug the Panthers a hole they could not get out of, eventually losing 76-64.

The Gamecocks outscored Eastern 38-19 in the first 20 minutes with the Panthers shooting just 8-of-40 from the field and 0-of-11 from three.

The offense performed better in the second half, shooting 16-of-37 from the field and 7-of-19 from three, but it was not enough to get fully back into the game.

Senior guard Marvin Johnson led the team with 21 points and Kashawn Charles scored 15 points while making 4 three pointers.

Two days later against Tennessee Tech, the Eastern offense was much more consistent, shooting 30-of-61 in the game. The Golden Eagles’ offense also performer well, shooting 28-of-53 from the field.

A major difference in the game was free-throw shooting. Tennessee Tech went 12-of-17 from the line while Eastern went 0-of-2.

Three Eastern players scored in double figures, led by Jordan Skipper-Brown with a career-high 21 points. Marvin Johnson added 19 points while Smith scored in double figures for the second-straight game, this time scoring 11 points.

The Panthers will be back on the road against Murray State for their next game Feb. 18.

 

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