A second half comeback falls short for the Panthers as they lost 64-60 to the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles Saturday afternoon in Groniger Arena.

The game started off hot for the Panthers as they got off to a 10-4 start. With layups from graduate forward Kooper Jacobi, graduate guard Artese Stapleton, and three-pointers from Jacobi and senior guard Corey Sawyer Jr.

“We got off to a good start but Southern Indiana picked their pressure up and we didn’t handle it well,” Eastern’s head coach Marty Simmons said.

Southern Indiana responded with five points from junior guard Jayland Randall that made the game 12-9.

From that moment, Southern Indiana never looked back by going on an 11-0 run started by back to back three-pointers from junior guard Braxton Jones. The Screaming Eagles ended the half with a 30-19 lead.

“We didn’t do our jobs on defense, one on one, traps, box outs and our physicality were not where they needed to be,” Simmons said. “We made some bad decisions, weren’t making perimeter shots and when we got inside, we forced things and it felt like their physicality affected us.”

On the offense end, the Panthers went scoreless for six minutes in the later part of the first half.

“It’s tough when things don’t go our way and get bullied a little bit, but we have to stay strong,” Jacobi said.

Southern Indiana had seven offensive rebounds and seven second chance points while the Panthers had zero second chance points.

The same first half trends showed up in the second half.

Eastern and Southern Indiana traded baskets to start the second half with threes from senior guard NaKyel Shelton and Southern Indiana’s graduate forward Jack Mieklke.

Southern Indiana went on a 9-0 run to increase their lead to 46-26 started with a three from senior guard Damoni Harrison.

Coming into this game, Harrison was second in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring.

With less than three minutes in the game, the Panthers made a run, cutting the deficit to five points after Jacobi made a layup while being fouled along with a free throw.

Despite the loss, the Panthers remain confident.

“Even though we aren’t where we want to be, there’s still a lot of time to achieve our goals,” Shelton said. “We have to keep working.”

Shelton finished the game with 12 points.

Jacobi, the conference’s leader in rebounds per game, led the Panthers with 17 points and game high 12 rebounds.

This was Jacobi’s eighth double-double of the season.

“For some of us this is our last year, and I think we will be fine if we leave everything we have on the court for the rest of the season,” Jacobi said.

Junior guard Zion Fruster, who returned from a one game absence, scored 15 points and extended his streak with games where he made at least one three-pointer to 19 games.

This loss puts Eastern at 5-15 overall and 1-8 in conference play.

The Panthers next game will be Monday versus Little Rock at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.

Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Cameron Thomas can be reached at 581-2812 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.