Southern Indiana senior guard Ismail Habib made a game winning stepback three as time expired and sealed the game for the Screaming Eagles.
A stolen pass from Panthers freshman Markus Blackwell that was intended for Sophomore forward Terry McMorris.
“There’s fifty plays in that game we could have done better that would have gave us a chance to win, we just never really had it for a long time and our guys never gave in,” head coach Marty Simmons said.
Eastern fought back from a 22 point deficit to lead in the final moments of the game.
“It’s not just Markus’s fault, it’s all of us. We did not play good in the first half so it’s not just him, but we gotta bounce back, I know you can dwell on it and get sad, but we’re not going to do that as a team, we are going to be ready to bounce back and win on Thursday,” senior forward Kooper Jacobi said.
The first half Jacobi referred to was a tough one for the Panthers.
Eastern shot eight of 31 from the field for 25 percent and did not make a three on seven attempts.
The Panthers entered the half down 16 after Southern Indiana went on a 24 to nothing run to end the first half and the first minute of the second half.
“We challenged the guys to stay with it, we really believed our plan, we were executing it very well and challenged the guys to get back to doing the things that we had set up,”Simmons said.
Junior guard Meechie White hit a corner three and sparked an eight to nothing run for Eastern, and Southern Indiana saw their lead cut down to two points.
The Panthers took a 67-66 lead with 47 seconds left in the game after senior guard Zion Fruster made a fastbreak layup.
“To watch them fight back the way they did on senior day was pretty special,” Simmons said.
This was the first lead for the Panthers since 7:53 left in the first half.
“We got stops on defense and in transition, that will do it with our team, if we can get a stop and go, they couldn’t stop us,” Jacobi said.
Southern Indiana shot 31 percent from the field in the second half compared to 54 percent in the first half.
With eight available players tonight, Jacobi played all 40 minutes of regulation.
Jacobi finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Jacobi was also recognized in the pregame ceremony and is the longest tenured Panther on the team.
Fruster led Eastern with a season and game high 28 points on 12 of 19 shooting.
“He made a lot of senior plays there, he stepped up big time, got it out to him in transition, he finished, made some jumpshots and did a great job,” Simmons said.
White followed Fruster with 17 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Eastern outrebounded Southern Indiana 40 to 31 and had 18 offensive rebounds to nine for the Screaming Eagles.
Simmons credited his team’s effort in rebounding the basketball.
“They are bigger, stronger than we are but guys were playing outside their comfort zones, giving second, third and fourth efforts,” Simmons said.
5th year center Nazareth Fishers had seven rebounds, five of them were offensive, and McMorris had nine rebounds with four being offensive.
This loss drops Eastern to ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with Tennessee Tech beating Lindenwood tonight.
Tennessee Tech moves to seventh place and Little Rock to eighth with two games remaining.
Eastern will travel to St. Charles Missouri to play Lindenwood Thursday with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m.
Cameron Thomas can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
