EIU men’s basketball lost 70-68 in a game that featured a buzzer-beating fadeaway three-pointer from Screaming Eagle guard Ismail Habib as the game-winning shot.  

A rowdy senior day crowd was silenced as Southern Indiana (7-21, 4-14) stole the ball back at mid-court in the final 10 seconds of the game before hitting a left wing three-pointer to seal the game. 

The loss means Eastern (11-18, 7-11) will need to get some help from other teams in the league to get into the Ohio Valley Conference tournament and play postseason basketball for the third time in the last seven years.  

Here are five takeaways from the game.  

Referees can’t swallow the whistle in the last minute of the game.  

If it’s a foul in the first half, it should be a foul in the second half.  

Eastern did not lose because of the referee’s calls, or lack thereof. However, an issue that has plagued college basketball for a while now is the fact that a lot of referees will let contact in the final minute of the game go, rather than calling it a foul.  

Officials do this to limit their impact on deciding the outcome late in a game.  

But, in some cases, a non-call is just as deciding of a decision as calling a foul.  

Ahead 68-67 with 11.7 seconds remaining, freshman guard Markus Blackwell received an inbound pass, and Ola Ajiboye quickly closed down on him.  

As soon as Blackwell caught that pass, Southern Indiana was trying to foul him. Everyone in that building knew that Southern Indiana was trying to foul.  

Everyone, except for the officials.  

Blackwell was pushed and grabbed by Ajiboye, and a foul should’ve been called prior to Blackwell hurling the ball up the court.  

If Blackwell had found one of his teammates with the pass, and Eastern was able to dribble out the rest of the clock, the Screaming Eagles would have had every right to complain about a foul not being called.  

Eastern did nothing wrong defensively during the final shot 

Once Southern Indiana regained possession following the turnover, the Panthers made the Screaming Eagles earn their game-winner by playing solid defense.  

Junior guard Meechie White’s defensive effort on Habib made the game-winning shot so much harder when White put his left hand in Habib’s face as he released the shot.  

So, Habib’s shot going into the net after high-effort defense by Eastern adds to the shock factor of that three-pointer. 

It was Southern Indiana’s game to win anyway 

Yes, from an Eastern perspective, losing to a shot at the horn may sting. But it’s not like the Panthers dominated the game throughout and had it stolen right at the end.  

After Eastern took a 20-18 lead with 6:33 to go in the first half, Southern Indiana scored 24 unanswered points to take a 22-point lead with 19 minutes remaining.  

Overall, Eastern only held the lead for just 1:59 compared to the Screaming Eagles, who had the lead for 36:23. So, it’s not like Southern Indiana winning at the horn came out of nowhere. The Screaming Eagles played well enough to win for most of the game and ultimately did come away with the victory.  

Don’t forget about Eastern’s comeback 

Unfortunately, a dramatic buzzer-beater will likely overshadow the tremendous comeback effort from Eastern. The Panthers erased a 22-point deficit to take a lead in the final minute of the game, and that should give the team confidence.  

“Our guys never gave in,” head coach Marty Simmons said. “To watch them fight back the way they did on senior day was pretty special.” 

The ability to play from behind is an asset that not every team has, but the Panthers’ strength of playing fast and fluid gives them a shot to erase any deficit.  

The OVC is so even, and that’s awesome. 

It seems like this season a little more than recently, the OVC doesn’t have one or two teams that are miles ahead of the rest, and the teams at the bottom aren’t miles behind the rest of the pack.  

Eastern this season has wins against Tennessee State and SIUE, and played close games against pretty much every other team in contention for the regular season title in the final week.  

Conversely, Eastern now has losses to both of the bottom two teams in the league.  

Any team in the OVC has enough skill to beat anyone, and that is wonderful for the conference as it establishes itself on a national scale as one of the most even and entertaining leagues in the country.  

 Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].