All it took was 20 minutes.

After a first half that included three missed layups, nine turnovers and a one-point halftime deficit to Division III Eureka College, the Panthers regrouped for a 71-55 exhibition win Thursday night at Lantz Arena.

“This is 100 percent why we have exhibition games,” Eastern head coach Mike Miller said. “What we saw throughout the first 16 minutes of the game was one of the tightest groups that was just locked up.”

Eastern was led by sophomore point guard Mike Robinson’s game-high 20 points along with eight rebounds. The 2005 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year single-handidly kept the Panthers within striking distance in the first half, scoring 13 of Eastern’s 30 points.

“Mike is a scorer. He’s going to get points and he did a real nice job,” sophomore forward Billy Parrish said.

A 17-4 Eastern run early in the second half broke the game open as a one point Panther deficit quickly turned into a 12-point lead.

“What we saw tonight was a team that you could see had only practiced 16 times,” Miller said.

Eastern never relinquished the lead from that point by withstanding a couple late Red Devil runs. The Panthers got their first victory at Lantz Arena since Jan. 28 by out-rebounding the much smaller Eureka squad 48-33. The domination on the boards overshadowed Eastern’s 40 percent shooting from the field and 58 percent at the foul line.

“We know we are going to make those shots,” Parrish said. “A lot of guys were just hesitant tonight.”

After getting two early fouls in the first half, Parrish finished the game with a game-high 11 rebounds in 19 minutes.

Eureka College, which ended last season 4-22 in the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference, was led by the inside-out combination of guard Brady Wildenradt and center AJ Richard. Wildenradt had a team-high 17 points and was 5 of 9 from beyond the arc, mostly on open looks. Richard added 14 points along with eight rebounds.

“Eureka made shots at the end of clocks, but I thought we defended them well,” Miller said. “For (an offense) we haven’t seen before, I thought we did a good job.”

Depth became an issue for the Red Devils late in the second half as Eureka committed 26 fouls throughout the night and had its two starting post players foul out of the game.

Freshman guard Romain Martin introduced himself to the Lantz Arena crowd by posting eight points (the most of any Panther newcomer) and hitting two crucial three-point shots in the second half.

“We tried to get him more minutes, and offensively, he’s got that skill package that he adds certainly,” Miller said. “That’s probably as hard as he’s ever defended in the 24 minutes he was in too.”

Junior guard Julio Anthony got the start, but was forced to leave after suffering a hip pointer and did not return. The junior college transfer from Cowley Country Community College in Arkansas City, Kan., was seen being attended to by Panthers trainer Ryan Collins throughout the first half.

“He’ll be sore tomorrow and I doubt if he’ll play Saturday,” Miller said.

Eastern plays its final exhibition game Saturday against Missouri Valley College at 7:35 p.m. at Lantz Arena.

Head coach Mike Miller talks with the players during a time out in the first half of Thursday night’s exhibition game against Eureka College in Lantz Arena. Eric Hiltner/The Daily Eastern News

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