All Tennessee State needed to make an outside shot was a hand in its face.

The Tigers (9-10, 5-4 Ohio Valley Conference) came into Charleston ninth in the league in three-point shooting (31 percent) but managed to make 11 of 20 from beyond the arc in TSU’s 61-58 win Saturday.

“I feel like every time we made a run, they made a big shot,” said Eastern forward Bobby Catchings. “There’s not much you can do when contested shooters make those shots.”

However, TSU only made 10 of 19 from the free throw line, something that kept the Panthers in the game.

“We couldn’t put them away but Eastern proved they’re better than 1-11 (in conference) tonight,” said Tennessee State head coach Cy Alexander. “I was worried our free throw shooting would cost us.”

Of the 20 3-pointers Tigers point guard Reiley Ervin has made this season, nine have come in the pair of games against Eastern (5-16, 1-11).

The junior from Memphis led his team to its first road win of the season by scoring a team-high 19 points.

“It would’ve been a long bus ride home if we didn’t come through,” Ervin said.

Ervin had to lift his game as the Panthers were able to control TSU’s leading scorer Ladarious Weaver to three points on one of five shooting. The junior guard struggled in Nashville, Tenn., against Eastern in the Tigers’ 59-56 win on Dec. 9.

Weaver, who came in averaging 15.4 points per game, shot a two-game total of two for 17 against the Panthers this season.

“Maybe he has an EIU hex or something,” Alexander said. “It is a positive to win on one of his bad nights.”

When Eastern went to a 2-3 zone defense, it was Tennessee State’s bench that provided the perimeter knock-out punch.

“That’s what people don’t realize about us,” Ervin said. “We love to see man but we have shooters too.”

Andrae Belton and Courtney Bohannon had all of the Tigers’ 17 bench points, with most of it coming on crucial 3-point baskets late in the game.

Bohannon, Alexander’s first TSU recruit after taking the job four years ago, made a pair of three’s late in the shot clock, from the left corner in front of the Eastern pep band.

“I think we showed tonight that we can be a multi-functional team,” Alexander said. “We can run when we have to but also play a slow down style too.”