It was another frustrating loss for the Panthers.

Eastern had two chances in the final minute on Saturday night to take the lead and the win, but the Panthers couldn’t finish as they lost 62-59 at Murray State.

Eastern sophomore forward Dominique Sims stole the ball with less than 36 seconds in the game, but Eastern’s offense could not find the shot it wanted as Eastern junior forward Rachel Galligan missed a shot jump shot from the top of the key. Murray State grabbed the rebound and had the opportunity to make a free throw but missed it with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Twenty seconds later Sims went up for the shot with the Panthers down 60-59, and instead of shooting Sims passed off to a group of players. The ball rolled into the group, a jump ball was forced and Murray State gained possession with 5.9 seconds remaining in the game.

Murray State junior guard Ashley Hayes hit two free throws for the Racers’ last points of the game. The Panthers had a chance to set up a shot with 4.9 seconds left, but the ball rolled out of bounds on Eastern’s half of the floor.

“We wish we could have executed better,” Galligan said. “It’s tough. It’s frustrating. We weren’t playing our best. I know I missed shots.”

The frustrations continued for Eastern (14-12, 13-5 Ohio Valley Conference) after a sloppy 46-41 loss on Thursday night against Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

A win against Murray State would have allowed the Panthers to secure a better seeding for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, but with the loss against the Racers (18-7, 12-5) the Panthers might get pushed back to the No. 3 or No. 4 seed.

The Panthers split the regular season series with the Racers, but Murray State has the tiebreaker advantage against Eastern with one win against first-place Southeast Missouri.

The Panthers can secure at least a third-place finish in the conference if Murray State loses one of its next games and Eastern wins its final two conference games.

“I think it was just a very good basketball game between two very, very good basketball teams,” said Eastern head coach Brady Sallee. “Hopefully, we’ll seem them in (Nashville, Tenn., in the OVC Tournament), and I’m sure it will be another great game.”

Eastern was also frustrated by its turnovers (16) and Murray State’s offensive rebounds. The Racers finished with 35 rebounds, but had 17 offensive rebounds and five in the final five minutes of the game. Murray’s 17 offensive rebounds also translated into 17 second-chance points.

“Their ability to get to the offensive glass was a huge factor in this game,” Sallee said. “Anytime you give up 17 offensive rebounds, on the road on top of it, it’s going to be very, very hard to beat a very good basketball team that way.”

Eastern also turned the ball over 16 times, which was an improvement from Thursday when they had 27 turnovers. The Panthers took care of the ball better in the second half with just six turnovers.

“You can’t do that in the stretch against these teams,” Galligan said.

Eastern’s last field goal of the game came with 2:52 left when Eastern junior forward Maggie Kloak had an easy layup when Murray State senior center Angela Brown left her defensive position. That would be Eastern’s last lead of the game.

Galligan led the Panthers with 16 points. Kloak added eight points, and Eastern sophomore guard Jessica Huffman added eight points.

Hayes led her team with 23 points. Racers senior guard Shaleea Petty added 15 points, and Brown scored 13 points.

The Panthers, who had troubling scoring on Thursday night with 41 points, had five players score by the first half against the Racers.

“It still wasn’t perfect (on Saturday night),” Galligan said. “The games are over with, though.”

The Panthers take a break from OVC play with a game against Illinois Tech at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Lantz Arena.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.

Sophomore Guard Megan Edwards drives the ball into the paint during the Panthers road game at Murray State on Saturday. (Compliments of Murray State)

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