Despite the fact Eastern men’s basketball team has started the season 2-5, the team looked impressive in its pair of game this weekend at Lantz Arena.

On Thursday, the Panthers held on to defeat Tennessee State for a 71-61 victory in a game where they easily could have folded.

The Panthers led by as many 13 points in the second half, but the Tigers battled back to close the margin to three points with just less than four minutes remaining.

The momentum the Panthers had carried throughout the game switched to the Tigers as an apparent tip-in by senior forward Billy Parrish was waived off by officials because of an over-the-back foul. But instead of folding, the Panthers responded.

They regrouped and outscored Tennessee State 9-3 to close out the game and pick up the win in their Ohio Valley Conference opener.

The Panthers showed moxie again on Saturday while playing perennial conference powerhouse Austin Peay.

The Governors came out of the gates early and lead by 12 points at halftime and by as many as 16 points in the second half.

But again Eastern responded to the adversity.

The team toughened up its defense and began chipping away at the Govenors’ lead.

The team did not wilt or lie down. They faced the challenge head on and outplayed the Governors in the second half, eventually cutting the Governors’ lead to only three points with 1:26 remaining.

Although mental mistakes cost the Panthers the game, they gave a wake-up call to Austin Peay and other teams in the OVC.

The performances at Lantz had several Panthers playing a big role. In the win against Tennessee State, the Tigers made an effort to shut down Eastern’s leading scorer, Romain Martin.

Junior center Ousmane Cisse responded with a double-double and a career-high 22 points.

In the loss against Austin Peay, Martin supplied the offense in the first half, but in the second half it was a team effort.

Defensively, the Panthers were active by forcing turnovers.

They limited the Governors to a 40 percent shooting percentage on 12-of-30 shooting from the field in the second half.

Junior guards T.J. Marion and Dewayne Wright Jr. provided the Panthers depth off the bench combining for 31 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Although the 2-5 record looks like this team will continue the trend the basketball team has had the last couple of seasons, this young team, which is still getting to know each other, may be something much more.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.