The rematch of Murray State and Eastern was going well with the Panthers leading the Racers by one early in the second half on the hot play of sophomore guard Jeremy Granger.

However, it did not last, as the Racers (17-3, 9-0 Ohio Valley Conference) went on a 16-6 run and came out on top 60-51 Thursday night in Lantz Arena.

Eastern, after beginning OVC play 4-1, now has lost four league games in a row. The Panthers fall to 10-9 overall and 4-5 in league action.

Panther head coach Mike Miller said his players are frustrated, but he saw some good things from this failed effort.

“We came out and played hard,” Miller said. “We had a great effort. We worked all week because we were deficient in rebounding and we out-rebounded them. The offensive side of the ball had the majority of the problems.”

One positive was that Miller’s team had a 32-30 advantage on the boards.

Besides rebounding, Eastern held the Racers 19 points below their season average.

“We did a good job defensively, but we are one of the top teams too,” senior forward Edin Suljic said. “We’ve got to do a better job taking care of the ball.”

Granger kept Eastern in the game by scoring 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

“Murray State plays over-aggressive defense, so coach told me when they come out, go past them,” Granger said. “So I just wanted to go past them and when they came in over-aggressively, that’s what I did.”

The Panthers began the game shooting 1-of-10 from the field, but by forcing the Racers into eight turnovers, they were only trailing only 13-8 with 13:08 left in the opening half.

Then, senior forward Edin Suljic hit two consecutive baskets to draw the score to 15-12. Suljic had nine points in the game.

“My team did a good job hitting the open man, and that’s when I was open to hit the shot,” Suljic said. “I was just open.”

For the rest of the half, Suljic and the Panthers hit 50 percent of their field goals, with Granger scoring a last second put-back to draw the deficit to 27-23.

Murray State began the second half shooting 1-of-5, but Eastern had two quick turnovers. Suljic then hit two jumpers to bring the scored to 29-27.

Granger then caught fire, draining a jumper and scoring on a fast break. He was fouled on the play by the Racers’ junior guard B.J. Jenkins and made the free throw, bringing Eastern its first lead 32-31.

Murray came right back on a missed shot, but Racers’ senior forward Danero Thomas had a put-back and was fouled. He made the three-point play for a 34-32 Murray State edge.

On the next possession, Murray had another three-point play.

Eastern junior guard Tyler Laser then turned the ball over on a Thomas steal. Thomas then passed to teammate junior guard Isaac Miles, who ran for a fast break lay up for a 39-33 score.

Panther red-shirt freshman James Hollowell hit a pair of free throws to close the deficit to 40-37. Then, Murray State when on an 8-0 run that was the difference in the game.

Miller said Eastern did not take advantage of opportunities, especially inside. His team was 37.5 percent from the field.

“We had chances throughout the whole game,” Miller said. “I think we always feel like we have a chance. There was a stretch in the second half where we were down by three or four and we had three straight possessions to cut into it and we didn’t do it.”

Suljic agreed with his coach.

“It was a lot of missed shots at the baskets,” Suljic said. “We’ve got to go stronger, try to create a foul or go at people. We keep getting our shot blocked.”

The Panthers’ next game is against Tennessee Martin (2-14, 0-7 OVC) 6 p.m. Saturday in Lantz Arena.

Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7944 or rtbajek@eiu.edu