Eastern men’s basketball head coach Mike Miller was signed to a two-year contract extension on Monday.

Despite having a record of 47-92, Miller’s squad is 24-29 the last two seasons.

“That’s the whole point of continuing is continue to build,” Miller said. “You have to build the foundation before you build the finished product. We’ve gone through the stages of that. We laid the foundation and have been, each year, bringing in quality recruits.”

Miller said this is the first year every player was brought in by the current coaching staff.

He said players buying into the system and continuing to develop is key for furthering the program’s success.

Senior guard Dewayne Wright Jr. was excited for his coach.

“I think that’s good,” Wright said. “He is doing a good job with the program.

When he first got here, things started out a little shaky, but he’s making it rise now. We are on the way to a winning season and keep expanding and getting good recruits.”

Junior guard Tyler Laser voiced a similar opinion.

“Each year, we are getting better,” Laser said.

“We are starting to play the way we should, and we feel how we should, we are the best team in the league.”

Laser said he feels the Panthers will play well in March and possibly win the OVC tournament. He said he hopes they will continue to progress next season under Miller.

Bench steps up

During Saturday’s 75-49 victory over Southeast Missouri, Eastern’s bench had some nice performances from its bench.

“When our team is at it’s best, we have a balance,” Miller said. “I thought we started with a good energy on defense. We got after it. We raised our energy level back up.”

Wright was a spark plug of energy, scoring six points and adding a steal in seven minutes of play.

“I just got out there and tried to penetrate the zone,” Wright said. “Coach (Miller) is always talking about attacking. I’m small and low to the ground so I penetrate and get to into the lanes a little bit. I got to the foul line and was able to contribute.”

Junior center Matt Dorlack played eight minutes and got three rebounds.

He played heavy minutes with senior center Ousmane Cisse and freshman forward Shaun Pratl getting into early foul trouble.

“I just tried to get some momentum going for the team,” Dorlack said. “I’m not that much of an offensive threat but my job is to rebound and play defense and just try to do the best I could.”

Dorlack said he was rebounding well due to the boxing out drills he did in practice.

Senior guard T.J. Marion came off the bench and had four points, four rebounds and four assists.

Faceguarding Laser

Since Laser has been the Panthers’ leading scorer, teams have been doing a faceguard defense on him to limit his effectiveness.

Laser said faceguarding is where the opposing defense does not care where the ball is, but getting a defender on Laser, this prevents him from even touching the ball.

Laser was held to eight points on Saturday, while sophomore guard Jeremy Granger and red-shirt freshman James Hollowell tallied 19 and 10 points, respectively.

If his team is doing well, Laser said he does not care.

“It’s only frustrating if we lose,” Laser said. “If they are faceguarding me and guys aren’t hitting their shots, I don’t care if they faceguard me. I want to get the ball and us to find a way to get me the ball. But if Jeremy and James and Pratl are scoring like last game, I don’t care if I score five or six points if we win.”

Laser said faceguarding him can leave lanes open for Granger and his teammates to penetrate.

If Granger is hot, Laser said it keeps defenses honest.

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

Junior center Matt Dorlack receives a pass from coach Mike Miller during practice on Feb. 8 in Lantz Arena.(Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

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