The Eastern men’s basketball team secured fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament by virtue of a 66-61 victory over Tennessee State Saturday in Lantz Arena.

The win also extends the Panthers’ (18-11, 11-7 Ohio Valley Conference) win streak to seven, the longest in the program’s Division I history.

“I’m pleased with the players and for the program,” Eastern head coach Mike Miller said. “Tonight, we were lucky to have the karma in the building with our All Century Team and top teams and lettermen.”

The game was close in the first half, with Eastern having a 30-24 edge.

Tigers’ freshman guard Jacquan Nobles made an impact in the first half, shooting 6-of-10 for 16 of Tennessee State’s 24 points. He was 4-of-6 from three-point land.

The Panthers passed well the opening 20 minutes, producing 11 of its 21 game assists.

Two key assists were at the first half’s conclusion with senior forward Edin Suljic hitting senior guard T.J. Marion for a floater. Marion then passed to sophomore guard Jeremy for an open jumper to push the lead to six.

In the second half, Eastern extended its lead to 39-26 on 4-of-5 shooting.

After opening up the lead, the Tigers began their comeback.

Tennessee State coach John Cooper called for a full court press that forced Eastern to commit six turnovers in the next seven possessions.

The Tigers made a 14-0 run during those possessions and nailed six consecutive baskets.

“I thought we put ourselves into a position where we had to be more aggressive,” Cooper said. “We pressed a little bit in the first half but (Eastern) did a good job with it, but the whole accumulation of the press is to still stick with it and see how it works through the game.”

Cooper said his team goes to the press to create offense when it is struggling to score points.

Miller said that stretch was not ideal for his team.

“We started out attacking the press and had some two-on-one breaks and made some bad decisions with passes,” Miller said. “We had a travel, five second (violation), just a variety of things we didn’t keep our composure with.”

Eastern senior guard Jay Smith said the six turnovers on seven possessions happened because the press was not totally from the Tigers’ defensive pressure.

“It really wasn’t that hard,” Smith said. “A lot of the mistakes we made were on our own. If we took our time with some of those and faced up and went, everything would have been good.”

To put the Panthers on top, Smith hit consecutive threes to give Eastern a 54-50 lead with 7:19 left.

“It was good screens some of my teammates set and also the penetration of the point guards,” said Smith, who had nine points. “Just a combination of both got me open.”

The game was tied at 61 with 1:32 left when red-shirt freshman forward James Hollowell swished a jumper, blocked Nobles layup and had a key rebound on a Tiger miss with 15 second left.

“I was guarding (Tiger freshman forward Robert Covington) and staying more to his side and I was a little off the post side,” Hollowell said. “Someone yelled for me to help and I see Nobles driving so I reacted to the ball and made a play.”

Hollowell had eight points on the game, while adding 11 boards and three blocks.

Eastern will play Eastern Kentucky (20-11, 11-7 OVC) in Lantz Arena 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The Panthers split their season series with the Colonels.

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

Eastern red-shirt freshman forward James Hollowell leaps over his opponent to take a shot during the game against Tennessee State Saturday in Lantz Arena. The Panthers beat the Tigers 66-61. (Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

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