The Eastern men’s basketball team is coming off a 19-12 season. The team posted an 11-7 record in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Panthers made it to the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, but their championship hopes were diminished by Murray State. Murray State beat Eastern 55-51. The win propelled Murray to a conference championship and a Sweet 16 berth in the NCAA tournament.

Eastern head coach Mike Miller said the team improved this off season by making each player on the roster better individually.

“We can’t stay the same, we have to continue to move forward,” Miller said. “In the off season it was an individual thing, to get each guy to work on one or two things.”

Senior guard Tyler Laser was the Panthers’ leading scorer last season. He averaged 13.9 points per game and was selected to the first team All OVC. Over the off season Laser said he worked on being more aggressive.

“I tried to find a way to be aggressive the whole game and have better techniques on defense,” Laser said.

Junior guard Jeremy Granger established his role as the starting point guard last season when he averaged 10.3 points per game and shot 87.5 percent from the free throw line, which led the OVC.

“I wanted to come in and be a more vocal leader and play with a lot more energy,” Granger said.

Red-shirt sophomore James Hollowell played in 30 games last season and made 13 starts. He averaged 7.2 points per game and was named to the OVC All-Newcomer team. He also finished the season with 36 blocks, which ranked fifth on Eastern’s single season list.

“I want to play more consistent on both offense and defense and making a consistent effort on rebounding,” Hollowell said.

Miller said the team recruited players who were good athletes. He said the team needs to be faster and also needs to be able to play around the rim better.

Miller said the Panthers needed more energy from the forward spot.

“We like the guys that we brought in,” Miller said. “The real test will be in the coming weeks to see if we have addressed those needs.”

Eastern lost five seniors last season; however, Miller has brought in three freshmen and two transfer players.

The Panthers have had one exhibition contest this season. They beat Illinois College, 99-65. The starting lineup for the game included Laser, Granger, Hollowell, sophomore forward Shaun Pratl, and senior guard Curry McKinney.

Miller said this will be the starting lineup for the time being.

“The lineup we went with the other night will more than likely be what we start with on Friday,” Miller said.

As far as the bench goes, Miller said the Panthers will try to use their depth to their advantage. Although, he doesn’t know how deep the bench will be.

He said there should be a lot of contributions from the second unit, though.

Laser said the team has really strong chemistry off the court and he said he feels it should be able to translate on the court.

“Our new guys just have to learn how to play a little bit and learn our offense a little better,” Laser said.

Granger said the key to teaching the young players will be making the veterans vocal.

“I feel like we have pretty good chemistry on and off the court,” Granger said. “I just feel like the guys from last year need to talk to the new guys more.”

Granger said he thinks the newcomers are fitting in pretty well with the veteran players and that each new player helps the group in a different way.

Hollowell said the Panthers will be able to compete with the best teams in the OVC.

“I want to make sure that we come out and be a dominant team in the OVC, night in and night out,” Hollowell said.

Laser said one of his main goals as a senior is making it to the NCAA tournament in March.

“I want to win the OVC championship and I want to make the big dance (NCAA tournament),” Laser said.

Miller said he has not set specific goals for the team yet, but the team is going to try and be the best team it can be week by week.

“We have to get better everyday, we have to find a way to win a game every week,” Miller said. “We want to play our best basketball at the end of the year. We want to put ourselves in a position that we are a factor in this league.”

The Panthers’ first regular season game is at 7 p.m. on Friday in Lantz Arena against South Dakota State.

Rob Mortell can be reached at 581-7944 or at rdmortell@eiu.edu