Eastern’s men’s basketball team let a critical game slip right through its fingers, losing 77-73 in overtime to Austin Peay on Saturday.

When the game started, I could tell the Panthers were going to have trouble rebounding the ball out of the zone defense they were playing.

They dug themselves an early hole, being down as much as nine in the first half.

But, after an alley-oop dunk by James Hollowell, red-shirt sophomore, the momentum started to swing in the Panthers favor. They started getting every rebound and their defense kept forcing tough, contested shots.

Eastern was able to trim the deficit to just one as the first half came to a close.

Early in the second half, the Panthers still had the momentum. They played the best basketball I have seen them play all season. Passes were crisp, they were taking good shots and they were playing extremely well defensively.

Two break away dunks by freshman Alfonzo McKinnie really got the “Blue Out” crowd going.

With just under 10 minutes to go, the Panthers held their largest lead of the game at 13 points.

This didn’t last long. Austin Peay turned up the pressure with a full court press. Once the Governors implemented the press everything went in their favor.

Austin Peay started to dominate control of almost every missed shot. Tyshawn Edmonson caught fire, making multiple three-point shots. He finished the game with 33 points and 10 rebounds.

With just over a minute left in the game, the Panthers once substantial lead had vanished, leaving almost everyone in Lantz Arena speechless.

Eastern made a stop with 30 seconds left, giving them the last shot in regulation; however, junior guard Jeremy Granger was unable to make a running jumper and the game went to overtime.

I knew that there was little to no chance that the Panthers would win in overtime because all of the momentum was in favor of Austin Peay. The Eastern home crowd was practically silent, due to the shock of losing a large lead in an important game.

Eastern scored the first basket in the extra period, but a three-point shot and a three-point play quickly put the Governors on top by four. From that point on the Panthers didn’t get closer than two points to a tie.

They did have a shot to tie with just under 10 seconds remaining. Granger once again was given the ball.

He drove the lane and was met by two defenders creating a lot of contact and he missed the shot; however, no foul was called and Austin Peay controlled another rebound. Two free throws by Edmonson would seal the game for Austin Peay.

A win would have been great for the Panthers confidence as they would have started 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference, but they were unable to hold on to the lead.

I still have confidence that the Panthers can make a serious run at the OVC title, but if they don’t start playing better with a large lead they are going to struggle to win games.

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