It’s over at last. Eastern’s men’s basketball team’s eight-game losing streak has come to a close with a 74-57 win Thursday night over Tennessee Tech.

Red-shirt junior forward James Hollowell stepped up when his team needed him most. Hollowell has missed most of the season with a back injury, but against Tennessee Tech he looked like the Hollowell of old, scoring a game-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field.

Hollowell also added two three-point shots and was a force on defense. He had a team-high three steals and grabbed six rebounds.

Eastern started off quick and held a 28-20 lead at halftime. The Panthers opened the second half with an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 36-20. The Panther defense then stepped up to finish the game.

The defense held the Golden Eagles to 33 percent shooting, including 7-for-22 from beyond the three-point line. Eastern also held the Ohio Valley Conference’s leading scorer Kevin Murphy to 14 points. Murphy came into the game averaging 21.8 points per game, which ranked fourth in the NCAA.

The Panthers defense smothered the star forward, forcing him to 4-of-18 shooting in 35 minutes of action.

Senior guard Jeremy Granger played limited minutes due to foul trouble, but he was still able to score 14 points. He only shot 2-of-8 from the field but hit his only three-point shot and made 9-of-10 free-throws, helping to ice the game for the Panthers down the stretch.

Freshman guard Joey Miller had a rough shooting night, making just 2-of-10 shots; however, he and Granger helped maintain the Panthers lead by knocking down free throw after free throw. Miller was 5-for-6 from the foul line as a team the Panther shot 15-of-21.

As a team the Panthers shot 48 percent from the field and made 7-of-13 three-point shots.

With the win Eastern’s record improves to 3-9 in the OVC and 11-14 overall, while Tennessee Tech falls to 8-6 in conference play and 16-11 overall.

The Panthers return to action Saturday when they go on the road to take on OVC rival Tennessee-Martin. The Skyhawks are in last place in the OVC with a 0-13 record in conference play this far. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Martin, Tenn.

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