Desperately needing a win, Eastern’s men’s basketball team will battle against in-state and Ohio Valley Conference rival Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

The Panthers have prepared for their final home OVC game of the season by winning two straight games against Tennessee Tech and the University of Tennessee at Martin.

These two teams have already squared off once this season with Eastern winning easily, 73-59 in Edwardsville. Since that game, the Panthers have a record of 4-8, while the Cougars have a record of 3-7.

In their new rivalry, Edwardsville has only beaten the Panthers once, while the Panthers have won three games.

Right now, Eastern has a record of 4-9 in OVC play and the Cougars are 5-8; however, since this is the Cougars first full season in the OVC they do not qualify for tournament play this season. The Panthers find themselves in ninth place with Edwardsville out of the equation. The top eight teams make the tournament, and Eastern is currently two full games behind the eighth place team in the standings.

Edwardsville is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the conference and that is their main focus on offense. Shooting nearly 40 percent as a team, the Cougars only trail Murray State in the OVC in terms of three-point shooting percentage.

The Cougars can attribute a lot of their success from beyond the three-point line to freshman guard Kris Davis. The 6-foot-2-inch newcomer is shooting an outstanding 60 percent from the three-point line this year. He is averaging 12 points per game and makes over two three’s a game on average.

Edwardsville is 7-15 overall this season; however, when Davis makes three or more three-point shots, the Cougars are a much improved 3-3. He has made five three-point shots in games twice this season and the Cougars are 2-0 in those game.

Despite the incredible shooting of Davis, the team is led by Mark Yelovich who is averaging 14.3 points and six rebounds per game. Although the 6-foot-6-inch veteran is the teams best scorer this season, he is averaging a career low in points scored. Yelovich has shown range for a big man, making 32 percent of his three-point shots this season.

The only other Cougar averaging in double-digits scoring is junior forward Jerome Jones. Jones is a transfer from Missouri State University and is averaging 13.2 points and six rebounds per game.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight in Lantz Arena.

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