The Eastern men’s basketball team and Tennessee-Martin were two teams that were almost identical on paper heading into to Thursday night’s meeting in Lantz Arena.

On the court, however, was a different story.

Eastern defeated its Ohio Valley Conference foe 69-56, while improving to 5-16 overall and 2-6 in the OVC – now on a two-game win streak.

With the loss, Tennessee-Martin falls to 4-16 overall and 1-7 in conference.

While the outcome seemed to be a one-sided affair, the Skyhawks gained momentum in the first half as they used the last 13 minutes to go on a 30-14 run, and take a 32-27 lead into halftime.

Head coach Jay Spoonhour said 3-pointers were what put them in a hole after opening the game with a 13-2 lead.

The Panthers were victim to the Skyhawks making 7-of-11 3-pointers in the first half, all because of one man who was held to just four points: 6-foot, 8-inch, 250-pound forward Myles Taylor.

“Good golly he knows how to post up,” Spoonhour said. “He is a good player, and (Tennessee-Martin) does a good job looking for him.”

Yet, Eastern was prepared for Taylor’s presence inside the paint – holding him to two rebounds in the first half.

“My main focus was trying to get Taylor out of the paint, so I could get in position for a rebound,” junior forward Sherman Blanford said. “I wanted to get him out so our guards could come in and rebound.”