The Eastern men’s basketball team is heading into possibly its most important stretch of the season, and the main focus has become shot selection.

The Panthers last two games have seemingly fallen apart after not being able to dominate the paint late as well as they did in the first half.

But although getting to the paint may seem like the clear issue, it is tacked on by another downfall.

The shots just are not falling for Eastern.

It has been either an open three from some of the Panthers best shooters that just has too much or not enough and the rhythm is just hard to come by.

In its last game, Eastern shot 13 3-pointers in the first half but made just four, and it did not help that their opponent, Austin Peay, was shooting 61 percent from deep.

The Panthers could not answer the call in the second half as they shot another 14 3-pointers but made just three that lead to a 25 percent finish from beyond the arch that night.

But even after a rough night in terms of jump shots, Eastern coach Jay Spoonhour was still satisfied with the shots taken.

“I had no problem with those shots they were wide open,” Spoonhour said. “When you win games it’s because you make those.”

Eastern’s best stretches such as the 9-2 run to cut a first half deficit to just one was all from fast break possessions and layups.

But Spoonhour said an open three is better than a garden shot from 6-feet, so those shots are completely okay.

Now it is clear that a team cannot have their shots falling every game, so what can a team do when the jumper is not there?

“The issue for us is that were not able to get layups, and it’s just the little things that fix that and they will come,” Spoonhour said.

Scoring has not been a huge problem for the Panthers as they did still put up 84 points last game, but if all three parts of the offense work then time will tell what this team could do.

Maher Kawash can be reached at 581-2812 or mwkawash@eiu.edu