The Eastern men’s basketball team continued their up-and-down season with a 62-54 loss to Austin Peay in the two teams’ first matchup of the season.

Similar to their Thursday loss to Tennessee Tech, the Panthers got out too slow, finding themselves down 21 at one point in the first half. The slow start and loss can likely be attributed to, among other things, the fact that the Panthers did not make a single three-pointer.

A solid second-half by the Panthers, where they outscored the Governors 32-22, proved to not be enough to get their 4th conference win.

Despite the first-half deficit, Eastern spent the second half clawing their way back behind the performance of Dan Luers, who made 10 of 11 free throws and cut the lead to five with an and-one on a midrange jumper, on his way to scoring 16.

Free throws provided the Panthers with 24 of their 54 points, including Kejuan Clements sinking seven of nine from the line. He had his second strong, well-rounded game in a row, with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.

As has been his narrative throughout OVC play, Paul Bizimana had another strong performance, putting up a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Eastern will travel to the second-seeded Belmont on Thursday for the second game in a four-game road stretch.

Ryan Meyer can be reached at 581-2812 or rameyer@eiu.edu.