Eastern’s men’s basketball team dominated against Calumet College in the 87-57 win Friday afternoon in Groniger Arena.

In their 30 point win during the Kid’s Day game, the Panthers’ 87 points is their second highest scoring game thus far in the season.

With the largest crowd for an Eastern home game with an attendance of 2,839 at Groniger Arena, the elementary and middle schoolers brought the energy before the game, and they kept the same energy throughout the whole game.

And it showed.

“It was great,” Eastern’s senior guard NaKyel Shelton said. “It was loud and the kids affected us and affected the other team during free throws. Having that home court advantage and them being here was a big part of the game.”

Calumet shot 65% from the freethrow line as hundreds of kids were screaming at them before, during, and after their free throws.

The game went back and forth in the first half with seven lead changes and the score being tied three times.

“We weren’t connected as a team,” Eastern’s head coach Marty Simmons said. “We tried to do too many things outside of our offense instead of staying inside of our offense and had a couple defensive breakdowns.”

The Panthers eventually flipped the switch in the first half with a 15-0 run that started with a dunk by graduate forward Kooper Jacobi. Eastern closed out the first half with a 21-point lead.

The Panthers kept the momentum going in the second half scoring 10 points in the first three minutes of play with a couple of threes from Shelton.

Shelton had six points going into the second half, but finished with 19 points. After the first half, Shelton wanted to keep the same momentum and aggression the team had within the first half so they could finish the game out strong.

“I wanted to come out and stay aggressive and find my shot and my teammates did a good job helping me get in rhythm,” Shelton said.

Shelton is second in the Ohio Valley Conference in points per game averaging 17 points.

Another Panther who flipped the switch to help the Panthers walk out of Groniger Arena with the win was junior guard Zion Fruster.

Fruster, like Shelton, had six points going into halftime, and finished with 19 points; a season high for him.

“I felt good about my performance,” Fruster said. “As a team, we got after it, being aggressive, moving the ball and playing as a team.”

Fruster also led the team in steals with three.

“I was in the passing lane, being aggressive and trying to give the team energy, dunk the ball and show the kids what they wanted to see,” Fruster said.

Along with Fruster, Jacobi and senior forward Blake Goodman recorded dunks of their own. The kids in Groniger Arena reached a new level of excitement for each dunk the Panthers made.

Jacobi, who leads the OVC in rebounds, led the Panthers with seven rebounds. He also added 15 points to his stat line along with three assists and two blocks

“It was solid, being a threat at all three levels and sharing the ball and not turning it over as well,” Jacobi said

The win at Eastern’s Kid Day Game moves them to 3-6 on the season.

Eastern will have about a week off until they compete against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. in Berea, Kentucky.

Cameron Thomas can be reached at 581-2812 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.