With two games left in the season, the men’s basketball team has officially been mathematically eliminated from the Ohio Valley Conference tournament despite winning its past two games. 

The team needed to win out its last four games, and it needed help from other teams, including Little Rock on Thursday. 

After Eastern defeated Southern Indiana 63-54 on Thursday in Evansville, Indiana, the game between Little Rock and Lindenwood proceeded to go into overtime. Eastern needed Little Rock to defeat Lindenwood so they could still be in tournament contention. 

Ultimately, Little Rock lost to Lindenwood 93-92 in overtime, which mathematically eliminated Eastern from the tournament. 

With two games left to play in the season, the Panthers have a conference record of 6-12 and an overall record of 10-19. 

Although their record doesn’t show it, Eastern had a good chance of being eligible for the tournament, but with their lack of important wins within the conference, especially at home, other teams used that to their advantage. Eastern is currently 1-7 at home. 

Lets talk about certain games the Panthers lost that could’ve prevented them from being in this situation: 

• 73-66 loss versus Morehead State 

This loss against Morehead State was a game Eastern could’ve won if more players put up points. Senior guard NaKyel Shelton recorded a career-high 38 points against the Eagles, making 14 out of 20 shots he took. 

The player that had the next highest points was senior guard Corey Sawyer Jr. with 13. 

Although the team was dealing with the flu making its way around the team, sidelining junior guard Zion Fruster and senior guard Carson Prost, the Panthers needed another player to step up alongside Sawyer Jr. and Shelton. 

• 64-60 loss versus Southern Indiana 

Eastern needed a win to maintain eligibility for the tournament after its loss to Morehead State. 

Southern Indiana outscored Eastern 30-19 in the first half. 

Graduate forward Kooper Jacobi recorded 17 points and 12 rebounds, his eighth double double of the season. 

Throughout the season, the Panthers struggled to produce a good 20 minutes of basketball in the first half. After the first half, the Panthers would play a good 20 minutes in the second half, but it would be too late for them to fully come back.

In the second half, Eastern came out productive, outscoring the Screaming Eagles 41-34, but it wasn’t enough for them to get the win. 

On the women’s side, the Panthers have clinched a spot in the tournament, being as high as the third seed and as low as the fifth seed. 

This week will be important for seeding in the women’s basketball bracket. With Tennessee Tech and Lindenwood clinching the top two seeds in the tournament with 16-2 conference records, Eastern is currently in third place with a 13-5 conference record. Right behind Eastern with 12-6 records are Southern Indiana and Little Rock. 

The Panthers lost their last two games to Southern Indiana (66-46) and Morehead State (62-61). These two losses hurt the Panthers by eliminating them from the top two seeds in the tournament, putting them in a situation where they could be as low as the fifth seed. 

The Panthers went into last week without senior guard Kiyley Flowers. Flowers suffered an injury to her right leg. Despite only playing 24 games, Flowers is still ranked nationally ranked (29th) in total steals with 68. 

• 20-point loss to Southern Indiana  

In their second game against the Screaming Eagles this season, the Panthers struggled to produce runs in the first and fourth quarters. Senior forward Macy McGlone recorded seven points and five rebounds. 

Redshirt sophomore forward Sydney-James Desroches recorded eight points of her own and five rebounds against Southern Indiana. 

• One-point loss to Morehead State 

In their loss to the Eagles, the Panthers played a dominant game for the most part, but a late layup by Eagles guard Katie Novik and a made free throw because of a foul from McGlone sealed the game for Morehead State. 

McGlone ended the game with her 15th double double of the season with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Along with McGlone, Desroches and senior guard Alex Rouse recorded 13 points of their own. 

This is where things get interesting, specifically on Thursday: Eastern faces off against Little Rock in Groniger Arena, and Southern Indiana competes against UT Martin in Martin, Tennessee.  

If Little Rock and Southern Indiana win on Thursday, there will be a three-way tie for third place between Eastern, Little Rock and Southern Indiana. 

If Eastern loses both games and Southern Indiana and Little Rock win out, the Panthers will be in fifth place, meaning their run in the OVC Tournament would start on Wednesday and extend as far as Saturday if they get to the championship game. 

The difference between the third and fourth seed and the fifth seed is crucial. A day of rest is on the line. 

This will be an interesting and important week for OVC basketball. Eastern’s men’s basketball team has the opportunity to shake up the men’s bracket without being part of the tournament, and the women have the opportunity to play their first game of the tournament in the quarterfinals. 

Eastern will compete against Little Rock on Thursday at Groniger Arena. 

The women’s game is scheduled to tipoff at 5 p.m., and the men’s game is scheduled to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. 

Zaria Flippin can be reached at 581-2812 or at zhflippin@eiu.edu.