Friday, February 1, 2008 11:07 PM CST
With two straight wins, Panthers looking for more accomplishments
Eastern (4-17, 3-10) at Samford (10-12, 7-7)
Tipoff: about 7 p.m. today following 5:30 p.m. women's game at Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala.
Radio: WEIU-FM 88.9
BY BRIAN NIELSEN Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
With its first two-game winning streak of the season and free from that worst-in-the nation RPI label, Eastern Illinois has new horizons to explore.
The Panthers can take momentum from Thursday’s 72-67 win at Jacksonville State into Samford’s new Pete Hanna Center for today’s 7 p.m. game in Birmingham, Ala.
The new $32 million sports fitness and special events center, named in honor of the owner and president of Hanna Steel Corp., has replaced the 1961-2007 Bulldogs basketball home at Seibert Hall where glass windows provided what some visitors considered a tricky shooting background.
Eastern, which played in the final game at Seibert last season, never won in three tries at the old place since Samford joined the Ohio Valley Conference in 2003. Eastern did not make the trip to Alabama in the 2004-05 season when Rick Samuels’ Panthers got their only win over Samford in six EIU-Samford meetings.
Chances might be better now at the 5,000-seat Hanna Center where Samford has the same 5-6 home record it does on the road.
In OVC play, the Bulldogs after Thursday’s 65-59 win at Tennessee State have a better road record, 4-3, than at home, 3-4.
“The new building is beautiful but we haven’t played well there,” Samford coach Jimmy Tillette said. “We haven’t shot well.
“If feels like we’re playing on a neutral floor. We have a locker room but we’re still moving some things into the building.”
Maybe the boxes are getting unpacked and the Bulldogs are starting to make themselves at home.
A week ago all they did was beat OVC leader Austin Peay 63-49 at the Hanna Center.
“I read newspaper accounts of how they hadn’t shot well there but we sure changed that for them,” Austin Peay coach Dave Loos said. “They shot 52 percent and 10-26 from 3. They ran their usual stuff. It’s a nice building. It’s got everything you need with the team rooms and everything.
“We went to Samford and they absolutely gave us a lesson. When a team plays as well as they did, it makes you look like you played poorly.”
Samford’s Princeton-style offense and deliberate tempo has the Bulldogs ranking last among the OVC teams with 56.8-points per game scoring but first in defense allowing just 59.1 points per game.
Following the conquest over Austin Peay with Tuesday’s 62-34 loss at Murray State before Thursday’s win, Samford stands 10-12 overall and 7-7 tied for seventh in the OVC.
The Bulldogs are among the teams Eastern is trying to catch for one of the 11-team OVC’s eight postseason tournament berths.
With Thursday’s win at Jacksonville State, the Panthers have cut that deficit to three games, now standing 4-17 overall and 3-10 in the OVC.
They added some breathing room in front of Jacksonville State, now cemented into last in the OVC at 2-12 along with last in the nation in the Ratings Percentage Index.
Eastern had stood last in the RPI list a week ago but now has moved past Jacksonville State, North Florida and New Jersey Institute of Technology to 337th among the nation’s 341 NCAA Division I teams.
In a season marred by injuries and a disciplinary dismissal, the Panthers now have won their last two games and are hoping for a second straight year that February is their best month of the season.
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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