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Thursday, July 9, 2009 11:05 PM CDT
3 non-conference home games highlight EIU men's schedule
By JG/T-C staff
sports@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON -- A home schedule with three non-conference teams with recent NCAA Tournament experience mixed alongside a veteran team that returns 89 percent of its scoring from last season makes for an exciting 2009-2010 season as Eastern Illinois released its men’s basketball schedule.
Head coach Mike Miller returns 11 players from last season’s team including four starters and the top six reserve players after the Panthers posted their most Ohio Valley Conference wins since the 2003 season. Included in that mix of players are senior Romain Martin the team’s leading scorer and a second team All-OVC and All-Region selection. He is joined by senior T.J. Marion, an OVC All-Newcomer selection last season and senior Ousmane Cisse, EIU’s leading rebounder who pulled down six double-doubles in 2009.
“I am excited about the team we have returning this year and the schedule we have built,” said Miller who is to be entering his fifth season at EIU. “We have been building a program and this season return almost 90 percent of our offense from last season. We have scheduled some teams with recent NCAA Tournament experience in the early portion of schedule which should help us prepare for the OVC run.”
With a veteran squad intact, Miller has put together a balanced schedule that should test this year’s club as they head into OVC action. Exhibition play begins on Nov. 7 with a home contest against an opponent to be announced before the regular-season opens on Nov. 14 at Toledo.
EIU then plays three of its next four games at Lantz Arena starting with IUPUI on Nov. 18 in a return game from last season’s contest at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Panthers play Eureka College (where Sullivan grad Craig Black is to be a junior) on Nov. 21 before heading to Chicago State on Nov. 24. November ends at home when EIU hosts Belmont to start an in-season home-and-home series on Nov. 28.
The two opening OVC games start on the road for EIU with a trip to Tennessee State and Austin Peay on Dec. 3 and 5. EIU ended its 2009 season at Austin Peay as a shot by Billy Parrish went halfway down before rimming out in a first round OVC Tournament loss.
Western Michigan comes to town on Dec. 9 in what is to be a EIU/WMU doubleheader at Lantz Arena with the Panther women also playing the Broncos in the opener. EIU ends the month of December with three out of four on the road. The Panthers play at Western Illinois on Dec. 12 and Belmont on Dec. 19. A home game against Franklin College is set for Dec. 22 and a road game at St. Louis ends the holiday break on Dec. 29.
The new year opens at home as EIU plays Jacksonville State, Tennessee Tech and Southeast Missouri all at home in the first ten days of January. The road schedule for the month features games at Murray State, Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, JSU and TTU. Murray State and UT Martin will serve as home games.
EIU is to round out February with a heavy home schedule as their only road contests are at SEMO on Feb. 6 and UT Martin on Feb. 16. EIU gets home games against Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay and Tennessee State along with a home opponent in the ESPNU Bracketbusters game to be announced in late January.
This season marks the 100th year of Eastern Illinois Panther basketball and throughout the course of the season EIU is to hold several special events to celebrate the 100 year event with the culmination set for the Feb. 27 contest against Tennessee State. The season long celebration is to officially kicked off on Aug. 14 at the EIU Panther Club Golf Outing to be held in Mattoon. As part of the celebration EIU is to recognize several members of an All-Century team, several great individual teams and highlight great moments in the 100 year tradition of the program.
“This being the 100th year of basketball at EIU should be a special time for the players on this team, the players who have come before them in this program and people in this community,” added Miller. “This group of players will look back on this season and realize that they helped contribute to building the long history of Panther basketball. We hope the community and student body will come out and support us during this year long celebration.”
The OVC Tournament is to start on March 2 at campus sites with the semifinals and championship games once again being played at The Sommet Center in Nashville. Season ticket information and start times for the 2009-10 season is to be released later this summer.
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