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COOKEVILLE, Tenn.  – The Panther men's basketball team dropped its first road Ohio Valley Conference contest of the season, 81-69, at Tennessee Tech on Thursday night at the Eblen Center. EIU falls to 4-11 (1-3 OVC) on the year.
 
Trailing 65-64 with just over five minutes left in the game, the Golden Eagles (9-9, 2-1 OVC) pulled away down the stretch by going 2-for-4 from the floor and 8-for-9 from the charity stripe while limiting the Panthers to only five points. TTU finished the contest going 25-for-30 from the foul line.
 
The Panthers started the game on a 9-4 run before the Golden Eagles responded by using a 14-6 run to take their first lead of the game, 18-15, at the 9:17 mark on a Jordan Johnson three pointer. TTU led by as many as nine (32-23) with just under five minutes on the clock and led by two possessions for the duration of the half to take a 43-36 advantage into the locker room.
 
EIU finished the contest hitting 51 percent of its shot attempts, going 26-for-51 from the floor and 7-for-16 from behind the arc. The Panthers also went 10-for-17 from the foul line.
 
Dylan Chatman paced the Panthers with a career-high 14 points as the junior guard went 5-for-8 from the floor and 4-for-6 from three-point range. Sherman Blanford added 11 points while Luke Piotrowski and Josh Piper both chipped in eight points each.
 
TTU had a 33-27 advantage on the glass and scored 12 more points off of turnovers (25-13). Blanford led the Panthers on the glass with seven rebounds while Dwan Caldwell led TTU with six.
 
Jeremiah Samarrippas led four Golden Eagle players in double figures with a game-high 18 points as the senior guard went 5-for-8 from the floor and 4-for-7 from behind the arc. TTU finished the contest going 23-for-49 from the floor and 10-for-21 from behind the arc.
 
The Panthers return to action at Jacksonville State on Saturday, Jan. 11. Tip off is slated for 4:30 p.m.