Coach Rick Samuels had a simple explanation why his Eastern Illinois Panthers have become the best group of sharpshooters among Illinois’ 12 Division I universities.
“We shoot a lot in practice,” Samuels said. “A lot of coaches don’t stress shooting in practice these days, but we do. Twenty to 30 minutes every day.”
Samuels also has players, such as guards Kyle Hill and Matt Britton and small forward Henry Domercant, who came to Eastern as pretty good shooters, and have refined those skills in daily practice.
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In an era when even some top-ranked college teams suffer from poor shooting, Eastern Illinois, 14-6 overall and 7-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference, has posted individual and team shooting statistics that rank among the nation’s best.
Before Thursday’s conference victory over Tennessee State, Eastern led the nation’s Division I schools in free-throw shooting with a percentage of .780.
The Panthers ranked No. 9 in three-point shooting at .411 and No. 14 in scoring with an average of 83.4 points a game.
Impressive as these team figures are, individual numbers by 6-foot-4-inch sophomore Domercant, 6-2 senior Hill and 6-1 senior Britton are considerably better.
Domercant, from Naperville North, ranks in the top five in the nation in Division I scoring with a 24-point average. He’s shooting .516 from the floor, .462 from three-point range and .845 on 82-of-97 from the free-throw line.
Hill, from Argo High, is in the top 10 nationally in scoring with a 22.2-point average. He’s hitting .446 from the floor, .402 on threes and .840 on free throws with 84-of-100.
Britton, from Bloomfield, Ind., is averaging 13.7 points a game while shooting .465 from the floor, .357 from behind the arc and .855 on free throws.
Samuels recently earned his 300th coaching victory in his 21st season at Eastern. He teaches a system that provides good shots for its scorers.
“We run an open post motion offense,” Samuels said.
“That means our shooters see a lot of screens from our two big men, Jan Thompson and Todd Bergmann. The players are unselfish. Our guards, Hill and Britton, find one another.”
Like the three big scorers, 6-11 sophomore Thompson from Auburn, Ind., and 6-8 junior Bergmann from Conant High, have started all 20 games this season.
“We’re not deep,” Samuels said. “Two big kids who would have played were injured. We play well together. You can see that by the assists.”
Hill, the shooting guard, has 83 assists compared with 99 by Britton on the point. Domercant, the team’s leading rebounder with an average of seven a game, is fourth in assists with 41.
“We found a diamond in the rough,” Samuels said of Domercant. “He was a very good player in high school, lanky, maybe not as physical as the Big Ten likes.
“He blossomed out of high school. We redshirted him his freshman year. Then he averaged almost 10 points last year when he didn’t start.”
Eastern Illinois’ next big game is against top conference contender Tennessee Tech on Feb. 12 in Charleston, where the Panthers are unbeaten this season.
MVC notes: Within 72 hours, the Bradley Braves went from the penthouse to the outhouse in comeback experiences.
On Jan. 24, Bradley rallied from 17 points behind in the second half and nipped Southern Illinois 57-54. But on Jan. 27, after leading at Evansville by 23 points with 15 minutes 58 seconds to play, the Braves’ lead evaporated, and the Aces won in overtime 70-67.
Heading into the week, Tarise Bryson of Illinois State, at 20.6 points a game, Jerome Robinson of Bradley (18.1) and Kent Williams of Southern Illinois (17.4) ranked 1-2-3 in the Valley’s scoring race.
Also, Bradley’s Jeffrey Rabey led the league in shots blocked, 2.67 a game.