SUNDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 83, Alabama State 68 (USAFA, Colo.)
Southern Miss 70,
UT Martin 60 (Pensacola, Fla.)
North Dakota 78,
@Western Illinois 69
SIUE 83, ALABAMA STATE 68
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - SIUE men's basketball shot 71 percent in the second half and erased a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat Alabama State 83-68 to wrap up play at the Air Force Classic Sunday.
SIUE improved to 4-3 overall with the win. Alabama State dropped to 3-4.
Jack Campion paced three Cougars in double figures with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He added five assists. Jordan Pickett scored 14 points and added a game-high eight rebounds. Myles Thompson added 14 points for the Cougars.
The Cougars finished the game shooting 46 percent. After connecting on just 8-33 shots in the first half, the Cougars knocked down 20-28 attempts after halftime including 5-8 three-pointers. SIUE hit just 2-12 shots from long range in the first half. At the free throw line, SIUE buried 10-12 in the second half and 20-30 for the game.
After Alabama State got out to a 5-0 lead to start the game, before the Cougars settled in. A three-pointer by Jack Campion and a layup by Jo Valrie had SIUE up 22-21 at the final media timeout of the half. The Hornets then finished the half on a 16-6 run and led 37-28 at the break following a pair of free throws by Asjon Anderson.
That followed a mostly back-and-forth first half which featured 12 lead changes.
The Cougars opened the second half strong and took the lead 44-42 with a Darrion Baker runner with 15:24 to play.
A layup by Jerquarius Stanback had Alabama State up 49-48 with 13:16 to play when SIUE took over. Three-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Ring Malith and Jordan Pickett put SIUE up 54-49 12:25 to play and the Cougars never trailed again in the game. A Pickett three-pointer with 6:35 left, gave SIUE its first double-digit lead at 68-58.
The Cougars outrebounded the Hornets 41-39 in the game. SIUE outscored Alabama State 40-18 in the paint.
The Hornets were led by Micah Simpon's 20 points. Anderson had 18 points. Alabama State shot 33 percent (19-58) from the field for the game.
SOUTHERN MISS 70, UT MARTIN 60
PENSACOLA, Fla. - A slow start cost the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team today as the Skyhawks dropped a 70-60 decision to Southern Miss in the Pensacola Invitational championship contest.
UT Martin shot 63.2 percent (12-for-19) in the second half and saw seven different players sink a three-pointer this evening but the Skyhawks could not overcome a 41-22 halftime deficit.
Freshman Damien King scored all of his team-best 11 points in the second half while adding career-highs of three assists and three steals in just 20 minutes of playing time. Dragos Lungu added 11 points in only 15 minutes while Lamine Niang tacked on a season-best eight points in 15 minutes for UT Martin (4-2), whose bench outscored the Golden Eagles by a 35-17 margin.
Southern Miss (4-3) was led by 14 points apiece out of Tylik Weeks and Djahi Binet. Isaac Taveras additionally scored 10 points as the Golden Eagles, who won their third straight decision.
After Southern Miss got off to a 10-2 start, Andrija Bukumirovic pulled the Skyhawks to within five points after splashing a three-pointer. The Golden Eagles soon posted 10 unanswered points before Lungu pumped in six of UT Martin’s next seven points.
Afan Trnka knocked down a turnaround jumper in the paint with six seconds to go before the halftime break for the final points on both sides of the first half. Lungu’s 11 points led all scorers at the half while Curt Lewis and Israel Hart both accounted for nine points apiece for Southern Miss.
King generated the Skyhawks’ first five points of the second half before Matas Deniusas sank a three-pointer to trim UT Martin’s deficit to 45-30. A Filip Petkovski trey with 8:35 remaining made it a 12-point game (57-45) and Ty Price went off for five points in a 62-second span late in the game but the Skyhawks could not get back within single digits the rest of the way.
Following the conclusion of the game, Deniusas and Lungu were each named to the nine-man Pensacola Invitational All-Tournament Team. Deniusas averaged 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 100 percent (8-for-8) from the free throw line while Lungu averaged 11.0 points on 69.2 percent (9-of-13) shooting to go along with 4.5 assists per outing.
NORTH DAKOTA 78, WESTERN ILLINOIS 69
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois men's basketball fell 78–69 to North Dakota on Sunday night inside Western Hall.
The Leathernecks opened with one of their most efficient first halves of the season, shooting 48 percent from the field and knocking down six threes to build a 35–29 halftime lead. WIU also held a 19–12 edge on the glass, forced eight turnovers, and ran good sets on offense before the break.
North Dakota responded with a dominant second half, shooting 60 percent and outscoring WIU 49–34 after the break. The Fighting Hawks used a 12–2 run to swing the game and finished 27-for-55 from the floor with 17 made free throws.
Lucas Lorenzen led the Leathernecks with 18 points and three threes. Karyiek Dixon added 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Francis Okwuosah scored 11, while Goanar Biliew and Makai Kvamme each added nine. Kvamme also contributed four assists and three steals.
Western Illinois finished 24-for-53 from the field with 10 made threes and 27 bench points, but 17 turnovers and UND's late surge proved to be the difference.