TUESDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee State 75, @UNC Asheville 73
@UT Martin 75, Brescia 50
Eastern Illinois 81, @Central Arkansas 60
Southeast Missouri 84, Cal Poly 68 (Flagstaff, Ariz.)
TENNESSEE STATE 75, UNC ASHEVILLE 73
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Aaron Nkrumah totaled nine steals to set a new Tennessee State single-game record, and men's basketball edged UNC Asheville 75–73 on the road Tuesday night to give head coach Nolan Smith his first Division I victory.
The Tigers (3–3) had three players in double figures, led by Nkrumah's all-around performance of 18 points, nine steals, six rebounds and five assists. Dante Harris added 17 points, six assists and two steals — including the game-winning free throws with 1.1 seconds left — while Travis Harper II chipped in 12 points and two steals. TSU also received a lift off the bench from Kavien Jones, who scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds, four of them on the offensive end.
Tennessee State controlled the offensive glass, finishing with 14 offensive rebounds that turned into 15 second-chance points. Jones led the effort with four offensive boards, while Jalen Pitre added six rebounds overall.
Defensively, the Tigers were disruptive throughout, forcing 23 UNC Asheville turnovers and converting those mistakes into 28 points. Nkrumah's nine steals — the most by a TSU player since Kinyon Hodges' mark of eight vs. SIUE on Feb. 24, 2024. — powered a defensive effort that helped TSU overcome an 11-point second-half deficit.
Tennessee State trailed 20–14 in the first half before using a 6–0 run to pull even. UNC Asheville responded and took a 40–34 lead into halftime behind efficient shooting.
The Bulldogs stretched their advantage to 53–42 with 12:41 left before TSU mounted its comeback. The Tigers rattled off an 11–0 run fueled by defensive pressure and second-chance buckets to cut the margin to 53–51 with 9:08 remaining.
Trailing 73–72 in the final seconds, Harris was fouled behind the arc. The graduate guard calmly knocked down all three free throws with 1.1 seconds left, sealing a 75–73 comeback win.
The Tigers outscored Asheville 41–33 in the second half and dominated inside, scoring 26 points in the paint after halftime.
UT MARTIN 75, BRESCIA 50
MARTIN, Tenn. - Each of the 13 University of Tennessee at Martin student-athletes who saw playing time this evening scored as the Skyhawks never trailed in a 75-50 win over Brescia inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
UT Martin more than doubled up the visiting Bearcats in rebounds, nabbing 61 caroms (including 24 on the offensive end) while conceding just 27 boards. That led to a 24-2 Skyhawk advantage in second chance points as UT Martin also outscored Brescia 44-20 in the paint and 38-11 in bench points.
Matas Deniusas (14 points) topped the Skyhawks in scoring for the third time in the last five outings while Andrija Bukumirovic (13 points, 10 rebounds) collected his fourth double-double of the season. Ty Price splashed three triples on the way to a career-high nine points while Lamine Niang (season-highs of eight points, 11 rebounds) barely missed a double-double for UT Martin. Filip Radakovic added a game-high six assists with seven rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench for the Skyhawks, who limited the Bearcats to 26.7 percent shooting overall (16-for-60) and 20 percent (5-of-25) from beyond the three-point arc.
Hailing from Owensboro, Ky., Brescia (0-7) received a game-high 16 points from Jaunte Jenkins while Israel Momudu tallied 10 points for the NAIA squad.
"It was probably the ugliest win we've had but we'll take a win any way we can get it," UT Martin head coach Jeremy Shulman said. "Coming off a long road trip against some bigtime teams that was emotionally taxing, we were tired but we got it done. It's nice to be 5-2 going into the Thanksgiving break and we are looking forward to three days off."
Deniusas had five of the Skyhawks' first seven points before a trey from Price at the 11:43 mark of the first half gave UT Martin its first double-digit lead (22-12) of the contest. That trifecta was part of a 21-0 Skyhawk run where the Bearcats were held scoreless for 9:14 of clock time as UT Martin's defense held Brescia to 0-for-16 shooting with three turnovers during that scoring drought.
A Niang putback off an offensive rebound concluded the first-half scoring and resulted in the Skyhawks' biggest advantage up to that point as UT Martin led 43-18 at the break. Deniusas' 10 points led all scorers at the half while Jenkins managed seven points for the Bearcats, who were 5-for-31 (16.1 percent) from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
Brescia started the second half with 14 unanswered points but never got any closer than 11 points in the final 13:56. The frontcourt duo of Bukumirovic (seven) and Deniusas (four) teamed up for 11 of 15 Skyhawk points during one stretch before back-to-back buckets from Damien King gave UT Martin its largest lead of the evening at 66-40 with 4:32 remaining.
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 81, EASTERN ILLINOIS 60
CONWAY, Ark. - Central Arkansas jumped out to a quick start as the Bears beat Eastern Illinois 81-60 on Tuesday night in Conway, Ark.
Zion Fruster scored 21 points off the bench as three EIU players finished in double figures.
Central Arkansas jumped out to a 30-4 lead in the first half shooting 60 percent from the floor in the early moments. The Bears ended the game shooting 55.6 percent, connecting over 50 percent in both halves.
Camren Hunter led UCA with 19 points followed by Ty Robinson with 18.
EIU cut the lead down to 13 points with 90 seconds left in the opening half on a Terry McMorris lay-up. McMorris scored 11. His free throws with 13:57 let in the game cut the lead to ten, the closest EIU got in the game.
Kooper Jacobi was the final Panther in double figures with ten points.
UCA improved 3-4 on the year, EIU fell to 2-4.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 84, CAL POLY 68
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Luke Almodovar scored a career-high 29 points with 27 in the second half to lead Southeast Missouri (2-4) to an 84-68 win over Cal Poly (3-5) Tuesday night at the Rolle Activity Center.
SEMO trailed, 31-29, at halftime but rallied to outscore Cal Poly, 55-37, in the second half behind Almodovar's massive performance.
The Redhawks made only one 3-pointer and shot under 30 percent (28.6) in the first half before turning it on the game's final 20 minutes.
Almodovar scored a layup on the opening possession of the second stanza and then drained a 3-pointer to give SEMO its first lead of the night at 34-33 with 18:28 to go.
Down, 43-40, Braxton Stacker made a layup, was fouled and converted a 3-point play to kickstart a decisive 23-2 run for the Redhawks.
Stacker later threw down a big dunk to cap that surge giving SEMO a 63-48 advantage with just under 10 minutes on the clock.
Almodovar then made two free throws extending SEMO's lead to 70-50, its largest of the game and Cal Poly never recovered.
Almodovar shot 10-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-point range in the second half after going 1-of-6 from the field and 0-of-3 from distance in the opening period. He recorded his third 20-point game of the season.
Both teams were cold in the first half and struggled from long range.
Cal Poly, which entered the game with a Big West Conference leading 78 three-pointers made, went just 2-of-14 from beyond the arc. SEMO, meanwhile, made only 1-of-15.
Stacker made a jumper to tie the game at 14-14, the Mustangs scored the next seven points all from the free throw line to take a 21-14 advantage with 6:35 to go.
Stacker ended SEMO's three-point drought with his team's first trey to trim Cal Poly's lead down to 29-26 at the 2:14 mark.
Brendan Terry later made a layup to get the Redhawks within a point before the Mustangs carried their two-point edge into the intermission.
Thirteen of Cal Poly's points in the first half came at the free throw line and the Mustangs mis-fired on 12 of their final 14 field goals in the opening stanza.
Stacker and BJ Ward added 18 and 12 points, respectively. Stacker also made 4-of-4 free throws extending his streak to 29-straight makes dating back to last season.
SEMO shot a season-high 63.6 percent (21-of-33) from the field in the second half.