Men's Basketball Recaps - Nov. 25

Men's Basketball Recaps - Nov. 25

FRIDAY'S SCORES
Mississippi Valley State 90, Tennessee State 89 (2OT) (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Morehead State 61, West Alabama 52 (Lewisburg, Pa.)
Murray State 70, San Francisco 67 (Anchorage, Alaska)
Lamar 85, @Tennessee Tech 65
@#24 Mississippi State 76, UT Martin 50
@Northwestern State 66, Jacksonville State 61 (OT)


MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 90, TENNESSEE STATE 89 (2OT)
LAS VEGAS - A pair of made free throws helped Mississippi Valley squeak past the Tennessee State University Tigers, 90-89 in double overtime, on Friday afternoon at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.

The Tigers (2-4) trailed by nine with 4:57 left in regulation, but soared back to tie the game at 76 with five seconds left in the contest. MVSU (1-4) was down by two in the first overtime period, but banked a pair of free throws with zero seconds remaining to go into a second OT frame.

In the final overtime period, TSU had an 89-88 lead with 1:43 left before Cor-J Cox was fouled with a minute remaining. Cox drained both free throws giving the Delta Devils the lead.

MVSU then had another front-end opportunity on the 1-and-1, but missed it. TSU turned the ball over on the final opportunity, ending the game.

The Tigers shot 51 percent (28-of-55) from the field, out-rebounding the Delta Devils 36-31.  MVSU made 47 percent (27-of-57) of their shots, forcing 21 Tigers turnovers. The win marked the sixth consecutive time MVSU had defeated the Tigers and the first loss ever for TSU in Las Vegas.

Jordan Cyphers inked a career-high 22 points, making a game-high five triples. The Wichita, Kan., product was 8-of-12 from the floor with an assist.

Robert Covington and Patrick Miller each added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers. Covington dished out a career-high five assists, while Miller had four assists for the Tigers. The duo combined for all five steals for TSU.

Also reaching double digits was senior guard Wil Peters with 14 points and three assists.
Freshman M.J. Rhett led the Tigers with eight rebounds.

Tennessee State's first four of five made field goals were from the three point line. Peters had two treys including one that put the Tigers up 15-9 with 14:08 left on the clock.

MVSU fired back with a triple from Kevin Burwell and two baskets to narrow the gap within two with 12:00 minutes left in the half.

The game went back-and-forth as TSU connected on eight triples in the first half. Paul Crosy made a putback with seconds left on the clock to put the Delta Devils up 40-39 at the half.

For the half, TSU shot 46 percent (13-of-28) from the field and 57 percent (8-of-14) at three-point range. Mississippi Valley inked 48 percent of their shots (14-of-29), including 6-of-11 from three-point range.

At the half, Covington and Cyphers each had 10 points to lead the Tigers. Terrence Joyner led MVSU with 10 points and three boards.

The Tigers led in the rebounds column, pulling in 18 boards compared to the Delta Devils' 13.

In the second half, Mississippi Valley stretched out their lead to nine with 4:57 left from a Cox 3-pointer. The Tigers went on a 17-to-6 run to tie the game. Miller had nine points during the stretch including the free throw that send the game into overtime.

The Tigers led on two occasions in the first over time after baskets from Kellen Thornton and a three from Cyphers. However, MVSU answered back six shots at the free throw line to send the game to a second OT period. Thornton finished with six points and four rebounds.

In the final OT, MVSU reeled off two back-to-back 3-pointers to open to a four-point advantage. Cyphers drained his fifth triple of the night to help the Tigers pull within one at 87-88. Thornton hit two free throws to give TSU the 89-88 lead. MVSU then answered with another pair of free throws from Cox that ended up to be the game winner for the Delta Devils.

MOREHEAD STATE, WEST ALABAMA
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Morehead State men's basketball team used a 20-4 first-half run and 19-6 second-half spurt to post a 61-52 win over West Alabama in the TicketCity Legends Classic on Friday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.
 
The Division I Eagles improve to 2-3 on the season, while the Division II Tigers slip to 1-4 overall. 
  
Morehead State went 5-for-5 from the three-point line over the game's first six minutes and held West Alabama without a field goal for the first nine minutes to open up a 16-point cushion.
 
Sophomore Drew Kelly scored nine first-half points, while senior Ty Proffitt added eight and senior Terrance Hill contributed seven.
 
West Alabama cut the deficit to 31-28 less than a minute into the second half, but Morehead State responded by making six consecutive shots to push the lead back to 16.
 
Hill tossed in 10 points after intermission, while freshman Angelo Warner scored seven.
 
The Eagles continued to hold a double-figure advantage until the Tigers knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the game's final minute.
 
Hill finished with a team-high 17 points for MSU, while Kelly managed 14, Proffitt 11 and Warner 10.
 
Warner and junior Milton Chavis shared team-high honors with five rebounds apiece, while senior Lamont Austin dished out a season-best five assists for the Eagles.
 
Morehead State forced 24 turnovers, while committing just 16.  The Eagles also registered advantages of 28-13 in points off turnovers, 18-12 in paint points and 19-9 in bench points.
 
MSU knocked down 40 percent (21-of-53) of its field-goal attempts, while limiting West Alabama to a 35 percent clip (13-of-37) for the tilt.
 
West Alabama junior Ryan Fitch led all scorers with 20 points.

MURRAY STATE 70, SAN FRANCISCO 67
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Murray State Racers advanced to the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout Friday with a 70-67 victory over San Francisco at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska.
 
The win kept MSU (6-0) undefeated and facing Southern Mississippi in Saturday's title game. The USF Dons dropped to 5-2 as both teams had five game win streaks coming into the game.
 
MSU's Donte Poole and Isaiah Canaan scored the first 35 points for the Racers and Poole ended the night with a career-high 22, while Canaan added 21.
 
MSU jumped out to a 14-4 lead at the 13:23 mark on a steal and layup by Canaan. Poole followed with four straight points, then Canaan's three gave MSU a 30-16 lead at the 1:55 mark. MSU led 30-19 at half.
 
In the second half, MSU pushed to their largest lead of the game at 40-27 with 16:10 left on a Canaan steal and dunk by Ivan Aska and led by 10 points when Jewuan Long drained a three with 8:24 left.
 
USF kept the pressure on the Racers and they responded with the game on the line.
 
When Rashad Green made 66-65 with 12.9 seconds remaining, Long made four straight free throws to seal the win for the Racers. 
 
After Poole's 22 points and 21 from Canaan, the Racers got 12 from Long, while Aska added 10.
 
Three point shooting went well for the Racers as they hit 11-of-19 for 58 percent, while the Dons were 4-of-16 for 25 percent. MSU hit 19-of-23 from the free throw line for 82 percent.

LAMAR 85, TENNESSEE TECH 65
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Any momentum from Tuesday night's overtime road victory disappeared quickly Friday night for Tennessee Tech as the Golden Eagles ran into a feisty Lamar squad in Eblen Center. The visiting Cardinals (4-2) used a swarming defense and timely shooting to deal Tech (2-3) an 85-65 non-conference loss.

After fighting back throughout the first half to pull within five at halftime, the Golden Eagles couldn't slow Lamar in the second half as the Cardinals shot 55.2 percent in the final 20 minutes. After owning a slim 20-19 rebound advantage at the half, Lamar topped Tech 21-7 on the boards in the second half for a 41-26 difference in the game.

Miles Anthony led the way for Lamar with 31 points, including 12-for-14 at the free throw line and 3-for-4 from long range. The 6-1 senior guard also had eight assists and five rebounds.

Devon Lamb, a 6-2 senior guard, added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, seven of his caroms coming on the offensive glass. Brandon Davis also scored in double digits for Lamar, finishing with 13 points.

Zach Bailey, who scored nine points in the final minute-and-a-half, led the Golden Eagles with 17 points. Kevin Murphy added 16 while Jud Dillard netted nine points and led Tech with six rebounds. Terrell Barnes topped Tech with a career-high four assists and tied his career-high with blocked three shots.

Tech missed five of its first six shots and Lamar took advantage, creeping out to a 12-5 lead in the opening five minutes of the contest. The Cardinal lead crew to as many as 13 points over the next five minutes, with a 24-11 edge following a layup by Devon Lamb at the 9:24 mark. The early stretch included a 3-pointer by Miles Anthony and back-to-back 3-pointers by Brandon Davis.

Tech got the difference into single digits behind a couple of baskets by Kevin Murphy, and eventually pulled to within four, 27-23, as Terrell Barnes hit a layup and Murphy added a dunk. Lamar's lead at halftime was five points, 29-24.

Anthony scored the first two baskets of the second half and Lamb added two free throws, and the lead was back to double figures in less than two minutes.

Zac Swansey and Dillard answered with baskets to get the difference back down to five points, 35-30, with 17:16 to play, but that would be the end of the holiday cheer for the home team. Tech was within five one more time a minute later when Liam McMorrow's layup made it 37-32.

From there, Lamar put together a 12-4 run capped by a jumper from Charlie Harper to make it a 13-point difference. A 10-2 run pushed the lead to 19 points, and later the lead reached its widest at 26 points, 79-53, following a 10-4 Cardinal streak.

#24 MISSISSIPPI STATE 76, UT MARTIN 50
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Despite a career night by senior guard Dane Smith, The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team fell 76-50 at the hands of No. 24 Mississippi State this evening at Humphrey Coliseum.
 
Smith - a 6-3 Toronto native - produced his second best career scoring output in the last three games tonight, pouring in 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in 37 minutes. His previous career-best scoring effort was 15 points just six days ago against Rochester.
 
Myles Taylor also added a dozen points in 25 minutes for the Skyhawks (1-5), who tied a season-high with 10 steals this evening.

Dee Bost and Rodney Hood each scored 17 points to lead the Bulldogs, while Wendell Lewis compiled a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) and DeVille Smith scored 15 points off the bench for Mississippi State (6-1).
 
Omari Minor got the Skyhawks on the scoreboard with a jumper in the lane at the 17:42 mark to make the score 5-2. Baskets by Smith and Jeremy Washington kept the margin at three until Mississippi State scored four unanswered to go ahead 13-6.
 
UT Martin then matched the Bulldogs point-for-point for the next few trips down the floor, thanks to four straight points from Smith over a span of 27 seconds.
 
The Bulldogs were able to stretch their lead out to 10 points on four different occasions before back-to-back three-pointers got UT Martin back in the game. Chris Richardson drained a trifecta at the 5:06 mark and on the Skyhawks' next possession, Taylor canned the first trey of his collegiate career to get UT Martin within six at 28-22.
 
However, Mississippi State followed with a 7-0 run until the 1:18 mark, when Smith ended the Skyhawk drought with a drive to the hoop to make the score 35-24 at the halftime break.
 
Smith's 10 points were a team-high at the half, while Bost tallied 11 points for Mississippi State in the first half.
 
Smith picked up right where he left off to begin the second half, scoring inside at the 18:56 mark. Taylor then put on a show - drilling a three-pointer on UT Martin's next possession, then drawing out a Bulldog defender to blow past him for a thunderous one-handed slam to slice UT Martin's deficit to 10 points.
 
After a jumper by Mike Liabo at the 15:12 mark, Mississippi State would tally seven unanswered points in a stretch of 1:27, pushing its lead to 53-33.

Liabo found Corderio Maclin for an open dunk to make the score 59-37 with 10:46 to go, but the Bulldogs pieced together a 13-2 run over the next 4:35 to push their lead to 70-41. The Skyhawks played hard all the way until the final buzzer, tallying six of the final eight points over the last 2:34, including the first bucket of the season for Pierre Mopo at the 2:34 mark.

NORTHWESTERN STATE 66, JACKSONVILLE STATE 61 (OT)
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Northwestern State used a late surge to sneak past the Jacksonville State men's basketball team with a 66-61 overtime win on Friday night.

After shooting 39 percent from the floor and 52 percent from the free throw line in regulation, the Demons (3-3) were 2-for-4 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free throw line in overtime to steal a home win over the Gamecocks (2-3).

In a game that took nearly 150 minutes, NSU barely took advantage of 32 JSU fouls by connecting on just 22 of their 38 free throw attempts. The 58 percent they made proved to be just enough, allowing them to erase a nine-point deficit with 10 minutes to play by making just 20 field goals on the night.

The Gamecocks shot just 15 free throws in the game and made nine, dropping a game that saw them make three more field goals and two more from behind the arc, while forcing 18 turnovers and committing just 13.

Senior Stephen Hall led the Gamecocks with 16 points and paced JSU on the boards with eight rebounds. The Birmingham, Ala., native was 7-for-11 from the floor and was 6-for-8 from inside the arc, while blocking a shot and grabbing three steals. He was one of three JSU players in double figures, with sophomore Brian Williams scoring 13 and junior Tarvin Gaines adding 10 before being the first of three Gamecocks to foul out in the game. Junior Ronnie Boggs pitched in seven rebounds.

NSU big man William Mosley flirted with a triple-double but came up just short. One of the nation's best shot blockers swatted seven JSU attempts to go along with his 14 points and 16 boards. Louis Ellis led the Demons with 17 points, including a bucket with five seconds to play that sent the game into overtime.

The Gamecocks jumped on the Demons out of the gate, building a 22-13 lead just past the halfway mark of the first half. The whistles began to blow at that point and JSU's shot went cold, as just two Gamecock field goals fell before the end of the half and they were called for 11 of their 13 first-half fouls in the final 12 minutes.

NSU took advantage, finishing the half on a 17-5 run that gave the Demons a 30-27 lead at the intermission.

The sloppiness continued early in the second half, but JSU was able to turn it up on the defensive end to reclaim the lead. The Gamecocks opened the second half with a 21-9 run that allowed them to build a 48-39 lead with just over nine minutes to play. During that run, JSU held the Demons without a field goal for 10 minutes and five seconds, allowing the Gamecocks to create the lead.

The Demons started to claw back, slowly nipping at the lead before a Louis Ellis lay in tied the game at 52-52 with 50 seconds to play.

The two exchanged buckets before Gaines hit the back end of a pair of free throws with 18 seconds to play to put JSU up 55-53. After a timeout set up the Demons' final play, Ellis carried the ball down the lane to sink a lay in with five seconds to play to tie it and send it to overtime.

The Demons started the extra frame with an old fashioned three-point play from Gary Roberson that sparked a 7-2 run, allowing them to build a 62-57 lead that they never relinquished. They went to the line and converted just enough to hang on.