SATURDAY'S SCORES
@#15 Missouri 83,
SIUE 69
@Tennessee Tech 107, Crowley’s Ridge 32
#15 MISSOURI 83, SIUE 69
COLUMBIA, Mo. - SIUE men's basketball led the majority of the first half Saturday, but in the end No. 15 Missouri proved too much, defeating the Cougars 83-69 at Mizzou Arena.
For Missouri (1-0), it was the 66th consecutive non-conference home game the Tigers have won. SIUE, meanwhile fell to 1-5 in season openers under Forrester. The Cougars (0-1) have dropped five straight season-opening games.
Derian Shaffer put SIUE ahead 2-0 with a tip-in to start the scoring. Missouri tied the game, before the Cougars went back on top thanks to a three-pointer from Jerome Jones made it 5-2 with 17:49 left in the half. The Cougars led 7-4 at the first media timeout with 15:59 to play before half.
Jones gave the Cougars their largest lead, six points, when his layup made it 18-12 with 12:07 to play in the first half. Mizzou cut into the lead, but the Cougars pushed it to five three times in the half. Another three-point shot by Jones made it 26-21 with 8:13 left in the half.
Jones finished with 17 points to lead SIUE in scoring.
SIUE held the lead until Negus Webster-Chan nailed a three-point basket from the right wing to make it 27-26 with 6:40 left in the first half.
Michael Messer hit a pair of free throws with 4:10 remaining in the half to put the Cougars back on top 30-29. Messer finished with 13 points and was a 8 for 8 from the free throw line.
Charles Joy pushed SIUE's lead back to four points at 34-30 before the Tigers proceeded on a 10-0 run to end the first half. Phil Pressey hit a floater from the lane with 2:10 left in the half to put Missouri up 35-34. The Tigers led 40-34 at the half.
Missouri began the second half where it left off in the first, quickly extending the run and the lead. Laurence Bowers scored eight consecutive points early in the half to help the Tigers' run. A Bowers jumper made it 50-39 with 16:18 to play, forcing the Cougars to call a timeout.
Bowers, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Tigers. 18 of his points came in the second half.
The Tigers led by as many as 22 following a Stefan Jankovic free throw with 10:51 left made it 66-44.
In all four Cougars turned in double-digit scoring efforts for the Cougars. Kris Davis and Maurice Wiltz each scored 11 points to join Jones and Messer in double figures.
Missouri got 19 points from Pressey, who also added nine assists, and 11 from Webster-Chan. The Tigers outrebounded the Cougars 50-60.
TENNESSEE TECH 107, CROWLEY'S RIDGE 32
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - By halftime Saturday night, Tennessee Tech had generated the kind of numbers that typically fill a final box score. In the first 20 minutes, the Golden Eagles had 68 points, shot 62 percent from the field, had a 28-10 rebound advantage and piled up 16 assists and seven steals.
Crowley’s Ridge never had a chance against Steve Payne’s Golden Eagles, who were chomping at the bit to get the 2012-13 season underway, and it showed with their spirited play up-and-down the floor the entire 40 minutes.
For the record, Tech claimed a 107-32 victory over the outmanned Pioneers, an NCCAA school from Paragould, Ark.
The visitors grabbed a 3-2 lead when Jeff Skudlark dropped in a 3-pointer just a minute into the contest, but Tech answered with a jumper by Jud Dillard and never looked back.
Tech’s lead reached 21 points on a 3-pointer by Lanerryl Johnson with 10:48 to play in the half, 30-9. The margin swelled to 40 points with 6:09 to play, 52-12, on a layup by Mitchell Hill.
Payne emptied his bench early and nearly everybody got into the scoring column. All 10 players who are available saw minutes, and nine of the 10 charted points in the opening 20 minutes.
At the half, Tech was on top by 45 points, 68-23.
The only mystery that remained was the final margin of victory and whether any records might tumble.
Payne and his staff continued to swap lineups and get plenty of playing time for everybody, and all 10 Golden Eagles saw at least 15 minutes on the floor.
Dillard finished with 25 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals to pace Tech, one of four Golden Eagles to reach double digits in scoring. Jacon McKay recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and also had three steals.
Sophomore Mitchell Hill also scored 13 for a career-high, and Dennis Ogbe added 12 points. Johnson finished with nine points and six assists, Matt Marseille had nine points and eight rebounds, and Jeremiah Samarrippas added eight points, five assists and four steals. Anthony Morse made his Tech debut with eight points, six rebounds and five blocked shots.
Daniel Stevens was the leading scorer for Crowley’s Ridge with six points, while Josh Longino added five.
Tech shot 61.5 percent for the game, going 40-for-65, including 12-for-26 (46.2 percent) from outside the arc. Tech had a 47-20 advantage in rebounds, 23 assists and 16 steals.
Crowley’s Ridge shot 17.8 percent (8-for-45) from the field and 3-for-17 from 3-point range.