TUESDAY'S SCORES
Western Kentucky 74,
Austin Peay 54
@Belmont 88, Maryville (Mo.) 49
Wright State 56,
@Eastern Illinois 44
@South Dakota State 78,
Tennessee State 71
WESTERN KENTUCKY 74, AUSTIN PEAY 54
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky used a 14-0 second-half run to break open a tight game and beat Austin Peay State University, 74-54, Tuesday night, in the first round of the Triple Crown Cancun Challenge at E.A. Diddle Arena.
The loss dropped APSU to 1-1 on the season while Western Kentucky improved to 1-1.
Trailing 49-43, Austin Peay watched Western Kentucky, the Govs came up empty on six straight trips, missing a pair of shots and committing four turnovers. The Hilltoppers cashed in with three two-point field goals, two free throws and two three pointers. All of a sudden the Governors trailed 63-43, with 8:34 remaining. It was a deficit from which the Governors could not recover.
APSU shot just 25.9 percent (7 of 27) in the second half while WKU was at 51.9 percent (51.7 percent).
The Governors showed great resiliency in the opening half as the Governors struggled attempting to contain WKU center Teeng Akol. Trailing 26-13, the Governors closed the half on a 20-7 run, led by freshman guard AJ Lynch, who hit a pair of threes in the final three minutes, including the game-tying bucket with three seconds remaining to send the two teams into intermission at 33 all.
Lynch led the way with 10 points in the half, the same amount that Teeng had. In fact, the freshman Lynch paced APSU with a team-high 15 points, including three three pointers. Another freshman, 6-8 Chris Horton, recorded his first double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Austin Peay shot just 32.8 percent (20 of 61) from the floor and also committed 18 turnovers.
Jamal Crook led WKU with 16 points while forward George Fant had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
BELMONT 88, MARYVILLE (MO.) 49
NASHVILLE - Before a boisterous, home opening crowd, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Maryville (Mo.), 88-49, Tuesday evening.
Belmont welcomed its freshmen class onto the Curb Event Center floor in the annual 'First on the Floor' tradition prior to the game. In addition, the Bruins raised a fifth NCAA Tournament banner to the rafters.
It was a somewhat ragged start, as both teams went scoreless for the first 2:50 of the contest before senior Ian Clark (Memphis, Tenn.) buried a deep three-pointer, which would portend more great things from the talented perimeter player.
A baseline three-pointer from junior Blake Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) and five points from senior Trevor Noack (Keller, Texas) pushed the Bruin lead to 16-4 nine minutes in.
And though Maryville (Mo.) was playing its fourth game in as many nights, the Saints proudly hunkered down and made a spirited run. Meanwhile, Belmont played stout defense of its own, but uncharacteristically missed six first half free throws to halt momentum.
Maryville (Mo.) made five first half three-pointers - the final one of which from Gerald Shaw - closed the score to within 27-24 with 3:52 left in the half.
But Belmont ended the first half on 14-4 run, punctuated by a determined driving layin from senior Kerron Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.), giving the Bruins a 43-30 halftime lead.
The Bruins shot 65 percent (15-for-23) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 7-for-9 from three-point distance. Clark led the way with 16 first half points.
Belmont used pressure defense, strong shooting and a deep perimeter rotation to break free early in the second half.
A conventional three-point play from junior J.J. Mann (Smyrna, Ga.) was part of a 10-0 Belmont run that stretched the margin to 64-34 with 11:40 left.
From there, Belmont got tremendous contributions from its bench, most notably freshman Craig Bradshaw (Franklin, Tenn.) who scored 10 of his career-high 11 points in the second half.
All told, 11 Bruins scored.
Belmont shot 57 percent (30-for-53) for the game, including 14-for-20 from three-point distance. The Bruins limited Maryville (Mo.) to 5-for-23 shooting in the second half, 32 percent for the game, and forced 23 Saint turnovers.
Clark led four Bruins in double figures with 18 points. Johnson added 16 points and six assists. Noack added 14 points, while Bradshaw had 11.
Gerald Shaw led Maryville (Mo.) (2-0) with 12 points.
WRIGHT STATE 56, EASTERN ILLINOIS 44
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois opened with solid play taking an early lead over Wright State. The Raiders answered with a 14-4 run as Wright State spoiled Eastern Illinois home opener with a 56-44 win over the Panthers in Lantz Arena.
WSU improved to 2-0, EIU fell to 0-2. The Panthers will play three games this weekend at the Eastern Michigan Ice Man Classic in Ypsilanti. In addition to facing the host Eagles, EIU also plays Texas Pan American and IPFW.
Alex Austin picked up where he left off in the season opener at Bradley scoring an early bucket and free throw. Morris Woods and Sherman Blanford added baskets and EIU led 7-2 after the opening six and half minutes.
JT Yoho hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark Wright State’s 14-4 run as they led 32-17 at the half. Yoho had nine of his game high 14 points in the first half. Reggie Arceneaux had all ten of his points in the opening half as WSU shot 48 percent from the field.
EIU stepped up its defensive effort in the second half limiting Wright State to 35 percent in the half and 42 percent for the game.
In the second half Blanford cut the lead to 15 on two occasions with jumpers in the lane. The junior finished with ten points and a team high three assists and three steals.
Austin hit a 3-pointer with 3:40 remaining to cut the margin to 15 and Austin Akers drained a 3-pointer in the final 30-seconds to account for the final scoring difference. Alex Austin finished with a team-high 11 points as EIU was 4-of-17 from 3-point range.
The Panthers will regain the services of one player, Keenan Anderson, for this weekend’s tournament. Anderson is a bigger body that could help the Panthers in the paint as they were out-rebounded by a 37-24 margin including 10-4 in offensive rebounds. Matt Vest and Yoho had eight rebounds to lead WSU. EIU was led by Malcolm Herron with five.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 78, TENNESSEE STATE 71
BROOKINGS, S.D. - A Tennessee State second half rally fell just short as the Tigers lost to South Dakota State 78-71 in men's basketball action Tuesday night.
Despite being down by as many as 17 points in the first half, TSU (0-2) cut the SDSU (1-1) lead down to four in the final minute.
The Jacks led 13-7 in the first seven minutes before going on a 10-0 run over the next 2:12. SDSU point guard Nate Wolters assisted on the first eight points of the run. The Summit League preseason player of the year finished with 22 points, six rebounds and nine assists.
TSU struggled from the field in the first half as they shot just 33 percent, while SDSU shot 59 percent.
The Tigers would get some fantastic play for their point guard as well, as Patrick Miller, along with Robert Covington, cut the SDSU lead down to single digits with a 12-6 spirt in the first four minutes of the second half. Eight of the points came from Covington, while Miller added three assists.
Miller had a career-high in assists for the second game in a row. After a nine assist game Friday night at BYU, the junior from Chicago had 10 dimes on Tuesday to go along with 12 points and six rebounds.
Tennessee State would pull to within three at 57-54 with 6:58 remaining, off of a Miller steal that led to a Covington dunk. It was the culmination of a 7-0 TSU run that spanned only 1:30. The Tigers would not cut the lead to one possession again.
Covington had a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds. It is the 22nd career double-double for the senior.
SDSU responded with a 12-4 run over the next three minutes to regain a double-digit edge. But TSU kept fighting as a Tashan Fredrick three pulled the Tigers to within four at 75-71 with 22 seconds left.
TSU played much better defensively in the second half, limiting SDSU to only 10 made field goals. The Tigers also won the turnover battle 16-11. Despite being outshot 48 percent to 37 percent, TSU made three more shots and had 23 more attempts than SDSU.