THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 101, Alice Lloyd 50
@Southeast Missouri 64, McNeese State 53
Murray State 79, Auburn 59 (Charleston, S.C.)
@Jacksonville State 79, Alabama A&M 61
@Tennessee Tech 71, Coastal Carolina 69
@Minnesota 72,
Tennessee State 43
MOREHEAD STATE 101, ALICE LLOYD 50
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men’s basketball team posted a 60-28 scoring advantage in the second half en route to a 101-50 victory over Alice Lloyd (Ky.) in its home opener on Thursday evening at Johnson Arena.
Senior Milton Chavis led four Morehead State players in double figures with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Junior Chad Posthumus and freshman Cordell James tossed in 16 points apiece, while junior Bakari Turner added 15.
Eleven of Morehead State’s 12 players scored in the contest, with five registering career highs in an MSU uniform. The Eagles knocked down 51 percent (41-of-81) from the field, including 58 percent (25-of-43) in the second half.
Morehead State recorded the upper hand in nearly every statistical category, including rebounds (57-28), assists (28-12), steals (16-5), points in the paint (52-14), points off turnovers (37-9), fast-break points (22-2) and bench points (62-20).
Warner paced the Eagles with 11 rebounds, while Posthumus yanked down nine caroms in just nine minutes. Senior Jason Holmes collected eight boards in just 14 minutes, while Turner and junior Drew Kelly cleaned the glass six times each.
Warner also led MSU with eight assists and just two turnovers, while Turner handed out six helpers with no miscues. Chavis was credited with a career-best four steals in just 23 minutes, while four different Eagles blocked at least one shot.
Freshman Tyler Rogers managed 14 points and three blocked shots for Alice Lloyd, which is an NAIA school located in Pippa Passes, Ky. ALC was limited to 31 percent (17-of-55) from the floor, including 26 percent (7-of-27) prior to intermission.
The result was Morehead State’s first 100-point effort since a 100-48 victory over Asbury (Ky.) on Nov. 17, 2011. It comes after a 77-74 win over LIU Brooklyn and 67-45 loss to Maryland during MSU’s season-opening road trip.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 64, McNEESE STATE 53
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - - Nino Johnson scored a game-high 20 points to lead Southeast Missouri (2-1) to a 64-53 win over McNeese State (1-2) Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
Johnson scored double figures in his third-straight game, adding 10 points in each half. It marked the first 20-point game of his career.
Southeast limited McNeese State to only 28 points in the first 27 minutes of the game and used another dominating effort from its frontcourt to secure its second-straight home victory.
The Redhawks started strong, shooting 58.3 percent (14-of-24) in the first half.
Despite falling behind 9-2 early on, Southeast recovered to take its first lead when Corey Wilford's three-pointer gave the Redhawks a 13-11 edge with 12:44 remaining. The Cowboys later pulled ahead 20-19 on Jeremie Mitchell's three-pointer, but Southeast answered with a 14-4 run in the final 6:22.
Tyler Stone and Johnson took control, combining for 12 points and three dunks to send the Redhawks to a 33-24 halftime advantage.
All but two of Southeast's points in the last six-plus minutes came on either a layup or dunk. Stone scored six points on a jumper, layup and dunk, while Johnson chipped in six on two slams and a layup. A.J. Jones accounted for the other layup during that stretch.
Southeast continued to pour it on in the second half, where it spurred a 15-2 run in the first 6:40. Johnson had all but four of his second-half points during that run which ended on a Lucas Nutt layup which extended the Redhawks lead to 48-28 with 13:20 left to play.
Jacob Tolbert then gave Southeast its biggest lead of the night at 52-31 with 11:48 on the clock. The Cowboys managed to outscore the Redhawks 18-7 after Tolbert's basket and pulled to within 10 (59-49) on Mitchell's three-pointer at the 3:40 mark. That, however, was as close as McNeese State would get.
Johnson missed just two of his field goals (10-of-12), pulled down nine rebounds and gathered a game-high three blocks to lead Southeast.
Stone followed with 18 points on 8-of-11 from the field and 2-of-2 at the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds, dished out four assists and added a steal. Both Johnson (34 minutes) and Stone (37 minutes) went without a foul in 30-plus minutes, as well. Nick Niemczyk rounded out Southeast's top scorers with 10 points off the bench.
Additionally, Marland Smith broke the Redhawks all-time career record in three-point attempts. Smith scored three points on 1-of-5 from downtown. His 568 three-point field goals attempted surpassed Derek Winans (564 from 2001-05) for the new mark.
Dontae Cannon led all McNeese scorers with 10 points.
Southeast shot a season-high 54 percent (27-of-50) from the field. The Redhawks also dished out 17 assists and outscored the Cowboys, 34-10, inside the paint.
MURRAY STATE 79, AUBURN 59
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Isaiah Canaan scored 26 points, Stacy Wilson added 18 and Murray State ran past Auburn 79-59 at the Charleston Classic on Thursday night.
The Racers (2-0) will play another high-speed opponent, St. John's, on Friday for a spot in the eight-team tournament's championship game Sunday. Auburn (1-1) will go against the host school, College of Charleston, in the consolation round.
The Tigers will need lots of consoling after this one. Murray State opened a 27-10 lead over the first 11 minutes and the margin only got wider the rest of the way.
Canaan, the Racers' star guard, had outscored Auburn by himself in the first half with 20 points as Murray State led 45-19 at the break. Things only got worse as the Tigers trailed by as many as 36 points.
Rob Chubb and Asauhn Dixon-Tatum had 12 points each to lead Auburn. Frankie Sullivan, who scored 26 in the Tigers' season-opening victory over IPFW last week, was held to seven points on 2-of-13 shooting and left the game with a cut on his right arm after crashing hard into the scorer's table midway through the second half. Sullivan did not return.
Canaan, who averaged 19 points a game in Murray State's 31-2 landmark 2011-2012 season, was 9 of 12 from the field and made three of his five 3-pointers. He also had a game-high six assists.
Wilson was also on target, making four of Murray State's 11 threes.
Murray State was coming off its best mark in school history, starting 23-0 last year and reaching the NCAA tournament's third round before falling to Marquette.
And the Racers got a strong start for a second straight pre-conference tournament title after winning the Great Alaska Shootout last season.
To top it off, Racers coach Steve Prohm graduated from Auburn's arch-rival, Alabama, and spent five seasons as a student assistant and student manager for the Crimson Tide.
Prohm's Racers poured it on the Tigers.
Canaan and Wilson combined for 21 points to build the 27-10 lead with 8:44 left. Auburn went nearly seven minutes scoring just a point while Murray State continued to fill it up.
The Racers shot 57.7 percent (15 of 26) overall and were 8 of 13 on 3-pointers.
The Tigers were as cold shooting as the Racers were hot. Auburn hit only 8 of 30 field goal tries, missed all five chances from long range and was only 3 of 7 on foul shots. The Tigers also had 15 first-half turnovers.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 79, ALABAMA A&M 61
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Four Gamecocks scored in double figures and the Jacksonville State men's basketball team improved to 3-0 with a 79-61 win over Alabama A&M at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Thursday.
The Gamecocks shot 51 percent from the floor and held their in-state foe Bulldogs (1-2) to a .368 shooting percentage to start a season with three wins for the first time since moving to Division I for the 1995-96 season.
JSU controlled the game from the inside, grabbing 50 points in the paint and outrebounding the Bulldogs 44-33. Senior Ronnie Boggs led the Gamecocks on the glass with eight rebounds, while he and fellow senior Tarvin Gaines each had a team-high 15 points.
Boggs, a native of Kansas City, Mo., went 7-for-13 from the floor, while Gaines, a West Memphis, Ark., native, made five of his eight attempts. Gaines was 4-for-4 from the free throw line and also grabbed six boards. Junior Nick Cook was 4-for-6 from the field to add 10 points and pulled in six rebounds, while senior Rinaldo Mafra pulled down eight boards.
In the third game of a season that has seen mostly veteran production in the scoring column for JSU, redshirt freshman Chris Deanes provided a spark for JSU. The Memphis, Tenn., native made all four of his attempts from the floor and was 4-for-6 from the charity stripe to score a career-high 12 points. His first double-digit scoring game aided his four assists and one steal.
Against a taller AAMU roster, JSU attacked the basket and scored all but 10 of its points from the floor inside the paint. The Gamecocks blocked six shots and grabbed 13 offensive boards that led to 14 second-chance points. They also scored 21 points off of the Bulldogs' 14 turnovers.
AAMU got a game-high 18 points and 14 rebounds from Demarquelle Tabb, while Jeremy Crutcher added 14.
The Bulldogs took advantage of a slow start by JSU and scored the game's first five points. They would lead by five as late as the 13:25 mark of the first half, only to watch the Gamecocks make a run. They would grab the momentum and finish the half on a spurt that gave them a 38-31 lead at the intermission.
JSU stretched the lead to double figures in the first six minutes of the half before a 13-0 run gave the Gamecocks a 64-41 lead and put the game in hand with 8:09 remaining. They would lead by as many as 25 before the Bulldogs put in nine of the game's final 11 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 71, COASTAL CAROLINA 69
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It took the entire 40 minutes, a career-high effort from senior Jud Dillard, and a couple of defensive rebounds in the final minute to propel Tennessee Tech to an exciting, 71-69 victory over Coastal Carolina Thursday night in Eblen Center.
Tech (2-0) got 34 points and 12 rebounds from Dillard, and withstood a parade to the free throw line by the Chanticleers (1-2), who outscored the Golden Eagles 29-15 at the charity stripe.
Defense ruled from both sides from the opening tipoff, and the contest turned into a battle of wills. Tech yielded a seven-point lead with 7:38 remaining (57-50) and trailed by four with 3:01 to play (66-62).
The Golden Eagles finally forged a lead with 1:18 remaining on a driving layup by Jeremiah Samarrippas and half-minute later a Dillard layup made it a three-point edge, 70-67 with 34 seconds left.
Dillard added one free throw with eight seconds to play to make it 71-67, before Kierre Greenwood scored a layup for Coastal with one second left for the final margin.
Dillard scored seven of Tech’s final nine points, first trimming Coastal’s lead to two with 2:34 left , and one with 1:47 remaining.
Overall, the score was tied seven times in the contest and the lead changed hands nine times.
In addition to Dillard, Tech got double-digit scoring from freshman Lanerryl Johnson with 10 points. Samarrippas finished with eight points and six assists.
Anthony Raffa paced Coastal Carolina with 25 points, including 5-for-10 from long range and 8-for-10 at the free throw line. Greenwood added 19 points, including an 11-for-12 effort at the line.
It was at the free throw line where Coastal Carolina earned its first-half lead, taking a 35-30 edge into the dressing room after outscoring Tech 15-5 at the charity stripe.
The score was tied five times in the first half and the lead swapped benches six times. Tech’s largest lead in the first 20 minutes was two points, 20-18.
Coastal was on top by five a three times, including at the intermission. The Chants also led 13-8 and 18-13 with 12:39 remaining. Both times Tech fought back with a 5-0 run to knot the contest.
MINNESOTA 72, TENNESSEE STATE 43
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Rodney Williams had 15 points and seven rebounds as Minnesota defeated Tennessee State 72-43 Thursday night.
Andre Hollins added 13 points and Austin Hollins had 12 for the Gophers (3-0), whose 3-point shooting helped them build an 18-point halftime advantage that never dipped below 17 in the second half.
Kellen Thornton had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Tigers (0-3), while Jordan Cyphers and Robert Covington added 10 points each. Tennessee State shot a season-low 23.7 percent from the floor thanks in part to a Minnesota defense that prevented quality looks.
The Gophers have limited their three opponents this season to a combined 26.6 percent shooting.
Minnesota held the Tigers without a point for more than six minutes in the second half, scoring 10 straight over that span to race ahead 53-26 and put the game out of reach.