FRIDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 72, St. John’s 67 (Charleston, S.C.)
@Eastern Kentucky 85, Kennesaw State 71
@Eastern Michigan 60,
Eastern Illinois 52
Arkansas State 77,
@UT Martin 73 (3OT)
MURRAY STATE 72, ST. JOHN'S 67
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Stacy Wilson had 23 points and Murray State used a late 12-0 run to defeat St. John's 72-67 on Friday night and reach the Charleston Classic championship.
The Racers (3-0) trailed by 13 points in the opening half and were still down 59-52 after Chris Obekpa's basket with 7:27 left. That's when Murray State started its go-ahead run. Wilson hit a 3-pointer to draw the Racers to 59-57 and Dexter Fields tied it up seconds later with a basket after stealing the inbounds pass.
Ed Daniel put the Racers up with two foul shots and Isaiah Canaan closed the run with a 3-pointer to lead 64-59.
St. John's (2-1) came within 64-62 on D'Angelo Harrison's three-point play with 3:39 left, but got no closer. Harrison led the Red Storm with 27 points.
The Racers will face Colorado, a 60-58 winner over No. 16 Baylor earlier Friday, in the championship finals on Sunday night.
For much of the game, though, Murray State looked a step behind the Red Storm of the Big East Conference. But when it counted most, the Racers were able to hold on and survive a frantic final minute after Ed Daniel missed a 1-and-1 opportunity with his team ahead 70-67.
Harrison missed a 3-pointer, yet the Red Storm got the ball back. JaKarr Sampson also missed a long-range shot and once again St. John's retained control. Harrison tried to tie it one last time with 16 seconds remaining when Murray State got the rebound and kicked it out to a wide-open Wilson for a jam that sealed the game.
Daniel and Canaan had 15 points each for Murray State. Daniel also had 11 rebounds.
Sampson finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for the Red Storm, who will play Baylor in the third-place game Sunday.
But while St. John's relied on a talented group of young, untested players to attack, Murray State was controlled by an experienced group who made school history with their 31-2 mark from a year ago.
Early on, it was the young Red Storm in the driver's seat. Harrison and Sampson pushed the pace on the way to 32-19 lead with three minutes left in the opening half.
But then the Racers' chemistry and poise showed through with a 13-3 run to the break to tighten things up. Wilson began the charge with three foul shots, then hit a long-range basket about a minute later. Canaan shook off a difficult shooting half -- he was 2 of 10 the first 19 minutes -- to hit a 3-pointer and draw the Racers within 34-30. Canaan was fouled with a tenth of a second remaining and made both foul shots and St. John's led 35-32 at the half.
The Red Storm got a boost when 6-foot-6 junior Marc-Antoine Bourgault was declared eligible and joined the team earlier Friday. He entered midway through the opening period and played five minutes of the half.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 85, KENNESAW STATE 71
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky turned 18 Kennesaw State turnovers into 19 points in a 85-71 win tonight in the Comfort Suites Invitational at McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels (2-0) led by three at the break, but scored eight of the first nine points of the second half to create a cushion they would never relinquish. A lay-up by Glenn Cosey capped the run and gave EKU an eight-point lead, 42-34. The Owls stayed within striking distance until the final five minutes, but never got closer than five points.
Cosey led Eastern with 21 points. Eric Stutz and newcomer Corey Walden each added 12 points. Sophomore Deverin Muff finished with a career-best 10. Markeith Cummings led all scorers with 22 points for Kennesaw State (1-2).
Eastern was out-rebounded by 10 and shot 39 percent in the first half, but the Colonels turned it around in the second 20 minutes. EKU knocked down 19-of-29 for 66 percent and beat the Owls on the boards by five.
When Yonel Brown knocked down a three-pointer, KSU trailed by only nine, 69-60, with 5:51 left to play. However, a 10-2 run by Eastern Kentucky put the game away. Stutz scored on a lay-up on the ensuing EKU possession and the Colonels led by double digits the rest of the way. When Stutz’s free throw capped the spurt, Eastern led by 17, 79-62, with just over three minutes remaining.
Each team made a big run in the first half. Trailing by three with 11:58 on the clock, the Colonels outscored KSU 10-3 to go on top 21-17. The Owls immediately answered with an 11-3 run capped off by a three-pointer by Myles Hamilton that made it a 28-24 game in favor of the visitors. Moments later a Jeff Johnson trey from the left wing swung the lead back to EKU, 29-28, and the Colonels never trailed again.
The Owls shot 52 percent from the field and out-rebounded Eastern Kentucky by nine in the first 20 minutes of play. However, KSU were slowed by 13 first half turnovers, while the Colonels only gave it away five times.
EASTERN MICHIGAN 60, EASTERN ILLINOIS 52
YPSILANTI, Mich. - Eastern Michigan used a late-game rally to defeat the Eastern Illinois men’s basketball team, 60-52, on Friday night at the EMU Ice Man Classic at the Convocation Center. EIU returns to tournament action on Saturday, Nov. 17 versus Texas Pan-American.
Trailing 48-42 with 6:33 left in the game, the Eagles (2-1) closed the contest on an 18-4 run to pull away from a Panther squad that led most of the second half. EIU took its largest of the game, 43-35, with 10:31 left on the clock in the second half. Neither team led by more than eight points in the contest with the game having 12 lead changes and nine ties.
The first half was back-and-forth as both squads exchanged leads nine times while having the game tied on four occasions. Trailing 21-19 with 2:32 left in the first half, the Panthers ended the stanza with a 7-2 run on 3-for-4 shooting with Sherman Blanford scoring four points and Josh Piper adding three points.
Defensively, EIU forced 10 Eagle turnovers in the first half while holding EMU to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor (6-for-21). The Panthers also took four charges in the first stanza.
Blanford nearly missed a double-double, scoring a team-high 14 points and grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. Piper added 13 points and six rebounds while Austin Akers dished out a game-high seven assists.
Both teams had 33 rebounds in the contest and 14 turnovers. EIU outscored EMU, 22-12, in the paint and scored 11 points off of turnovers.
Derek Thompson led the Eagles with 22 points and four rebounds while Daylen Harrison added 18 points, going 11-for-11 from the charity stripe. Da’Shonte Riley paced the Eagles on the glass with seven rebounds.
ARKANSAS STATE 77, UT MARTIN 73 (3OT)
MARTIN, Tenn. - Ed Townsel scored 19 points, hitting four free throws in the final 2 minutes, as Arkansas State outlasted Tennessee-Martin 77-73 in triple overtime Friday night.
After each team scored seven points in the first overtime and none in the second, the Red Wolves (2-1) dominated the Skyhawks 12-8 in the third.
The game featured 17 lead changes and 15 ties, with Jeremy Washington's jumper with a second left in regulation allowing Tennessee-Martin to knot it at 58-58.
In the final period, Brandon Peterson's layup and Townsel's two free throws gave Arkansas State a four-point lead.
The Skyhawks (1-3), cut it to one on Mike Liabo's 3-pointer, but Marcus Hooten answered with a Red Wolves 3 with 1:15 left.
Neither team scored again until Liabo's layup with 4 seconds left, then Townsel's two foul shots sealed it a second later.
Justin Childs led Tennessee-Martin with 21 points. Myles Taylor added 18.