TUESDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 72, Western Carolina 71 (Cancun, Mexico)
Troy 59,
Southeast Missouri 56 (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
@Georgia State 59,
Tennessee State 57
Southern Illinois 71,
@SIUE 55
@UT Martin 92, Lyon College 58
Evansville 62,
@Tennessee Tech 50
AUSTIN PEAY 72, WESTERN CAROLINA 71
CANCUN, Mexico - Austin Peay State University nailed three consecutive three pointers amidst an 11-0 second-half run as the Governors rallied from 12-point deficit to defeat Western Carolina, 72-71, Tuesday afternoon during Mayan Division action of the Triple Crown Cancun Challenge, being played at the Moon Palace Resort.
The victory snapped the Governors two-game losing streak and pushed them back to the .500 mark at 2-2. Western Carolina, meanwhile, falls to 1-4 on the season.
The victory certainly came as a result of several ebbs and flows during the game. APSU fell behind 8-0 but led by Anthony Campbell were able to tie it at 14-14 with 11:47 to play. But much of the half's remainder belonged to Western Carolina, which went on a 14-2 run to build a 12-point advantage, 28-16.
APSU could get no closer than 10 points the remainder of half and would have been down by 14 at intermission without Campbell's perimeter jumper at the buzzer.
The deficit remained double digits for much of second half's first five minutes. But the Govs then made the first of two key second-half surges. The first was a 12-2 surge that saw APSU cut the margin down to two, 50-48, as Campbell scored five during the run, including a three pointer.
Then came the decisive run. With APSU down 58-57 with 7:53 left, junior Travis Betran sparked the Govs. First freshman guard Corey Arentsen found Betran for a three-pointer to give APSU a 60-58 lead. After Western Carolina missed a three, Betran popped up and made a second straight three pointer, again from Arentsen.
A missed Catamount layup was followed by an Arensten three, forcing Western Carolina to call a timeout down 66-58. The Govs momentum continued as Western Carolina came up empty on its next possession with Lawrence capping the 10-0 run with an off-balance driving layup to give APSU its biggest advantage, 68-58 with 4:38 left.
But the veteran Catamounts battled back, taking advantage of APSU consistent concern in the early season-turnovers. When Trey Sumler, the preseason All-Southern Conference guard selection nailed a three pointer with 1:56 left, it made it a 70-65 game with 1:56 left.
Lawrence kept the door open for Western Carolina when he was unable to convert a free throw with the Govs up by five with 52 second left. James Sinclair responded with a bucket to make it a three point game, 72-69, with 47 seconds left.
That set the stages for a bizarre ending. Western Carolina elected to play pressure defensive and not foul. After an APSU timeout the shot clock was not resumed, forcing the officials to call timeout with 16.6 seconds left. When the Govs inbounded the ball, Campbell attempted to get it to Lawrence, with the sophomore guard stepping out of bounds attempting to retrieve the errant pass.
That left Western Carolina with 14 seconds totie the game. Sumler was unable to shake free of the determined Betran, leaving it to James Sinclair for the three-point attempt. It was missed. The Cataomounts Tawaski King grabbed the rebound with his team still needing a three pointer. He went up underneath only to have Freeman blocked his first shot attempt. His second dropped through at the buzzer, one point short for Western Carolina.
Betran, with 13 second-half points, led the Govs with 22 while Campbell, who had 12 at intermission, added 21.
Chris Freeman, starting in place of the absent Will Triggs, shook off a struggling first half to finish with 11 points and 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the young season.
Arentsen had a eight points and a team-high four assists while fellow freshman, center Chris Horton, scored only two points but blocked four shots while altering several others in the second half.
The Govs, who had endured a shooting slump that saw them shoot no better than 40 percent from the floor in five straight halves including Tuesday's first half (37.5 percent), scorched the Cancun ballroom for 70 percent (14 of 20) shooting in the second half.
Triggs, who misplaced his passport in Chicago, is expected to join his teammates for Wednesday's game.
TROY 59, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 56
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Antoine Myers completed a three-point play with six seconds remaining to lift Troy University (3-2) to a 59-56 win over Southeast Missouri (3-3) Tuesday in a thriller at McKenzie Arena.
Southeast finished its in-season CBE Classic with a record of 1-3.
Myers drove the lane hard to his right and banked his shot high off the glass in traffic to give Troy a 58-56 edge in the final seconds. He was also fouled on the play and calmly hit the free throw.
The Redhawks had one final attempt, but Lucas Nutt's desperation three-pointer from the top of the key fell short, sending Southeast to its second-straight loss.
Wilford, after scoring only one point at the free throw line and missing all five of his field goals in the first half, came alive to score 19 of his game-high 20 points in the final 20 minutes.
Down, 56-50, with 2:44 left to play, Marland Smith knocked down a three-pointer to cut the Trojans lead in half.
Southeast then rebounded a missed shot on Troy's ensuing possession and Wilford sunk his fifth trifecta of the half to knot the game at 56-56 with 42 seconds on the clock.
Wilford also drained a three to tie the game at 45-45 with 8:40 remaining, but Troy answered with an 11-2 run to build a 56-47 lead over the next 5:09. Hunter Williams' three-pointer capped the Trojan jaunt before Southeast rallied to set up the dramatic finish.
Southeast, which trailed, 34-24, at halftime, shot a red-hot 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from three-point range in the final 20 minutes. That effort led to a season-high total of 11 three-pointers for the Redhawks.
Wilford ended up shooting 5-of-14 from the field, 5-of-11 from behind the arc and 5-of-9 at the free throw line en route to his third-straight double-digit game. He also dished out three assists and added a steal in 36 minutes. Wilford averaged 19 points per contest and scored 20 or more points twice during his three games in Chattanooga.
Tyler Stone followed with his third-straight double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Nick Niemczyk rounded out Southeast's double-digit scorers with 10 points. Niemczyk (2), Stone (1), A.J. Jones (1), Nutt (1) and Smith (1) combined for the Redhawks other six three-pointers.
Myers led Troy with 14 points, while Emil Jones and Williams chipped in 13 and 10, respectively. The Trojans outscored Southeast, 26-12, inside the paint. Prior to today, the Redhawks had not been outscored in the paint for four-straight games.
GEORGIA STATE 59, TENNESSEE STATE 57
ATLANTA - An unbelievable off-balance, half-court shot by Georgia State at the buzzer sank the Tennessee State men’s basketball team, 59-57 on Tuesday night.
A three-point shot by Jordan Cyphers gave Tennessee State (1-4) a one-point lead with 25 seconds to go, but a pair of free throws allowed GSU (2-2) to inch ahead.
After a timeout, Deshawn Dockery drove the ball down the lane and gave the Tigers another one-point lead with only two seconds remaining.
Another timeout-this one by GSU- set up the crazy finish.
The Panthers threw the ball to the half-court line where Rashaad Richardson caught it. He then tossed up a wild turn-around jump shot with two Tigers draped all over him. The ball bounced off the backboard and swooshed into the basket.
Senior forward Robert Covington led the Tigers with 13 points, but Patrick Miller and Jordan Cyphers were close behind with 12 apiece.
The Tigers dominated the stat sheet in almost every category, but the final score. Kellen Thornton had a game-high nine rebounds, helping TSU win the battle of the boards, 37-27.
TSU won the tip, and just like last game, Covington hit a jumper to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead. He then added a layup with 17:57 on the clock and TSU was up by six.
However, GSU fought back and eventually took the lead at 10-9 when GSU’s Devonta White nailed one of his three first-half jumpers from behind the arc. White finished the game with 19 points, which led all scorers.
TSU was down by five at the 8:39 mark, but Cyphers cut into the advantage with his second three-pointer of the half. Minutes later, Cyphers drained his third three and Covington buried another jumper to make the score 22-21 in favor of the road team.
TSU led by as many as seven in the half, but a 4-0 GSU to close the half meant that the Tigers went into the locker room trailing 24-25.
Although the hustle points were even at 13 a side during the opening frame, TSU hurt its chances of scoring more points by committing eight turnovers.
The teams went back-and-forth for almost the entirety of the second half, but Miller started the scoring by converting on a lay-up.
GSU eventually went on an 8-0 run that spanned nearly three minutes to take a big seven-point lead.
The Tigers chipped away at the cushion with a strong tip-in dunk by Covington and a pair of threes by Dockery and Miller. Miller’s triple gave TSU the lead at 52-51 with 2:24 left in the game.
Tennessee State had more points off turnovers (17-15), second chance points (12-5) and fast-break points (7-2), yet still lost.
GSU shot 43.8 percent from the field for the game, while TSU shot just 39 percent.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 71, SIUE 55
CARBONDALE, Ill. - A 23-3 second half-run by SIU Carbondale sealed the Cougars' fate Wednesday night as the Salukis downed SIUE in men's basketball at the Vadalabene Center. A crowd of 3,507 turned out to see the first meeting between the sister schools in Edwardsville in more than 25 years.
SIUE, now 1-2, never led in the first half though the score was tied twice. The Salukis' Josh Swan hit a fade away high off the glass at the buzzer to send SIUC into the locker room with a 35-28 lead.
A 14-5 SIUE run over the first 7:04 of the second half put the Cougars on top for the first time at 42-40. Derian Shaffer capped the run with a layup. Kendal Brown-Surles hit a three-pointer to put SIUC back on top before Shaffer hit another lay-in with 11:59 left which made it 44-43 Cougars. It was the last time the Cougars had the lead.
Shaffer led all scorers with 17 points and 10 rebounds. It was the third double-double of his Cougar career.
The Salukis led 62-47 when Kris Davis' three-point attempt from the right corner glanced off the back of the rim. Jerome Jones appeared to pull down the rebound, but the ball came loose, Jones and SIUC's Antonio Bryer went to the floor after the loose ball. An altercation ensued directly in front of the Cougars' bench. Following a 20-minute delay seven players had been ejected. Six of them were SIUE players. Jones and Bryer were each ejected for flagrant fouls as was SIUE's Ray Lester who went to the floor following Jones and Bryer. The other four Cougars were ejected for leaving the bench during the altercation.
Yelovich was the only other SIUE player who scored in double figures. He scored 11 points and added six rebounds. Jones added nine points for the Cougars.
The Salukis, now 3-0, saw four players score in double digits. Jeff Early led the way with a double-double of his own. He scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Brown-Surles and Anthony Beane, Jr. each scored 15 points. Desmar Jackson finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cougars committed a season-high 20 turnovers, including 12 in the first half. The Salukis capitalized by scoring 24 points off the Cougars' miscues.
UT MARTIN 92, LYON COLLEGE 58
MARTIN, Tenn. - Mike Liabo led four University of Tennessee at Martin players in double-figures this evening as the Skyhawks never trailed in a 92-58 victory over Lyon College at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Cracking the starting lineup for the first time since the season-opener at Arkansas-Little Rock, Liabo poured in a season-high 25 points in 25 minutes this evening thanks to a career-high five 3-pointers. Overall, the junior from Naples, Fla. sank nine of his 17 shot attempts to go along with three assists, two rebounds and a steal.
Justin Childs tallied 14 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists, while Tobias Dowdell (career-best 13 points and four steals) and Bobby Jones (13 points, three 3-pointers) also reached double-digits in the scoring column. UT Martin also received a career-high eight assists, six assists and four steals out of freshman Dee Oldham in his first career start tonight.
The Skyhawks (2-3) amassed season-highs in three-pointers (nine), assists (26), steals (17) this evening while forcing Lyon into 24 turnovers. UT Martin led 48-28 at the half thanks to a 60 percent shooting effort (18-for-30) in the game’s first 20 minutes.
Lyon College – an NAIA school out of Batesville, Ark. – was led by Kendall Leeks’ 11 points off the bench.
All 11 UT Martin players who were dressed out contributed to the Skyhawk victory this evening.
Childs got the Skyhawks off to a great start – accounting for the first five UT Martin points. The duo of Liabo and Myles Taylor then combined to score each of the Skyhawks’ next 11 points, allowing UT Martin to build a 16-7 lead with 13:27 to go in the first half.
An 8-0 Skyhawk run resulted in the first double-digit lead for the Skyhawks (24-11) at the 9:34 mark. Lyon College got within seven points before back-to-back trifectas by Liabo and Childs pushed UT Martin’s lead back out to 11 with just under seven minutes remaining in the half.
A layup by Liabo at the 2:12 mark ignited an 11-2 Skyhawk run to close out the half, capped off by an emphatic buzzer-beating dunk by Dowdell that gave UT Martin a 20-point edge.
Liabo (17 points) and Childs (12) paced the Skyhawks at the break, while Rickey Thomas compiled seven points to lead the Scots.
Lyon College was responsible for the first two points of the second half before UT Martin quickly piled on seven unanswered point to lead 55-30 after a Jones trey at the 15:20 mark. That began a series of seven straight points by Jones, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play by Dowdell to make the score 65-34 with 12:36 remaining.
The Scots followed with a 9-2 run but another Jones trifecta pushed the Skyhawk advantage back out to 27 midway through the second half.
Lyon College would not get any closer than 23 points the rest of the way, as Liabo scored eight straight points in a span of 1:01 shortly thereafter to help put the game away. A layup by Pierre Mopo with 25 seconds left to play gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the night at 92-56.
EVANSVILLE 62, TENNESSEE TECH 50
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech’s unbeaten season came to a screeching halt Tuesday night in Eblen Center when the Evansville Purple Aces converted a 22-2 first half run into a 62-50 non-conference victory.
Tech (3-1) simply couldn’t match the Aces, whose defense limited the Golden Eagles to 38 percent shooting from the field (19-for-50). Tech was off-target from inside and outside, as well as at the free throw line where they made 50 percent (5-for-10).
Evansville (3-2), which has now won three straight, got a balanced effort with all nine players who saw action chipping in with points. Senior guard Ned Cox led the way with 15 points and six assists, while D.J. Balentine added 11 points. Jaylon Moore scored nine in the winning effort, while Ryan Sawvell added six points and eight assists.
The Purple Aces shot 48 percent from the field and held a 34-24 advantage on the glass.
Dennis Ogbe and Lanerryl Johnson let the Golden Eagles with 10 points each while Jud Dillard added nine points. Foul problems early limited Dillard’s playing time.
The Golden Eagles held a 15-11 lead midway through the half, but managed just two points over the final 10 minutes on a layup by Johnson.
Meanwhile, Evansville took advantage of every opportunity and put together a 22-2 run to build a 33-17 lead by halftime. Eight different players contributed points to the run, including 3-pointers from Ned Cox, Jordan Nelson, and D.J. Balentine.
Evansville outscored Tech 24-14 in the paint, and had a 14-3 advantage on second-chance points.