WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 84, Delaware State 51
@Marshall 70,
Morehead State 67
Central Arkansas 74,
@Eastern Illinois 72
@Loyola (Chicago) 81,
Tennessee Tech 78
@Austin Peay 108, Berea 53
EASTERN KENTUCKY 84, DELAWARE STATE 51
RICHMOND, Ky. - Two first half runs were enough to send Eastern Kentucky to its best start in 66 years. The Colonels built a 20-point halftime lead and rolled to an 84-51 win over Delaware State on Wednesday at McBrayer Arena.
The last time EKU was 6-0 was the first day of 1947. Harry Truman was president, a gallon of gas costs 15 cents and a postage stamp was three cents.
The Hornets (3-5) scored the first basket of the game, but the Colonels scored the next five points and never trailed again. Eastern used a 13-2 run to turn a six-point lead into a 17-point margin. Glenn Cosey capped the run with his fourth three-pointer in as many attempts that gave the home squad a 28-11 advantage.
With a 30-17 lead, EKU put the game away with an 11-2 run that stretched the margin to 22 points. This time an old-fashioned three-point play by Cosey polished off the run. Jeff Johnson’s outlet pass got the fast break going. Mike DiNunno found a streaking Cosey with a one-handed pass to the basket for a lay-up and a foul. The ensuing free throw made it 41-19 with 3:43 left in the first half.
This edition of the Colonels made history by their unselfish play. EKU had 26 assists on 34 made field goals.
Cosey had 19 points at the break on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 from behind the arch. He finished with 21 points, five assists and four steals.
Eastern was comfortably ahead 56-39 with 11 minutes left in the game when Marcus Lewis and Corey Walden engineered an 18-0 run to make it a blow-out. The two combined for 12 of the 18 points. Eric Stutz finished it off with a tip-in for the Colonels’ largest lead of 35 points, 74-39.
EKU shot 53 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range (11-for-26). Delaware State made just 3-of-14 from deep for 21 percent. The Colonels turned 20 Hornet turnovers into 36 points. Eastern turned it over only eight times.
Lewis finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Stutz and DiNunno both contributed 11 points. DiNunno also had six assists.
Miles Bowman led DSU with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
MARSHALL 70, MOREHEAD STATE 67
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall men's basketball team used a 20-point advantage at the free-throw line to post a 70-67 victory over Morehead State before a crowd of 5,877 on Wednesday night at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Conference USA Thundering Herd improves to 4-3 on the season, while the Ohio Valley Conference Eagles slip to 4-3 overall. Marshall improves to 50-44 in the all-time series and has now won 11 straight over MSU at home.
Marshall junior D.D. Scarver led all scorers with 17 points on 12-of-13 from the free-throw line, while senior Dennis Tinnon chipped in with 12 points and a game-best 16 rebounds.
Morehead State was called for 32 fouls in the contest, while Marshall was only whistled for 17 infractions. The Eagles now have been called for 183 fouls this season, while their opponents have committed only 109.
The foul differential led to 28 more free-throw attempts for Marshall. The Thundering Herd made 28-of-44 from the charity stripe, while the Eagles drilled just 8-of-16.
Junior Jarrett Stokes led the Eagles with career highs of 14 points, on 5-of-9 shooting and 4-of-6 from behind the arc, and five rebounds. Senior Milton Chavis added 11 points, while senior Kahlil Owens led the charge on the glass with eight and junior Chad Posthumus posted seven boards.
Marshall connected on 33 percent (20-of-60) of its shots, while Morehead State knocked down 37 percent (26-of-71) from the floor. The Herd managed a 53-46 rebounding advantage, including 24 offensive boards. The Eagles tallied a 21-9 upper hand off the bench.
The Eagles largest lead of the game was seven early in the first half, while Marshall’s largest margin of eight came with just over a minute left in the game. The game featured 10 lead changes and four ties. The Herd scored 17 points off 15 MSU turnovers.
Morehead State stormed back after trailing by eight with just over a minute left. Stokes and senior Devon Atkinson combined for eight points in the last minute, but Marshall swished home its final seven free-throw attempts to hang on for the win.
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 74, EASTERN ILLINOIS 72
CHARLESTON, Ill. - DeShone McClure hit a jumper as time expired following a scramble for a loose ball as his basket gave visiting Central Arkansas a 74-72 win over Eastern Illinois on Wednesday night in Lantz Arena.
UCA improved to 2-3 on the season. EIU fell to 3-5 and will play at Stony Brook this Saturday at 1 p.m. (Central).
EIU trailed 34-25 at the half but shot 70 percent from the field in the second half thanks in large part to a 28-8 points in the paint advantage. Morris Woods scored 16 of his team high 17 points in the second half hitting 8-of-10 shots from the field, many of them on close range shots in the paint.
Central Arkansas led by as many as 15 points in the second half when Jarvis Garner hit a 3-pointer with 16:13 left to put the Bears up 48-33. EIU cut the margin to single digits four times over the next five minutes trailing 57-48 with 10:58 left after Alex Austin drained a jumper. EIU outscored UCA 20-10 over the next seven minutes as Austin Akers hit a 3-pointer with 3:55 left to bring EIU within one point.
Taylor Jones hit a lay-up with 1:47 left to tie the game at 69-69. Josh Piper hit his only shot of the game with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 56 seconds left to put EIU up 72-69. Robert Crawford answered for UCA with a 3-pointer on the other end to knot the game at 72-72. EIU had a missed shot with 11 seconds left and UCA missed a shot with three seconds left before McClure came up with the loose ball and hit the game winner.
The Panthers ended the game shooting 48 percent with Akers adding 11 points and five assists. Austin added nine points off the bench. EIU committed only two turnovers in the second half.
Miles had 14 points for UCA while Garner had 12. The Bears shot 49 percent for the game.
LOYOLA (CHICAGO) 81, TENNESSEE TECH 78
CHICAGO - Down by 13 points with just under 11 minutes to go in the second half, all seemed bleak for the Tennessee Tech men’s basketball team, as a blowout loss seemed imminent. The young Golden Eagles fought back in those final 11 minutes, leaving Loyola Chicago fans gasping for air as the final buzzer sounded.
Fifty years after the first meeting between the Ramblers and Golden Eagles, Loyola Chicago overcame poor free throw shooting down the stretch to hold on for an 81-78 victory. The Ramblers, who won the 1963 NCAA Championship and defeated Tech 111-42 on their way to the title, found a way at the end to finally put away the comeback attempt by Tech.
Despite trailing by as many as nine points with just two and half minutes remaining, the Golden Eagles would not give up and found themselves down by just one point with nine seconds left on the clock following a clutch three-pointer from junior forward Matt Marseille. He immediately fouled a Rambler guard and was removed from the game with his fifth foul.
Joe Crisman sank both free throws to give the Ramblers a three point lead with just six seconds to go. Freshman guard Lanerryl Johnson got off a good luck from behind the arc, but despite scoring a career-high 12 points, the shot would not fall and Loyola Chicago would emerge victorious.
Junior transfer Jeremiah Samarrippas paced the Tech offense in the first half, scoring a Golden Eagle career-best 13 points in just the first 20 minutes. The guard was perfect from the field making five of five shots, including three from behind the arc. He would finish with 15 points, his highest as a Golden Eagle.
Picking up where Samarrippas left off in the second half was Marseille. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native enjoyed a break-out game, scoring an incredible 19 second-half points and a career-best 21 overall. He led the Golden Eagles in both scoring and rebounding (five boards) on the night before eventually fouling out with six seconds to go.
Also scoring in double figures for Tennessee Tech were Johnson, who finished with 12, and senior guard Jud Dillard, who tallied 14 on the night.
AUSTIN PEAY 108, BEREA 53
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Senior forward Anthony Campbell scored 20 points, including his career’s 1000th, to lead Austin Peay State University to a 108-53 victory against Berea College in non-conference basketball action, Wednesday night, in Dave Aaron Arena.
The victory evened APSU’s record at 3-3 while Berea, a NAIA member, fell to 6-3.
The 1000-point total is significant for Campbell, a fifth-year senior. Reaching that milestone seemed a foregone conclusion after his sophomore season when he stood at 739 points. But the Edwardsville, Ill. native was limited to 10 games in each of the last two seasons after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in each campaign.
His 1,000th point came at the free-throw line with 17:01 left in the second half after Berea College was called for a technical foul. He scored two more buckets, including his season’s first dunk, before departing with more than 10 minutes remaining in the game.
He turned it over to his young Illinois protégé, freshman guard Corey Arenston, who also finished with 20 points, all in the second half. Arentsen, in fact, hit all seven second-half shot attempts, including six straight three pointers at one point. Arentsen’s six three pointers were the most by a Gov since TyShwan Edmondson had seven against Tennessee State, Jan. 15, 2011.
The Governors, in fact, placed five players in double figures. In addition to Campbell and Arentsen, junior Travis Betran added 16 and center Chris Horton 15, including a reverse slam on a lob from fellow freshman AJ Lynch. Will Triggs snapped a recent scoring slump with 11 points.
Lynch ended the game with nine assists, the most assists by a Gov since Caleb Brown had 10 against Chattanooga, Jan. 3, 2011.
Koty Riley led Berea with 13 points while Deon Banks added 12.