TUESDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 63, @NC Central 57
@Murray State 76, Bethel 54
@Belmont 100, Lipscomb 66
@Tennessee State 76, Drexel 66
@#11 Missouri 81,
Southeast Missouri 65
EASTERN KENTUCKY 63, NC CENTRAL 57
DURHAM, N.C. - Despite trailing for only 17 seconds, the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team had to fight until the final minute to earn a 63-57 victory over North Carolina Central University in the Colonels’ first road game of the 2012-13 season.
At 8-0, Eastern Kentucky is off to its best start in 66 years. The last time EKU started a season with more than five wins was in 1946-47 when the “Maroons” won their first 11 games.
Mike DiNunno scored a game-high 21 points for the Colonels. He hit seven of his 12 shots from the field and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Glenn Cosey added 11 points, a team-best seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Jeremy Ingram led the Eagles (5-5) with 18 points.
EKU trailed briefly in the first half but never led by more than 10 points. Cosey, who entered the game as the third leading scorer in the Ohio Valley Conference, had only two points before hitting back-to-back three-pointers with about five minutes left in the game. He pushed a four-point advantage to 10 with 3:22 left to play.
North Carolina Central answered with four straight to keep it close. The Eagles began fouling in the final minute and a half. The Colonels made just enough free throws, 8-for-12, to secure the victory.
Eastern Kentucky was out-rebounded by 19 but out-scored NCCU 32-14 off turnovers. The Eagles gave it away 22 times compared to only 10 for the Colonels. EKU limited the home team to 14 percent (1-for-7) shooting from three-point range.
The Colonels will be on the road again on Saturday when they play at Chattanooga. Tip-off against the Mocs is scheduled for 7 p.m
MURRAY STATE 76, BETHEL 54
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers started fast and came away with an 76-54 win at home over Bethel at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
Ed Daniel led the way for MSU (5-1) with 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Isaiah Canaan tossed in 15 points to go with six assists. Stacy Wilson added 14 points.
MSU burst from the gate with a 20-3 start in the first 8:30 and got their first eight points from Daniel.
Erik McCree made a steal and dunk and was fouled at the 1:22 mark. His free throw for a three-point play gave MSU their largest lead at 37-15.
MSU carried a 39-18 lead into halftime.
MSU started the second half with a 14-6 run to lead 53-24 with 16:00 remaining on a Canaan drive to the basket. Daniel secured his fifth straight double-double moments later and MSU led the Wildcats 58-28 with 13:08 remaining.
MSU has won five straight at the CFSB Center with three coming this season and the last two games of last season. MSU is 15-1 in the Steve Prohm era at home.
MSU now sets their attention on the Evansville Purple Aces and a Saturday 1:05 p.m. tip at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. The game will mark the first broadcast of the season by the Racer TV Network.
BELMONT 100, LIPSCOMB 66
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Behind tough, united defense and unselfish play, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Lipscomb, 100-66, Tuesday night.
In Belmont's first Division I home game of the season - the Bruins hosted Maryville (Mo.) Nov. 13 - the Bruins looked to back up their season opening 89-60 victory over the Bisons at Allen Arena.
But early on, it was Lipscomb finding an offensive rhythm.
A layin from Deonte Alexander gave Lipscomb an 18-10 lead less than seven minutes in. Then moments later, senior point guard Kerron Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.) would pick up his second personal foul and be forced to the sidelines.
But after some early missed opportunities at clean looks in the paint and behind the arc, Belmont started to assume control.
A three-pointer from senior Ian Clark capped a 12-0 Bruin run to give the hosts a 29-22 lead with 7:28 left in the half.
The Bruins also got nice bench contributions from senior Adam Barnes (Clarksville, Tenn.) and sophomore Reece Chamberlain (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) to sustain positive momentum.
With Lipscomb rotating between man-to-man and zone defenses, Belmont remained patient, largely turning to Clark for offensive output.
Belmont closed the half in strong fashion, making four three-pointers in the final 3:05 of the half - one from Chamberlain, two from senior Trevor Noack (Keller, Texas) and a fifth from Clark - to take a 45-35 lead at halftime.
Belmont shot 43 percent (15-for-35) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 10-for-23 from three-point distance. Lipscomb did manage the game well, committing just four first half turnovers.
Clark led the way with 17 first half points.
One free throw from Stephen Hurt got Lipscomb within 45-38 early in the second half as Belmont went scoreless the first two and a half minutes out of the locker room.
After more dazzling outside shooting, four Clark free throws capped a huge 25-6 surge midway through the second half that put the game away.
Belmont shot 48 percent (30-for-62) - including 15-for-35 from three-point distance. The Bruins forced 12 second half turnovers and outrebounded the Bisons, 49-35.
Clark led three Bruins in double figures with a season-high 30 points. Johnson added 17 points, while Reece Chamberlain had a career-high 11 points.
Khion Sankey led Lipscomb (3-4) with 15 points.
Belmont also defeated Lipscomb, 89-60, Nov. 9.
This was the 132nd meeting between Belmont and Lipscomb.
TENNESSEE STATE 76, DREXEL 66
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State men's basketball team won its third straight game in row with a 76-66 victory over the Drexel Dragons.
Kellen Thornton had a game high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting, and Tennessee State had at least five players in double-figures for the first time all season.
TSU got 26 points from its bench including 15 by Jordan Cyphers and 11 by Michael Green.
Tennessee State won the tip, and both teams got off a quick start shooting the ball. TSU nailed four of its first six shots-including two threes from Covington- but Drexel was just a tad better at 5-for-7. The small difference in shooting percentage led to a small difference on the scoreboard, as the Tigers trailed 10-11 during the game's first six minutes.
Early in the game, the Tigers seemed content to feed the ball into the low-post on offense, and Thornton benefitted by racking up eight points on half of the Tigers' first 16 total shots.
Thornton ended the half with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
Even with TSU's strong play in the post, the Dragons hung around by outrebounding Tennessee State 20-11 during the opening stanza.
With the score tied at 27, Deshawn Dockery nailed a jumper as the shot clock expired and Green added a fast-break two-handed dunk to give the Tigers and narrow four-point lead with 2:28 left to play in the period.
TSU executed an impressive display of the running the whole court when Drexel missed a shot with 51 seconds to play in the first half. Green started the break by getting a rebound. He then passed the ball off to Cyphers who found Thornton with a no-look pass. Thornton converted the layup, was fouled and made the ensuing free-throw to give TSU a 36-28 lead.
The Dragons had a tip-in on following possession, but the Tigers still led at the break, 36-30.
TSU had just two turnovers and the Tigers received 11 points from its bench during the game's first 20 minutes. Green (7) and Cyphers (4) accounted for all of Tennessee State's first half bench points.
Drexel started the second half on a 7-2 run, cutting the TSU lead to one and prompting the Tigers to burn their first timeout of the game.
Following the stoppage in play, Thornton canned an elbow jumper and drained a foul shot for an old-fashioned three-point play. The play put TSU up 41-37.
The Dragons came right back with a 7-0 run that was finally ended by a Covington jumper at the 12:20 mark.
Covington finished the game with 17 points, shooting 2-of-4 from three-point land. He also led the Tigers with seven boards.
The teams traded blows for the next eight minutes, with neither side gaining more than a one-possession lead. TSU finally broke the streak with four minutes to go in the game when Cyphers hit a layup and was fouled. He missed the shot at the charity stripe, but Green was there to clean up the miss to give the Tigers a 61-57 advantage.
Cyphers drained a three with 2:50 to go, and Covington threw down a dunk with a little over a minute to play, allowing TSU to hang on and vanquish the Dragons, 76-66.
TSU shot 50 percent (26-52) from the field and held the Dragons to just 38.8 percent (26-67).
#11 MISSOURI 81, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 65
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (6-5) led by as many as 11 points, but shot just 26.7 percent during the second half in a 81-65 loss to No. 11 Missouri (7-1) Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 7,905 at Mizzou Arena.
It was a tale of two halves for Southeast tonight.
The Redhawks started strong, hitting eight three-pointers to build a 45-35 halftime lead.
Corey Wilford drove the lane for a layup with 4:53 remaining and capped an 8-0 run to give Southeast a 38-27 lead, its largest of the game.
The Redhawks shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from three-point range in the first half. Southeast's hot shooting was contagious early on as six different players scored with Wilford and Tyler Stone paving the way with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The second half, however, was a different story.
Missouri, after trailing for 17 minutes, took a 57-56 lead on a turnaround jumper by Laurence Bowers with 10:56 remaining. The Tigers expanded their lead to 73-62 on an alleyoop dunk by Keion Bell at the 4:16 mark.
Bell's dunk was part of a 12-2 run where Southeast made only one field goal in a span of 6:20.
Southeast sputtered to 8-of-30 field goals and went 1-of-11 from downtown in the game's final 20 minutes. The Redhawks were also outscored, 46-20, in the second half.
Bowers scored a career-high 26 points, as Missouri posted its 70th-consecutive non-conference home win. Phil Pressey followed with 17 points, while Tony Criswell and Bell added double figures off the bench.
Criswell finished with 13 points and Bell turned in a double-double 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Tigers, who shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the second half, became the first opponent to shoot 40 percent from the field against Southeast this year. Missouri made 30-of-67 attempts (44.8 percent).
Four of Southeast's five starters scored double figures. Wilford scored all 14 of his points in the first half. Nino Johnson and Stone followed with 13 points and seven rebounds apiece. Marland Smith dropped in 10, as well.
The Redhawks dropped to 0-7 all-time against Missouri and 0-10 all-time against nationally-ranked Division I opponents.
Southeast played eight of its first 11 games on the road, but returns home for five of its next six.