THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 107, Southeast Missouri 72
Tennessee Tech 77, @Eastern Illinois 73
Jacksonville State 75, @SIUE 62
@Tennessee State 80, UT Martin 48
BELMONT 107, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72
NASHVILLE - Belmont University men's basketball defeated Southeast Missouri, 107-72, in its Ohio Valley Conference home opener.
Playing at the Curb Event Center for the first time since a convincing victory over defending Summit League champion, South Dakota State, the Bruins again showcased purposeful, unified basketball against a Redhawk team that led Missouri into the second half.
Senior Ian Clark (Memphis, Tenn.) erupted for 12 points in the first 4:46 of the game to push Belmont to a 15-7 lead.
Following consecutive layins from senior Brandon Baker (Milford, Ohio) off feeds from senior Kerron Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.) and freshman Craig Bradshaw (Franklin, Tenn.), respectively, Belmont drew a charge on talented Southeast Missouri forward Nino Johnson. The call would be Johnson's second personal foul, impacting the Redhawks' rotation.
From there, the Bruins established senior Trevor Noack (Keller, Texas), who poured in 15 points in the final 10:54 of the half.
After Tyler Stone got Southeast Missouri within 29-16, consecutive three-point field goals from junior J.J. Mann (Smyrna, Ga.) pushed the margin to 19 with 7:20 left in the half.
Belmont defense remained sound, creating turnovers and contesting shots.
Following six Bruin free throws, Belmont got a deep three-pointer from Noack to make the score 44-21 with 3:22 left in the half.
Marland Smith tipped home a missed shot to get Southeast Missouri within 17, before Mann scored inside off a feed from junior Blake Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) to give Belmont a 48-29 lead at halftime.
Belmont shot 55 percent (17-for-31) from the field in the opening 20 minutes – including 5-for-14 from three-point distance. The Bruins drew four charges and forced 16 Southeast Missouri turnovers in the first half.
Noack had 17 points and Clark 13 at halftime.
Two driving layins from Johnson kept the positive Bruin momentum going, before Mann, Clark and Noack strung together three-pointers in an 88 second span to increase the lead to 63-36 with 15:32 left.
A left-handed drive from Bradshaw highlighted the 14-2 Belmont run.
Noack and Clark continued their fine offensive showings, both exiting to rousing ovations from the Bruin crowd and bench in the final moments.
Senior Adam Barnes (Clarksville, Tenn.) provided three strong drives to lift Belmont over the century mark.
All told, Belmont shot 62 percent (40-for-65) from the field – including 11-for-23 from three-point distance. The Bruins scored 46 points in the paint and 25 points off turnovers.
11 Bruins scored in the game.
Noack and Clark led four Bruins in double figures, each scoring 30 points. The duo combined on 22-for-30 shooting. Aside from a new career-high in points, Noack added seven rebounds.
Johnson had 13 points and Mann added 11.
Tyler Stone led Southeast Missouri (10-8, 2-2 OVC) with 18 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 77, EASTERN ILLINOIS 73
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois had its best offensive output of the season but the Panthers fell short on Thursday against Tennessee Tech as Jud Dillard hit a shot with two seconds remaining. The Golden Eagles added two free throws following an EIU turnover to win 77-73.
TTU improved to 7-9, 1-3 in the OVC. EIU fell to 3-14, 0-4 in the OVC.
EIU opened the game with an 18-6 run as Morris Woods had four early points during his career high 25 point night. The Panthers extended the lead to fifteen points with 7:01 left as Woods bucket gave EIU a 35-20 lead.
TTU closed the halftime margin to four points as they trailed 44-40 at the break with Dillard scoring 12 first half points. Dillard would lead all scorers with 34 points. EIU shot 65 percent in the opening half while TTU shot 56 percent from the floor and was able to climb back in the game behind 7-of-12 shooting from 3-point range in the opening twenty minutes.
Sherman Blanford’s tip-in pushed EIU’s lead to seven points early in the second half and a Blanford lay-up increased EIU’s lead to 58-49 with 14:25 remaining. Blanford added 16 points coming off the bench for the Panthers hitting 6-of-8 from the floor. Blanford had six assists.
TTU closed to within three points with 9:40 left on a 3-pointer by Jeremiah Samarrippas. A free throw and jumper by Woods on the next two EIU possessions pushed the lead back to six points with 7:52 to play at 67-61.
Dillard tied the game at 70-70 with 1:26 left to play as Dillard scored 13 of the Golden Eagles final 15 points going 5-of-5 from the floor. Following a free throw by Blanford, Dillard sank a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left to give TTU its first lead of the game at 73-71.
Blanford found Josh Piper cutting down the lane for a lay-up to tie the game at 73-73 with 35 seconds left. Dillard then hit what proved to be the game winner with two seconds left. EIU turned the ball over on the inbound pass and fouled as Matt Marseille sank a pair of free throws to finish the game.
TTU finished the game shooting 52 percent from the floor and 54 percent from 3-point range (12-of-22). Dennis Ogbe added 11 points while Samarrippas had eight assists.
EIU shot 55 percent from the floor. Austin Akers had six assists.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 75, SIUE 62
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Five Gamecocks scored in double figures and the Jacksonville State men's basketball team used a 21-2 second-half run to hand Southern Illinois Edwardsville a 75-62 loss in Ohio Valley Conference play at the Vadalabene Center on Thursday.
Junior Brian Williams led all players with 19 points and dished out eight assists to lead the quintet for the Gamecocks (11-5, 3-2 OVC), who snap their two-game losing skid and improve to 2-0 on the road in league play this season. It marked the first time that JSU has had five players in double figures in the same game since Jan. 30 of last season against USC Upstate.
After the Cougars (4-9, 0-3 OVC) used a 12-0 run over the end of the first half and into the second, JSU turned up the intensity. The Gamecocks rattled off a 21-2 run that turned a nine-point deficit into a 10-point lead and never looked back.
Senior Tarvin Gaines, who played just two minutes because of first-half foul trouble, came off of the bench to spark the run. He scored eight of the first 12 points in the run and ended the night with 14 points and four rebounds, all in the second half.
Williams was 8-for-13 from the floor and scored 12 of his 19 in the second half. He also swiped three steals to go along with the eight assists. Senior Ronnie Boggs added 16 points in the win, thanks in large part to a career-best 6-for-7 night from the free throw line.
Junior Nick Cook led the Gamecocks' charge inside, grabbing a team-best seven rebounds to go with his season-high 12 points. The forward from Hattiesburg, Miss., was 5-for-7 from the floor, and he also distributed three assists and grabbed a pair of steals.
Playing just minutes from his hometown of St. Louis, sophomore Darion Rackley rounded out the five players in double digits with 11 points. He also grabbed three boards and three steals. The five players scored all but three points for JSU, those of which came on a Mason Leggett 3-pointer that started the scoring for the Gamecocks.
The Cougars got 15 points from leading scorer Jerome Jones, while Michael Messer pitched in 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The Gamecocks overcame a quick 4-0 spurt that started the game for the Cougars and turned it into as much as a six-point lead in the half. JSU went 5-for-8 from behind the arc in the half and got nine points from Boggs and eight from Rackley.
The Cougars overcame that, though grabbing six of the last seven boards of the half and going to the line nine times to the Gamecocks' three. They used those numbers to key a 7-0 run that took them into the half with a 32-29 lead, their largest since the 17:03 mark of the first half.
The Cougars scored five in a row to start the second half, extending the run to 12-0 and building a 37-29 lead before a Williams jumper ended a 4:22 JSU scoring drought. After a Kris Davis stretched the SIUE lead to nine, the Gamecocks answered with eight in a row to cut the Cougars' lead to 40-39.
Gaines came in and scored eight of the first 12 points in a 21-2 JSU run that allowed the Gamecocks to reclaim the lead and stretch it to 52-42 with just under 11 minutes to play.
The Cougars started finding ways to score, but the Gamecocks were able to exchange blows on the scoreboard. They never allowed SIUE to get closer than nine from that point on, and JSU held on for a physical road win.
TENNESSEE STATE 80, UT MARTIN 48
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men's basketball team improved to 6-0 at home this season with an 80-48 win over UT Martin on Thursday night.
TSU (10-7, 4-0 OVC) was paced by Kellen Thornton who had a team-high 13 points and added seven rebounds.
Patrick Miller also had a strong game, scoring 12 points, dishing out three assists and securing four boards.
The Tigers also shot 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from downtown and 87 percent (20-of-23) from the line.
TSU fell behind, 7-12, in the game's first six minutes as UT Martin (4-13, 1-4 OVC) made six of the squad's first eight shots (75 percent). The Tigers also committed four turnovers during the stretch which further limited their offensive opportunities.
After the Skyhawks strong opening surge, TSU fought back with a 17-2 run that included a three-pointer by Jay Harris. The run made the score 24-14 in favor of the home team with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
The Tigers continued to roll and eventually stretched their lead to 22 when Jordan Gaither sunk a pair of free throws. The buckets allowed TSU to take a 46-24 lead going into the break.
Tennessee State made 14-of-26 during the opening stanza for a 53.8 shooting percentage, and held the Skyhawks to a 32.4 line (11-for-34). TSU also made 13 out of 15 free throws in the first half, and UT Martin only got to the line once.
UT Martin started the second half on a 10-4 run before TSU head coach Travis Williams called a timeout to stop the flow of Skyhawk points.
Williams's pep-talk worked as Gaither sunk a layup immediately following the stoppage and Cyphers drained a three on TSU's next possession. The flurry was part of a 10-2 run that culminated in a Miller jumper from outside the arc.
The Tigers maintained their 20-plus points lead for the remainder of the contest thanks to a suffocating defensive effort that forced 16 turnovers and only allowed an 8.3 three-point percentage (1-of-12).
TSU was able to rest some of its starters for the last eight minutes of the game, and the squad actually raised the lead to 32 before the final horn sounded and the Tigers walked away with an 80-48 victory.
Eleven Tigers scored in the contest and TSU's bench outscored UT Martin's 36-8.