TUESDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 71, @East Tennessee 63
@Chicago State 79,
Jacksonville State 75
@Murray State 97, Brescia 69
@Tennessee Tech 74, Loyola (Chicago) 69
MOREHEAD STATE 71, EAST TENNESSEE 63
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Junior Angelo Warner tallied a career-best 25 points and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds to lead the Morehead State men's basketball team to a 71-63 victory over East Tennessee State on Tuesday night at the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center.
The Eagles improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Buccaneers slip to 0-2 overall. MSU also moves to 28-24 in the all-time series with its fourth consecutive victory over ETSU.
Warner, who was playing in his 66th collegiate contest, posted 20 points after intermission to help Morehead State record a 46-32 scoring advantage. Sophomore Brent Arrington added 12 points in the second half and 15 for the night, plus added a team-high four steals.
Morehead State registered a 45-30 rebounding advantage in the contest, including 20-7 on the offensive end. The Eagles also collected 20 second-chance points.
Morehead State finished +15 in points from beyond the arc. The Eagles canned 36 percent (9-of-25) from long range, while limiting the Buccaneers to 21 percent (4-of-19).
Morehead State opened the contest with seven straight points. East Tennessee State responded with a 17-0 spurt moments later to take a 21-10 lead with 7:06 remaining in the first half.
ETSU held a 31-25 upper hand at the break, but MSU erupted for 46 points in the second half. The Eagles managed a late 7-0 run and hit 15-of-20 from the charity stripe in the second period.
Senior Drew Kelly notched 11 points for the Eagles, while junior Kareem Storey and senior Bakari Turner added eight apiece. Storey also recorded a six assists and now has 21 helpers through two games this season.
Junior Rashawn Rembert posted a team-high 21 points for East Tennessee State, on 8-of-12 from the floor, while freshman A.J. Merriweather contributed a game-high 11 rebounds.
CHICAGO STATE 79, JACKSONVILLE STATE 75
CHICAGO - What would have been an improbable comeback came up just short for the Jacksonville State men's basketball team on Tuesday, night, when Chicago State held on for a 79-75 win over the Gamecocks.
Trailing by as many as 17 points late in the first half, the Gamecocks (0-3) put together a rally that saw them tie it twice in the final 10 minutes. The Cougars (2-1) always had an answer and then got a long-range 3-pointer from Quinton Pippen with 11 seconds left that sealed the win.
Junior Darion Rackley and senior Brian Williams each scored 23 points for JSU, who couldn't overcome the Cougars' blistering start. Rackley scored 16 of his in the second half, including his team's first 14 of the second half. The St. Louis, Mo., native entered the game having gone 0-for-10 from behind the arc so far in the season, but he went 4-for-8 from back there in the game for his fourth career 20-plus scoring night.
Williams had also struggled from the floor through JSU's first two games but answered with a 9-for-15 night from the floor. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native also made four 3-pointer in six attempts to run his career scoring total to 985 points, 15 shy of making him 22nd member of the school's 1,000-point club.
Senior Rico Sanders also scored in double figures with 10 points in the game, while fellow senior Nick Cook grabbed nine rebounds in the game. Williams also had six boards, while junior D.J. Felder had five boards and seven points.
The Cougars came out and delivered the first blow, making their first four attempts from behind the arc to build a 13-4 lead in the first four minutes of the game. They didn't cool off, either, building as much as a 17-point lead by the 5:00 mark of the first half.
Pippen and Matt Ross were the keys in that early run and both finished with big nights. Ross had 22 points, thanks in large part to a 4-for-5 night from 3-point land, and nine boards, while Pippen scored 20. Eddie Denard scored 11, while Jamere Dismukes and Clarke Rosenberg each added 10.
The Gamecocks got hot themselves late in the half, scoring seven in a row to spark a 17-8 run over the final five minutes to head into the locker room trailing just 46-38. Williams' 15 came on 6-for-9 shooting in the first half, while Sanders and Rackley each made a pair of treys to help out.
Rackley put the Gamecocks on his back to start the second half, scoring the first 14 points of the half for JSU to cap a stretch of scoring 20 of his team's 24 points to pull within five. Sanders then made a pair of free throws to pull the Gamecocks within three at 59-56 early in the half.
A three and a fast-break layup by Williams tied the game 65-65 with 9:16 to play, but Ross answered with a three and a layup to stretch the lead back to five at 70-65.
Williams then connected on another triple to cut it to two, then an off-ball foul on the Cougars sent Felder to the line, where he tied it at 70-70 with 6:37 remaining. The Cougars answered again with six in a row to stretch their lead to 76-70.
The Gamecocks had another counter, this time after a layup by Felder, true freshman Undra Mitchem from the left corner cut their deficit to 76-75 with just over two minutes to play.
The Gamecock defense forced CSU to the end of the shot clock, but Pippen's long trey put it out of reach.
MURRAY STATE 97, BRESCIA 69
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers opened their home season with a 97-69 win over the Brescia Bearcats Tuesday at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
The Racers (1-1) scored their 24th straight win in a home opener and their 16th in the CFSB Center. MSU is now 63-3 since 1948.
Jeffery Moss led the Racers with 21 points, with 20 coming from Dexter Fields. MSU got 15 points from C.J. Ford with Jarvis Williams adding 14 points and 14 rebounds.
In the first half, the Racers quickly built a 17-7 lead that included buckets from Cameron Payne and a steal and dunk by Jonathan Fairell at the 15:30 mark. Moss hit his second three pointer of the half at the 9:17 mark and MSU held a 26-16 advantage. MSU went into the half with a 47-31 lead.
MSU pushed to a 61-41 lead with 15:32 remaining on a baseline drive and dunk by Ford. The lead went to 85-67 when Tyler Rambo came up with a steal that turned into a three-point play with 6:02 left.
The Racers won the rebound battle 40-25 and each team had 14 turnovers.
MSU shot 60 percent from the field (33-of-55) while holding Brescia to 43 percent (25-of-58). From three-point range, the Racers shot 37 percent (6-of-16) and Brescia was 29 percent (5-of-17). The Racers improved their free throw shooting from the game last Friday at Valparaiso in making 76 percent (25-of-33).
TENNESSEE TECH 74, LOYOLA (CHICAGO) 69
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It took Jeremiah Samarrippas nearly 39 minutes to get his first assist of the game, but he couldn't have picked a better time.
His bounce pass inside to Dennis Ogbe led to a three-point play by the Senior CLASS Award nominee, and proved to be the difference in a nail-biter as Tennessee Tech squeaked out a 74-69 victory Tuesday night over Loyola Chicago in Eblen Center.
Clinging to a one-point lead after erasing a 12-point deficit, Ogbe's layup and free throw with 1:14 to play made it 73-69. Jordan Johnson added one free throw with 22 seconds to go for the final margin as Loyola misfired on a couple of 3-point tries.
It was a night when Tech (1-1) celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the 1962-63 Tech team (photo below left) that won the OVC championship and played this same Loyola in the NCAA Tournament. When the final horn sounded, the current Golden Eagles continued the celebration in the dressing room after winning their home opener.
Ogbe topped Tech with 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting and grabbed a game-best nine rebounds, one of four players to net double figures in the scoring column. Ladon Carter added 12 points, also hitting 6-for-7 from the field, and pulled down seven rebounds. Ty Allen, the top scorer in the OVC, chipped in 11 and Samarrippas finished with 10 points. Eleven of the 12 Tech players who saw the court scored.
Loyola (1-1) got big scoring nights from three players, led by Milton Doyle's 23 who was 4-for-7 from long range. Christian Thomas added 18 and Jeff White finished with 12.
Nothing much was settled through the first 20 minutes of play, and the teams headed into the break tied at 32-32. Tech led for most of the opening half, with the score tied four times and the lead changing hands six times. The Golden Eagles led y as many as seven, 19-12, midway through.
Loyola was on fire from long range to open the second half, with Doyle, Joe Crisman, Doyle again, and White all raining down 3-pointers. Doyle's third straight bomb with 15:26 to play pushed the Ramblers to a 51-39 lead, the largest difference in the game.
Carter scored back-to-back baskets and Matt Marseille added another as the Golden Eagles began whittling away at the deficit. Tech finally tied the game at 56-56 with 9:12 to play on a jumper by Ty Allen.
The score was tied four more times in the next three minutes before a free throw by Allen with 5:45 put Tech ahead to stay. Loyola kept it close, pulling to within one point, 70-69, with 1:32 left on a layup from Thomas, and setting the stage for Ogbe's deciding play.
Loyola shot 51.1 percent from the field (23-for-45) and 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from the arc. The Ramblers were 14-for-23 from the charity stripe for 60.9 percent.
Tech shot 48.2 percent from the field (27-for-56), including 50 percent in the second half. The Golden Eagles were 5-for-16 from 3-point range and 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) from the free throw line. Tech owned a 39-25 advantage on the glass, including a 15-4 margin in offensive rebounds.