SATURDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 78, Montana State 72 (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.)
Belmont 81, Holy Cross 70 (Uncasville, Conn.)
@Auburn 75,
Murray State 67
@Eastern Illinois 89, Roosevelt University 67
Milwaukee 70,
@Tennessee Tech 63
@Portland State 77,
SIUE 74
AUSTIN PEAY 78, MONTANA STATE 72
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. - Chris Horton scored a career-high 23 points while fellow sophomore Zavion Williams came off the bench to add 21 to lift Austin Peay State University to a 78-72 win against Montana State, Saturday night, in the final game of Central Michigan tournament.
In completing the tournament 1-2, the Govs’ victory evened their mark at 3-3 while Montana State fell to 1-4.
Horton, whose previous high was 21 against Oakland City a year ago, came up huge in the second half against the Bobcats when APSU overcame a three-point halftime deficit to forge as much as a 12-point second-half advantage. He scored 13 second-half points and in one stretch, with APSU up by just four points, 55-51, Horton scored seven of APSU’s points in a 9-2 run.
He finished the game with 10 of 14 from the floor while also grabbing nine rebounds and blocking four shots. He was named to all-tourney team for his weekend efforts.
If it wasn’t Horton it was Williams who provided the scoring lift. Coming off the bench for the second straight game, he opened the second half as the Govs’ two-guard—replacing the struggling Travis Betran—instead of playing his normal point guard slot, He scored 13 second-half points and finished the night with a pair of three pointers while also going 11-of-14 at the free-throw line.
Keying it all was the frenetic offensive and defensive pace of Damarius Smith, like Williams a Clarksvillian who is playing for his hometown team. Starting a point guard for the second straight night, Smith filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
The Govs led by 10 points with 2:09 left but untenable 2-of-8 free-throw shooting opened the door as Montana State cut the deficit to three points on a Marcus Colbert three pointer with 26 seconds left cut the deficit to three, 75-72.
APSU coach Dave Loos elected to get his strongest free throw shooters into the game and it resulted in Cory Arentsen splitting the defense in the backcourt and finding his wide-open roommate Preston Herring at midcourt , who eased his way to the bucket and slammed it for the finishing touches on the victory.
The Govs finished the night shooting percent (24 of 48) from the field. The 2-of-8 end at the free-throw line partially ruined what was another strong night. The Govs finished the night 27 of 42, 64.3 percent , at the line.
Colbert led the Bobcats with 17 points while Paul Egwuonwu had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
BELMONT 81, HOLY CROSS 70
UNCASVILLE, Conn. - Belmont University men's basketball defeated Holy Cross, 81-70, Saturday night in the Springfield Bracket of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament.
Belmont shot 62 percent from the field in building a 44-26 lead at halftime. Junior Reece Chamberlain sent the Bruins to the locker room with the 18-point advantage by sinking an off-balance 30-footer the beat the first-half buzzer.
The lead grew to 61-39 early in the second half on the strong play of Bradshaw and freshman Evan Bradds.
Holy Cross would close to single figures late, before Bradshaw and Chamberlain secured the game from the free throw line.
The Bruins shot 57 percent (29-for-51) from the field for the game - including 9-for-17 from three-point distance.
Bradshaw led four Bruins in double figures with a career-high 21 points. Chamberlain added 17, senior J.J. Mann scored 16, and senior Blake Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) added 12.
AUBURN 75, MURRAY STATE 67
AUBURN, Ala. - The Murray State Racers dropped a 75-67 defeat to the Auburn Tigers Saturday at the Auburn Arena.
The Racers (2-3) were led in scoring by Cameron Payne and Jeffery Moss with 16 points each. Jarvis Williams was only a rebound from a fourth straight double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Trailing by four at the half, the Racers broke from the gate in the second half with a 9-4 run to take their first lead of the game.
Jeffery Moss hit a 3-pointer and it was followed by another from Payne. Jonathan Fairell blocked a shot and the ensuing break was finished by another Moss three and MSU led 37-36 with 17:29 left. MSU got the game tied at the 14:17 mark 44-44 on a Moss slam.
Auburn went on a 7-0 run for a 60-51 lead at the 7:11 mark and the Racers trailed by as many as 12 with 4:06 left. MSU cut the deficit to six points on a Moss 3-pointer with :24 remaining.
In the first half, the Racers fell behind early 12-6, but fought back to tie the game after a 7-0 run and a jumper by C.J. Ford at the 11:47 mark.
MSU trailed by nine with 1:15 left in the half when they got a run going on a put-back by Williams. Moss hit his first points of the game with :41 left after a blocked shot by Williams and the Tigers' lead was five. Moss ended the half with a runner down the lane at the buzzer to cut Auburn's lead to 32-28 at the break.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 89, ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY 67
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Panther men’s basketball team used a balanced offense that saw 12 players score in an 89-67 victory over Roosevelt University on Saturday night inside Lantz Arena. EIU improves to 3-2 on the year.
The first eight minutes of the contest was close as the two teams were tied three times and exchanged leads on seven occasions. Trailing 18-17 at the 12:48 mark, the Panthers used an 18-5 run to take their largest lead of the half, 35-23, with just over seven minutes on the clock. EIU never relinquished the lead and led 40-33 at intermission despite the Lakers hitting 60 percent (13-for-20) of their shots in the first half.
The Panthers returned the favor in the second stanza and connected on 65.5 percent of their field-goal attempts to build a double-figure lead for the final 17 and a half minutes of the contest. EIU finished the game going 35-for-59 from the floor. Roosevelt cooled off in the second half, going 10-for-27 from the field.
Alex Austin led three Panthers in double figures with 16 points, going 5-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-6 from behind the arc. He also went 2-for-2 for from the foul line. EIU finished the game going 11-for-17 from the charity stripe.
Keenen Anderson added 13 points while Sherman Blanford chipped in 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds. The Lakers had one more rebound (28-27) in the contest than the Panthers.
EIU dished out a season-high 21 assists in the win, led by Reggie Smith who had seven to go along with nine points. Zach Dickerson also added five assists and nine points.
Defensively, the Panthers had a season-high 10 blocks and 10 steals. EIU also forced 18 turnovers, turning the miscues into 16 points. The Panthers had 38 bench points and 48 points in the paint in the victory.
Korey Ryan led the Lakers with a game-high 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Kevin Priebe also added 12 points and a team-high five rebounds.
MILWAUKEE 70, TENNESSEE TECH 63
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The offense simply wasn't working very well, so Tennessee Tech turned to defense and almost pulled off an improbable comeback in the final four minutes. Almost, but not quite.
Milwaukee took advantage of some timely 3-point shots and an ice-cold second half by the Golden Eagles to battle its way to a 70-63 victory Saturday night in Eblen Center.
It was the first loss at home for Tech (3-4) following two wins. Meanwhile, Milwaukee (5-2) won for the fifth time in six games away from home.
Down by a dozen, Tech's frantic, trapping defense forced several turnovers down the stretch and the Golden Eagles got the crowd to its feet when it made it a one possession game, pulling to within three points, 64-61, in the final 1:32.
But an array of whistles and a variety of foul calls determined the direction of the final 30 seconds.
Tech was within three one more time, 66-63, with 16 seconds left, before Mitch Roelke stepped to the free throw line and made four straight to seal the win. They came on the same play, when a flagrant foul was called on Tech along with the second technical on Matt Tiby, sending him racing to the dressing room and pulling off his shirt on the way.
Sophomore Austin Arians led all scorers with 17 points for the Panthers, hitting 6-for-10 including three 3-pointers. Tiby added 14 points and Kyle Kelm had 12. That threesome combined to shoot 15-for-29. No other Milwaukee player had more than one basket. Arians topped Milwaukee on the glass with seven.
Dwan Caldwell was Tech's leader with 13 points, nine rebounds, and four blocked shots, shooting 6-for-12. Ty Allen was the only other Golden Eagle in double figures with 12.
Dennis Ogbe and Allen fouled out for Tech, while Milwaukee had Tiby and Steve McWhorter each leave early due to whistles. A total of 47 fouls were called.
Workmanlike effort in the first half left Tech with a 28-24 lead at halftime.
The Golden Eagles missed all five of shots during the first five minutes of the second half, while Milwaukee was 4-for-8 during that stretch as the Panthers erased the four-point deficit to take a three-point lead.
The downward trend in Tech's shooting continued over the next six minutes, as well, and with 10 minutes to play, the Panthers had opened a nine-point lead at 52-43. At that point, Tech was shooting 15.4 percent (2-for-13) in the second stanza while Milwaukee had connected on 57.1 percent (8-for-14).
Tech found itself trailing 62-50 with 4:11 to play as the Panthers built the largest lead of the contest at the free throw line. Milwaukee went 5-for-5 at the line in a stretch that moved its lead from eight to 12 points.
Tech's comeback began quietly with a free throw by Matt Marseille. He followed with a layup 30 seconds later that pulled Tech to within nine. The 9-0 Golden Eagle run included an offensive putback by Ladon Carter, two free throws from Ammanuel Diressa and a layup by Jeremiah Samarrippas. That made it 62-59 with 1:57 to play and set the stage for the wild finish.
The shooting disparity, both from the field and outside the arc, was the difference in a game where nearly every other statistical comparison was close. Tech held a 44-36 advantage in rebounds, including 21 offensive boards. Milwaukee had 18 turnovers to 16 by the Golden Eagles.
Points in the paint were 32-30, points off turnovers were 20-19, and second chance points were 15-12.
Tech finished the game shooting 31.1 percenet (19-for-61) overall and 11.8 percent (2-for-17) from long distance. The Golden Eagles hit 23-for-29 (79.3 percent) at the line.
Milwaukee shot 42 percent (21-for-50) overall, including an even 50 percent (12-for-24) in the second half. The Panthers hit 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) from long range and went 23-for-30 (76.7 percent) at the line.
PORTLAND STATE 77, SIUE 74
PORTLAND, Ore. - SIUE men's basketball saw a halftime lead disappear for the second time in as many nights, falling at Portland State 77-74 Saturday in the team's second game at the Portland State Tournament.
SIUE drops to 1-4 with the loss. Portland State improved to 3-1.
The Cougars led for the first 33:27 of the game, and held a 43-33 edge at halftime thanks to a Ray Lester dunk as time expired.
Tim Johnson scored 17 points to lead three SIUE players in double figures. Donivine Stewart scored 16 points while Keaton Jackson added 11. Stewart and Jackson shared the rebounding lead with four apiece. Stewart also finished with a team-high five assists, and the team registered 19 assists for the game.
The Cougars had a seven-point lead when Tim Douglas sank the first of three three-pointers to make it 49-45 SIUE with 16:32 to play. Lester hit a short jumper to extend the lead back to five before Douglas struck again from the right wing to make it 51-48. Douglas, who was 2 for 9 from three-point range before the game, drained a third three-pointer with 11:43 to play to make it 56-53 SIUE. Douglas led Portland State with a game-high 18 points.
Marcus Hall hit a three-pointer with 6:33 left to briefly put Portland State on top 62-61. Johnson gave SIUE the lead back before Portland State's Andre Winston hit a pair of free throws to move the Vikings on top for good at 64-63.
Portland State led by five when Michael Messer scored on a runner with 1:11 left to make it 73-70.
Johnson then sank a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game at 73-72. Douglas put PSU back up three with a pair of his own free throws with 25 seconds left. Jackson was fouled 16 seconds left and hit both shots to make it 75-74. Andre Winston made it 77-74 with two free throws with just nine seconds left.
Davis' had a chance to tie the game for SIUE, but his three-point attempt with from the left corner nine seconds left glanced off the rim.
Portland State was 7 of 17 from three-point range, and 18-22 (81.8 percent) from the free throw line. The Cougars were 12-13 (92.3 percent) from the free throw line. SIUE was just 1 of 10 from three-point range after haftime.