WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 76, @Morehead State 73
@Southeast Missouri 91, UMKC 81
@SIUE 77, Crowley's Ridge 48
BELMONT 76, MOREHEAD STATE 73
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Belmont University men's basketball closed the game on a 10-0 run to outlast Morehead State, 76-73, Wednesday night.
The Bruins (17-7, 8-1 OVC) trailed by nine points early can 35-29 at halftime as the host Eagles played inspired basketball. Belmont tied the game at 52, before Angelo Warner and Drew Kelly pushed Morehead State back out to a commanding lead.
But trailing 73-66 with under two minutes left, Belmont executed on both ends of the floor, creating turnovers defensively, converting those turnovers into scores, and extending the game.
After Reece Chamberlain drove and tied the game at 73 with 25 seconds left, Chamberlain proceeded to tip away the basketball from a Morehead State player, sparking a 3 on 1 Bruin break and a J.J. Mann layin with 12 seconds left.
The Bruins then proceeded to draw a charge with nine seconds left, get one free throw from Mann, and deny a final three-point attempt at the buzzer.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 91, UMKC 81
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - - Lucas Nutt broke Southeast Missouri's all-time career assists record and Dickey Nutt recorded his 250th career win as a head coach in the Redhawks 91-81 victory over Kansas City Wednesday night at the Show Me Center.
Southeast improved to 12-10 this season, while UMKC dropped to 7-13.
Six different Redhawks scored double figures on a great night which resulted in a father/son combination achieving two milestones.
Nutt entered the game needing nine assists and was well on his way to establishing the new mark with six in the first half alone. He then officially broke the record when he passed the ball off to Tyler Stone, who threw down a dunk to give Southeast a 78-75 lead with 5:28 left in the game. Nutt, who now has 544 career assists, surpassed Dwayne Rutherford's previous record of 541 from 1986-90.
Despite the fact Southeast's leading scorer, Jarekious Bradley, was limited to just two minutes due to a sprained knee, several others stepped up to help lead the Nutts to their historic moments.
Stone paved the way with a double-double 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Paul McRoberts followed with 16 points off the bench. Josh Langford added 14, Nutt chipped in a double-double 12 points and 11 assists, and both Antonius Cleveland and Nino Johnson contributed 11 points apiece.
The Redhawks led, 78-75, with 4:53 left to play before going on a 12-3 run to put the win on ice. Nutt's free throws capped that final surge to give Southeast a 90-78 advantage with 45 seconds remaining. UMKC was within three or less points a total of 13 times prior to that stretch.
Southeast missed just seven field goals an shot a scorching 70.8 percent (17-of-24) in the second half.
The Redhawks started strong and led by as many as seven points in the first half before taking a 43-39 lead at the intermission.
Southeast went on a 9-2 run in the first 2:25 of the game, as Nutt dished out three of his assists during that span. Darrian Gray, who made his seventh start of the season and first since Dec. 29, knocked down a three-pointer to cap the early surge with 17:25 left to play.
Caleb Johnson buried a three to give UMKC its first lead with 13:47 remaining. The Kangaroos then went up by four (21-17) on Frank Williams' trey 1:21 later.
McRoberts' layup tied the game at 28-28 and spurred a 13-6 run, as Southeast widened its lead to seven again. Cleveland accounted for five points and converted a three-point play to give the Redhawks a 41-34 advantage with 1:34 on the clock.
After Kirk Korver splashed in a three to slice Southeast's lead to 41-39, Nino Johnson scored the final basket to give the Redhawks their halftime edge.
Stone shot 10-of-14 from the field and 2-of-3 at the free throw line en route to his team-high ninth double-double of the season. McRoberts matched his season-high in points with a perfect 6-of-6 field goals, including two from downtown. He also had three assists, two steals and a block in 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, Langford (6-of-8), Cleveland (5-of-9) and Johnson (5-of-10) all made at least five field goals, while Nutt picked up his second point-assist double-double this year.
Southeast dominated the paint, outscoring the Kangaroos, 62-22. In addition, the Redhawks held UMKC under 40 percent (.381) from the field.
Johnson led UMKC with 15 points.
SIUE 77, CROWLEY'S RIDGE 48
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE men's basketball won its fourth consecutive home game Wednesday defeating Crowley's Ridge 77-48 in nonconference action at Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars improved to 8-14 overall. Crowley's Ridge dropped to 9-10.
After a slow start which saw the Pioneers go up by five (8-3) after the first 3:37, the Cougars rebounded with a 19-2 run to lead 22-10 after a layup by Ray Lester with 6:52 left in the half. The Cougars led 36-21 at halftime.
SIUE used a 63 percent (17-27) shooting performance in the second half to outscore the Pioneers 41-27. After a pair of free throws by the Pioneers' Tim Shepard cut the lead to 13 points (36-23) less than a minute into the half, SIUE outscored Crowley's Ridge 35-12 to take its largest lead of the game, 36 points, with 6:56 remaining. The Cougars shot 56.5 percent (31-55) for the game, and won the rebounding battle 36-32.
Tim Johnson led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He added six rebounds in the win. Donivine Stewart scored 14 points and added four assists. Maurice Wiltz scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and was 2 for 4 from three-point range. Christian Salecich scored nine points and led the team with eight rebounds. Keaton Jackson added four points, six rebounds, and a career-best five blocks. It is the most blocks in a game by an SIUE player since 2009.
Josh Longino was the only player to score in double figures for Crowley's Ridge. He scored 12. Skylor Guess and Tim Shepard each scored nine points. Shepard hauled in a game-high nine rebounds.