SATURDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 85, @Eastern Illinois 77
@Belmont 64, Tennessee Tech 62
@SIUE 85, Eastern Kentucky 79
@Tennessee State 70, Jacksonville State 65
@Austin Peay 80, Southeast Missouri 74
MOREHEAD STATE 85, EASTERN ILLINOIS 77
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Morehead State men's basketball team connected on 25 of its last 26 free-throw attempts en route to an 85-77 victory over Eastern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.
The Eagles improve to 11-6 overall, 5-4 on the road and 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with their fifth straight win over EIU. The Panthers slip to 4-10 overall, 3-4 at home and 0-2 in league play.
Morehead State entered the contest 11th in the conference and 293rd nationally in free-throw accuracy. The Eagles knocked down just 40 percent (6-of-15) from the charity stripe in the opening half, but drilled 88 percent (28-of-32) in the second period.
Junior Kareem Storey made all 12 of his free-throw attempts en route to 14 points. Junior Angelo Warner hit 9-of-12 from the same spot and scored 13 points, which marked his 16th double-figure performance this year and the 45th of his career.
Senior Chad Posthumus registered team highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds. It marked his OVC-leading ninth double-double this season and the 11th of his MSU career. The rebounding effort was also his 13th in double figures this year.
Sophomore Brent Arrington, who netted 12 points, and junior Luka Pajkovic, who posted 10, also finished in double figures for the Eagles. The Eagles registered a 35-11 advantage in bench scoring.
Morehead State manufactured a 10-2 run after falling behind by six with 8:01 remaining. The Eagles, who scored 26 of their final 46 points from the foul line, closed out the afternoon on a 33-19 spurt.
Eastern Illinois raced out to a 15-6 lead at the 14:35 mark of the first half, but the Eagles scored the next 15 points to grab a 21-15 lead. MSU's largest cushion of the half was 24-17 at the 7:51 mark.
EIU junior Reggie Smith topped all players with 20 points, while classmate Chris Olivier added 19.
The Eagles recorded a 42-39 rebounding edge and 16-10 upper hand in second-chance points.
BELMONT 64, TENNESSEE TECH 62
NASHVILLE - Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee Tech, 64-62, Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center.
After shooting 64 percent from the field in Thursday's victory over Jacksonville State, the Bruins picked up right where they left off. A three-pointer from senior J.J. Mann pushed Belmont to an early 11-2 lead less than four minutes in. Moreover, opportunistic Bruin defense forced a number of Golden Eagle turnovers and led to transition baskets.
But foul trouble from forwards Drew Windler and Blake Jenkins again altered head coach Rick Byrd's offensive play-calling and substitution patterns.
A conventional three-point play from Shirmaine Thomas got Tennessee Tech within 17-13 midway through the first half. Uncharacteristically cold Belmont shooting kept the Bruins from building true momentum. Four straight points from freshman Evan Bradds did enable the Bruins to claim a 29-23 halftime lead.
After its 5-for-7 start, Belmont shot just 34 percent from the field (10-for-29) in the opening 20 minutes - including 2-for-11 from three-point distance. The Bruins did force 10 Golden Eagle turnovers, and played even on the backboards against the excellent rebounding Tennessee Tech team.
Dennis Ogbe carried the Golden Eagle offensive torch early in the second half, but scores from sophomore Craig Bradshaw, Mann, and Bradds gave Belmont a 42-32 edge with 15:23 left. Following a Jordan Johnson three-pointer, Bradds capped an 11-2 Belmont run with an emphatic baseline slam to lift the Bruins to their largest lead, 53-37, with 11:05 remaining. The home Curb Event Center crowd was alive, but to the Golden Eagles credit, they hung tough.
The Bruins made just two field goals thereafter, as Jeremiah Samarrippas led a Tennessee Tech comeback effort. His floater in the lane made the score 59-55 with 5:17 remaining. Following two Windler free throws, Dwan Caldwell scored to get Tennessee Tech within 61-59 with 3:48 left. The Bruin offense simply lost its rhythm and flow down the stretch, but a clutch three-pointer from Bradshaw on a kick-out pass from Bradds pushed the lead back to five.
Following a series of defensive stops, a Javon McKay three-pointer made the score 64-62 with 58 seconds remaining. On the subsequent Belmont possession, Samarrippas stole the ball as Bradshaw drove the right side, giving Tennessee Tech a chance to tie or take its first lead of the game. But following a timeout, Ty Allen's diagonal, crosscourt pass bounced off the rim and was touched by Caldwell before heading into the backcourt, leading to a backcourt violation with six seconds remaining.
However, following a Belmont timeout, junior Reece Chamberlain misconnected on the inbounds pass intended for Mann, and the Golden Eagles regained possession near midcourt with no time running off the clock. From there, Samarrippas missed an off-balance eight-footer with under two seconds left and Golden Eagle tip attempts came after the horn sounded.
All told, Belmont shot 44 percent from the field (21-for-48) - including 5-for-19 from three-point distance. The Bruins forced 19 Tennessee Tech turnovers which led directly to 26 Belmont points.
Bradshaw led three Bruins in double figures with 17 points. Mann added 14 points, six rebounds, and four steals. Bradds scored 10.
Samarrippas led Tennessee Tech (8-9, 1-1 OVC) with 16 points.
SIUE 85, EASTERN KENTUCKY 79
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Four players scored in double figures, and SIUE men's basketball shot 58 percent from the field Saturday night en route to an 85-79 upset win over Eastern Kentucky in Ohio Valley Conference action at Vadalabene Center.
Eastern Kentucky, the preseason favorite in the OVC, began the night ranked 19th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 poll.
SIUE improved to 1-1 in the OVC and 4-11 overall with the win. Eastern Kentucky dropped to 10-5 overall and 1-1 in the OVC following the loss.
The Cougars emerged with the win in a game which featured 11 ties and eight lead changes. SIUE also won despite trailing 42-39 at halftime. It is the first time in eight games this season that the Cougars were victorious after trailing at halftime.
Eight players scored at least five points in the game, and five Cougars players registered at least two assists. The Cougars finished with 16 assists as a team.
Donivine Stewart led SIUE with 15 points. Messer added 13 points. Johnson scored 12, including nine in the second half. Kris Davis finished with 11 points and four assists. Lester scored six points had hauled in a career-high 10 rebounds, including six in the second half. Keaton Jackson scored nine points and added six rebounds and three blocked shots.
The Colonels led by as many as seven in the game. A Maurice Wiltz three-pointer with 9:06 to play in the game pushed SIUE in front 63-62. The Cougars never trailed again. SIUE built its lead to as many as 11 when Davis connected on triple from the left corner to make it 79-68 with 2:33 to play.
Glenn Cosey and Orlando Williams each hit three-pointers in an 11-2 run that pulled the Colonels within two (81-79) with 60 seconds left.
Messer closed out the game for the Cougars with a running layup with 35 seconds to play, a defensive rebound, and a pair of free throws to seal the win.
Defensively, the Cougars held EKU to just five three-pointers and a 29.4 shooting percentage from long range. The Colonels came into the game averaging 9.9 three-pointers a game and were second in the OVC with a 37.8 percentage from beyond the arc.
Cosey led the Colonels with 23 points. Corey Walden added 19 points, while Williams scored 18.
TENNESSEE STATE 70, JACKSONVILLE STATE 65
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team notched its first Ohio Valley Conference victory of the season with a 70-65 home win against Jacksonville State on Saturday night.
Senior guard Patrick Miller led the Tigers with 19 points and added five rebounds, four assist and four steals. Fellow senior Jacquan Nobles was second on the team, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including a 3-for-6 mark from deep. Forward M.J. Rhett recorded a game-high 13 rebounds, helping Tennessee State (2-14, 1-2 OVC) to a 35-28 advantage on the boards.
The Gamecocks won the tip, but Miller stole a JSU pass, raced all the way down the court, and converted a contested layup for the game’s first basket. Miller later converted a pair of free throws at the 12:50 mark to put the Tigers up, 13-7. Jacksonville State (7-11, 1-2 OVC) committed the first six fouls of the game, leading to seven of TSU’s first 13 points.
The Tigers continued to roll in the first half as a jumper by Ugo Mmonu made the score 22-15 with nine minutes to play before halftime. Tennessee State made just two of its last 10 shots of the stanza, allowing JSU to go on a 15-9 run for the remainder of the period. However, TSU still led at the break for the second consecutive game, 31-30. The Tigers were outshot during the opening 20 minutes, 46 to 37 percent, but held a 21-10 advantage on the glass.
Nobles drained a triple to start the second half, and Kennedy Eubanks added a layup on the next trip down the floor to put the Tigers back up by six. JSU brought the TSU lead down to one with a bucket at the 15:22 mark, but back-to-back triples by Eubanks and Jay Harris made the score 46-41 in favor of the home side.
Nobles hit his third three of the game with 5:30 to go to put TSU up by eight, but the Gamecocks pulled within two with a 5-0 run later in the period. Miller nailed a triple on TSU’s next possession to make the score 65-60 with only 1:36 left and the Tigers forced a turnover on the ensuing series. From there, Tennessee State made 5-of-7 from the charity stripe and escaped with a five-point victory, 70-65.
The Tigers were 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from beyond the three-point line during the game, including a 6-for-11 line for the second half.
Brian Williams had 19 points to lead JSU.
AUSTIN PEAY 80, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Rarely does a foul motivate a team but that was the case Saturday night as Austin Peay rallied to defeat Southeast Missouri, 80-74, in Ohio Valley Conference action played in Dave Aaron Arena.
Trailing 48-41 with 15:34 left, Damarius Smith rebounded a Southeast Missouri miss and went coast-to-coast before rising up and slamming home a dunk over Nino Johnson. But Smith was called for an offensive foul—wiping out the basket—to the dismay of the Governors crowd and the APSU bench.
But that play energized APSU. The Govs proceeded to go on a 26-5 run to build a 14-point lead and then held off a late Redhawk charge to even their overall record at 8-8, but more importantly improve to 2-0 in OVC play.
Southeast Missouri, one of the co-favorites to win the OVC West, fell to 0-2 in league play and 8-7 overall.
Sophomore center Chris Horton, who had 21 points and 12 rebounds—his eighth double-double this season—scored six of those points as did Travis Betran, his via back-to-back three pointers, while Will Will Triggs had seven of his second-half 14 points as APSU built a 67-53 lead with 6:46 left.
The Govs then were forced to brace for a Redhawk 15-5 spurt that was punctuated by 11 Jarekious Bradley points (of his 30), including a trio of three pointers. After his second straight three with 3:08 left, the Govs lead was sliced to 72-68.
But two Zavion Williams free throws temporarily quieted the run and then Bradley picked up his fifth foul while trying to guard Triggs inside. Triggs’ subsequent free throws put the advantage to eight, 76-68 with 1:58 left. Without Bradley’s presence, SEMO couldn’t find that late punch for the comeback.
Meanwhile, the Govs, leading by six with 1:42 left, was able to put the game away when Damarius Smith found Chris Horton for an alley-oop dunk with 59 second left for 78-70 lead.
That was Smith’s 10th assist—his second straight double-digit assist performance. Meanwhile, Betran, who was uncertain prior to the game with back issues after a collision in Thursday’s UT Martin game, finished with 16 points, two more than Triggs who struggled through a scoreless first half. For a second straight game Zavion Williams came off the bench to score double figures, this time 12 points.
The Govs finished the night shooting 52 percent—their third straight game shooting 50 percent or better—while committing just nine turnovers—the second straight game with their season low in that category.
Tyler Stone (16 points, 10 rebounds) was the only other Skyhawk double figures after Bradley’s 30. The Redhawks shot 50 percent (29 of 58) from the floor and out-rebounded the Govs 35-28 but committed 18 turnovers.