MONDAY'S SCORES
@Indiana State 61,
Austin Peay 57
@Xavier 89,
Murray State 62
@Belmont 82, Lipscomb 77
@Tennessee Tech 81, Southeastern Louisiana 62
@Portland State 90,
SIUE 87 (OT)
INDIANA STATE 61, AUSTIN PEAY 57
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Shooting a season-low 35 percent from the floor, Austin Peay State University’s basketball team was unable to cease a late Indiana State rally as APSU fell, 61-57, in second preliminary game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.
The loss was the Governors third straight, dropping them to 1-4 on the season. Indiana State improved to 3-1. Now both teams head to Vegas the for their respective final two tourney games Thursday and Friday.
Leading 48-43 with 5:56 left after a pair of Tre’ Ivory free throws, the Govs would go just 3-of-11 (27 percent) the game’s remainder while Indiana State was 3-of-5 while also connecting 12-of-14 free-throw attempts, including their final 11. Overall, the Governors shot a season-low 22 of 63 (34.9 percent) from the floor in falling to 1-4 on the season.
APSU’s backcourt continued its early season shooting woes. Ed Dyson, who finished with a game-high 15 points, shot a respectable 6-of-14 (43 percent), but overall the Govs guards produced just 14-of-46 (31 percent).
It was the fourth straight game the offensively challenged Govs were held to less than 70 points, this time a season-low 57.
For the second straight game APSU’s inside game, which shined in the season’s first three contests, was all but neutralized by Indiana State’s physical play. Both center Chris Horton and forward Chris Freeman finished with eight points apiece, getting just 15 shots between them, only four in the opening half.
Lost in the defeat was APSU overcame scoring just three points in the first seven minutes, falling behind by 11 minutes, but managed to tie the game 25-25 at halftime. Twice in the second half the Govs were able to scratch out five-point advantages. Both times they had opportunities to extend the lead but their offensive inefficiency and turnovers prevented them from extending the lead. It finally caught up with them as Indiana State guards took advantage of some Govs’ defensive miscues to score on a trio of layups that helped changed the game’s momentum, in particular over the final 5:56.
One of those guards, reserve Tre Bennett, led the Sycamores in scoring with 14 points.
After being outrebounding by a large number in the early going, APSU finished the night being out-boarded by only a 39-35 margin. Horton grabbed 11 rebounds while Freeman added nine and Khalil Davis seven.
XAVIER 89, MURRAY STATE 62
CINCINNATI - The Murray State Racers came away with an 89-62 loss Monday to the Xavier Musketeers at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Cameron Payne led the Racers with 23 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists, while Jarvis Williams added 14 points and Tyler Rambo 11.
After falling behind early 11-0, the Racers got their first basket from T.J. Sapp at the 16:39 mark.
The Racers made a move and cut the Musketeers’ lead to 10 when Payne scored in the half-court and then made a three-point play when he was fouled on a fast break. MSU trailed 26-16 with 10:17 to go before half.
MSU faced a 52-32 deficit at the half after Payne was fouled on a drive with 1.8 seconds left and made a pair from the line.
Payne and Williams each hit a basket to start the second half to get the Racers to 52-36, but MSU could not get any closer.
The Racers fell to 2-2, while Xavier improved to 4-0
BELMONT 82, LIPSCOMB 77
NASHVILLE - Belmont University men's basketball rode a career-high 29 points from junior Craig Bradshaw and played through some unusually poor free throw shooting down the stretch to defeat Lipscomb, 82-77, Monday night.
The Bruins scored 17 of the first 20 points of the game, but Lipscomb stabilized and tied the score at 27. Yet Belmont closed the half on a 14-0 run to lead 41-27 at the break.
Lipscomb rode strong play from Martin and Malcolm Smith to get within 52-50 with 12:08 left.
But Bradshaw went on an offensive tear, scoring 14 points in a two and a half minute span midway through the second half to push Belmont to a double figure lead.
The Bruins led 74-61 with 3:53 left, but a string of missed free throws - 17 misses for the game - and Lipscomb scores narrowed the margin to two points twice in the final 30 seconds.
But senior Holden Mobley and Bradshaw made free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
Belmont (4-1) shot 56 percent from the field.
Senior Reece Chamberlain had another tremendous all-around game, with 13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals.
TENNESSEE TECH 81, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 62
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech went to work in earnest in the second half Monday night, controlling the boards, scrambling the floor with baseline-to-baseline defense, and using balanced scoring to roll to an 81-62 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in Eblen Center.
Up three at halftime, Tech (3-1) shot 60 percent in the second period and limited the visiting Lions (0-4) to 38.5 percent accuracy. Tech had a 22-7 rebound advantage while posting a 49-33 scoring difference in the second half. Tech shot a blistering 53.6 percent (30-for-56) for the game.
Five players scored in double figures for coach Steve Payne's squad, topped by Josiah Moore's 16 on 6-for-9 shooting including a 3-for-5 effort from long range. Freshman Aleksa Jugovic was 4-for-6 from 3-point range and finished with a career-best 14 points.
Tech also got a double-double from post Charles Jackson with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He also had three blocked shots and hit 5-for-8 of his shot while notching his fourth consecutive double-double. He is the first player to open his Tech career with four straight double-doubles since Hall of Fame inductee Damien Kinloch in 2001-02.
Dwan Caldwell scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds, and Torrance Rowe added 11 points, five rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
Southeastern Louisiana had four players in twin digits, led by Andrew Guillory with 17 and DeVonte Upson with 16. Zay Jackson, a transfer from Murray State playing his first season with the Lions, added 13 points and four assists, and Onochie Ochie had 10 points. That foursome scored all but six of the Lions' points.
The first half proved to be a rabbit chase, with SELA holding the edge for seven minutes and Tech sitting on top for 12 minutes. The largest Lion lead was five points, the last time at 10-5. Tech's largest margin in the half was eight points, that coming with a 23-15 difference with 7:19 to play.
Southeastern Louisiana pulled to within one point, 30-29, in the final minute before Anthony Morse banked in a layup with 35 seconds to play for the halftime score of 32-29.
SELA had a 40-28 edge in points in the paint, but the Golden Eagles had better depth with a 38-16 margin off the bench.
The Lions tied things early in the second half at 34-all, and hung close for the first five minutes of the second period, tying things again at 40-40 with 14:58 to play.
That's when Tech seemed to take control with a 15-5 run, with Moore (7) and Jugovic (8) accounting for all of the points. Moore scored a pair of layups and a 3-point play, while Jugovic dropped in a pair of treys and added a layup.
Tech's lead went to 15 points, and eventually ballooned to 18 on a crowd-pleasing dunk by Jackson with 2:31 to play.
Neither team has to wait long to get back in action, and they can both do so without bothering to review a new scouting report. The same two teams will face off Wednesday night in Hammond, La., with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. CT. That game will be the Lions' first home game after four on the road to get the year underway.
PORTLAND STATE 90, SIUE 87 (OT)
PORTLAND, Ore. - Seniors Kris Davis and Keaton Jackson combined for 41 points Monday, but Portland State outlasted SIUE men's basketball 90-87 at the Stott Center.
SIUE fell to 1-3 and has lost three in a row. Portland State improved to 3-0 with the win.
The game went to overtime tied 82-82. Portland State took a four-point (88-84) lead after a free throw from Tiegbe Bamba with 29 seconds left in the overtime period. Donivine Stewart drove to the basket, scored and drew a foul. Stewart missed the free throw, but was fouled on the rebound. Stewart hit one of two free throws to pull the Cougars within one at 88-87. Tim Douglas was fouled on the ensuing possession for PSU and connected on both free throws for the final margin.
In a true back-and-forth game, the game featured eight lead changes and the score was tied eight times.
SIUE used a 14-2 run midway through the first half to swing the game from a five-point Portland State lead to (16-12) to a five-point SIUE lead (21-18). The Cougars built their lead to as much as nine points when Jake Newton hit a three-pointer with 8:33 left to make it 34-25 SIUE.
Portland State worked its way back and led 51-44 when Michael Messer hit a fall-away baseline jumper as time expired in the half to make it 51-46.
The Vikings held the lead through the first 11-plus minutes in the second period. A three-pointer by Davis with 11:24 to play in the second half gave SIUE its first lead of the half at 71-69. From that point neither team held more than a two-point lead.
Bryce White gave PSU a 79-77 lead with a layup with 4:03 left. A Stewart three-pointer put the Cougars back on top 80-79. DaShaun Wiggins hit one of two free throws to tie the score 80-80. A dunk by Jackson made it 82-80 Cougars with 2:02 left. PSU tied the game with a layup by Braxton Tucker with nine seconds to play. SIUE called a timeout with six seconds remaining. Jackson followed a missed shot with a tip-in at the buzzer, but his shot was disallowed sending the game into overtime.
Both teams shot the ball well. The Cougars were 33-61 from the field, shooting a season-high 54.1 percent. Portland State was 30-60 (.500) from the field and 7-14 (.500) from three-point range.
Davis tied his career high with 25 points coming on 9-of-13 shooting. He was 3-6 from three-point range and hit all four free throw attempts. He added a team-high six rebounds.
Jackson scored 16 points. He was 8 for 9 from the field. He also added six rebounds.
Wiggins led five Vikings in double figures with a career-high 32 points. He was 12 for 18 from the field. Douglas scored 17 points. He was 3-3 from three-point range.