SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 54 vs. Southern 43 (Niceville, Fla.)
@Morehead State 121, Kentucky Christian 49
@Southeast Missouri 85, Alabama A&M 51
Belmont 83, @Ohio 81
St. Francis Brooklyn 59,
Tennessee State 57 (Jersey City, N.J.)
Valparaiso 93,
Murray State 58 (Nashville, Tenn.)
@BYU 90,
Eastern Kentucky 76
EASTERN ILLINOIS 54, SOUTHERN 43
NICEVILLE, Fla. - Eastern Illinois held Southern University without a field goal for the first 11:10 of the game as the Panthers picked up a 54-43 win in the final game of the Emerald Coast Classic on Saturday afternoon.
EIU improved to 2-5 and will host Ball State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Lantz Arena. Southern University dropped to 1-6.
Josh Piper hit a 3-pointer to open the game with Southern hitting one of two at the free throw line. EIU would go on a 21-0 run until the Jaguars knocked down their first field goal at the 11:10 mark.
EIU shot 58 percent in the game including 8-of-15 from 3-point range. Piper had nine points knocking down three 3-pointers. Dylan Chatman was 2-of-3 from 3-point range finishing with 11 points.
The Panthers led 32-14 at the half.
EIU turned the ball over four times to open the second but settled down as Trae Anderson led all players with 16 points for EIU. Jared Sam had 13 points for Southern as they shot 32 percent for the game.
SU closed to nine points in the final 2:30 as Sam hit a lay-up making it 48-39 EIU. Reggie Smith answered with a lay-up only to see Sam go to the free throw line to make it a nine point game with 1:32 to play. Smith closed the game for EIU with a 3-pointer.
MOREHEAD STATE 121, KENTUCKY CHRISTIAN 49
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball team established 30 career highs and led from start to finish in a 121-49 victory over Kentucky Christian on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Arena. The 72-point win was MSU's largest in the program's 86 seasons of existence.
The Eagles, who compete in the Ohio Valley Conference, improve to 4-4 overall and 2-0 at home. The Knights, who play in the Mid-South Conference, slip to 1-7 overall and 1-4 on the road. MSU moves to 7-0 all-time versus KCU and wins its 46th straight game against NAIA opponents.
Morehead State's point total was its largest since scoring 123 against Kentucky Christian during the 2005-06 campaign. The previous school record for margin of victory was 68 against Centre (Ky.) during the 1955-56 season.
Senior Angelo Warner led the Eagles with 20 points, on 9-of-10 from the field, in just 15 minutes. Junior Lyonell Gaines (19), senior Karam Mashour (14), freshman Miguel Dicent (14), junior Jared Ravenscraft (9) and junior Marcus Fuggins (5) all tallied career highs in scoring for MSU.
Morehead State drilled 64 percent (49-of-77) from the field, while limiting Kentucky Christian to 38 percent (19-of-50). The Eagles also knocked down 50 percent (10-of-20) from three-point range. MSU raced out to an 18-0 advantage with 15:11 to play before intermission and never trailed.
Seven Eagles notched personal bests in assists, while seven grabbed the distinction in steals.
Warner and junior Brent Arrington posted five helpers apiece, while Arrington collected seven takeaways in just 21 minutes and Warner recorded six. Gaines, Dicent and freshman Marquel Willis notched four assists each, while sophomore Corban Collins contributed four steals for MSU.
Morehead State rolled to advantages of 49-20 in rebounds, 33-16 in assists and 26-7 in steals. The Eagles turned 36 turnovers into 67 points, while the Knights scored just 16 points off 17 miscues. MSU also registered a 72-20 upper hand in paint points and 49-8 cushion in fast-break points.
MSU junior Anthony Elechi posted his first Division I double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Morehead State held a 50-19 halftime lead and increased the advantage to a game-high 77 with 3:14 remaining. The Eagles, who had multiple 6-0, 8-0 and 10-0 surges, manufactured a 34-6 run down the stretch to pull away.
Senior Tyler Farley tallied team bests of 13 points and five assists for Kentucky Christian.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 85, ALABAMA A&M 51
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (3-3) held Alabama A&M (1-4) to a mere 31.3 percent from the field in an 85-51 victory Saturday night at the Show Me Center.
Southeast's defense forced 19 turnovers and held AAMU to its second-lowest point total of the season. The Bulldogs made only 15-of-48 field goals against the smothering Redhawks. The .313 field goal percentage was Southeast's second-lowest under head coach Dickey Nutt only to the .279 clip (19-of-68) Lyon College had on Nov. 12, 2012.
Jamaal Calvin gave Southeast a nice boost in the first half, scoring 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench.
Calvin knocked down a three-pointer on each of his first two shots. His second three ignited an 18-5 run that gave the Redhawks a comfortable 30-14 lead with 5:40 left to play. Calvin was 3-of-5 from long range in his productive first half.
Southeast scored seven unanswered points in the final 1:31 to take a 39-20 lead at the half. Aaron Adeoye made two free throws and followed a missed jumper by J.J. Thompson with a thunderous dunk at the buzzer.
The Redhawks did not let up in the second half, building a 30-point lead (64-34) on a pair of Josh Langford free throws with 10:46 on the clock. Southeast's lead never fell below 29 points the rest of the way.
Jarekious Bradley led all scorers with a game-high 17 points, his fourth-straight double-digit scoring performance this season. Bradley shot 6-of-14 from the field, 3-of-6 from three-point range and 2-of-2 at the free throw line.
Adeoye followed with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Calvin and Langford scored 11 and 10, respectively. Nino Johnson also had 10 rebounds for Southeast, which held a +11 advantage (49-38) on the glass.
AAMU was led by Ladarius Tabb's 16 points.
Additionally, there was a combined 56 fouls and 87 free throws attempted in the game. The Bulldogs shot under 50 percent (48.8, 20-of-41) at the free throw line and Southeast made 60.9 percent (28-of-46) of its attempts.
Southeast, which improved to 2-0 at home, won a game by more than 30 points for the second time this year.
BELMONT 83, OHIO 81
OXFORD, Ohio - Belmont University men's basketball junior Craig Bradshaw scored a Belmont NCAA Division I era 42 points, including the game-winning basket with 0.2 seconds remaining, as the Bruins defeated Ohio, 83-81, Saturday night.
In a highly-entertaining, back-and-forth contest, Bradshaw scored from all angles, going 14-for-22 from the field, and 8-for-12 from three-point distance.
Belmont led by 11 points early, but Ohio got great shooting from Javares Willis and Stevie Taylor to battle back.
Trailing 79-78 late, sophomore Nick Smith drilled a baseline three-pointer with 34 seconds remaining to put Belmont back ahead.
After a defensive stop, senior Holden Mobley made one of two free throws with 17 seconds left before Willis scored a driving layin to tie the game at 81 with seven seconds left.
Bradshaw proceeded to make a floating bank shot with 0.2 to win it.
Belmont is 6-1.
ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN 59, TENNESSEE STATE 57
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - The Tennessee State University men’s basketball team dropped the final game of the Barclay’s Tournament to Saint Francis of Brooklyn 59-57.
The Tigers (2-4) had a chance at the end but the Terriers (0-4) defense was able to stop the shot and take the consolation game. TSU closes out the road trip 0-4.
Jay Harris finished tied for the game high with 15 points. He also added three steals and two rebounds to his stat sheet. His 26 points and 5 steals earned him a spot on the All-Tournament team.
Jalen Cannon paced Saint Francis with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
After the first 20 minutes of play, Saint Francis led 24-22. It took 7:28 for TSU to make its first bucket, but their defense kept them within two possessions. After a flurry of scoring from the Tigers, both teams entered into a point-for-point battle. Scoring was spread out, though, as both of the teams’ defenses stifled the other’s offense.
TSU was held to 31.8 percent shooting but, in turn, held Saint Francis to 21.9 percent. Darreon Reddick led the Tigers with six points while Jay Harris put up five. Christian Mekowulu was held to one point, but had eight rebounds at the buzzer.
The Terriers continued their defensive pressure on the Tigers to start the second half as they made just three field goals in the first eight minutes. During that stretch they were able to stretch their lead to three possessions over Big Blue.
Harris stepped up for TSU in the second half, scoring 10 points and picking a pair of pockets. The Tigers were able to draw even with the Terriers at the 1:56 mark but were not able to seal the deal.
VALPARAISO 93, MURRAY STATE 58
NASHVILLE (AP) - Alec Peters scored 26 points and Darien Walker chipped in 18 as Valparaiso rolled to a 93-58 rout of Murray State in the Challenge in Music City on Saturday night.
Valparaiso led 43-37 at the break and the Crusaders opened the second half with an 18-6 run, capped by Peters' six-straight points, to take a 61-44 lead with 14:00 to play. The Crusaders led by double digits the rest of the way.
David Skara added 10 points for Valparaiso (6-1).
Cameron Payne and T.J. Sapp hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Murray State within 39-37 with 1:28 remaining in the first half. Peters answered with four points to end the period.
Jeffery Moss scored 13 points and Payne added 12 to lead Murray State (2-4).
BYU 90, EASTERN KENTUCKY 76
PROVO, Utah - Eastern Kentucky trailed by only two at halftime, but BYU used a 30-8 run early in the second half to pull away for a 90-76 victory on Saturday in Provo, Utah.
The Cougars (5-2) led by six, 23-17, before the Colonels (4-1) scored six straight, including four by Corey Walden, to tie the game with 4:40 left in the first half. Ja'Mill Powell's bucket at the 3:14 mark gave Eastern a 27-26 lead. His three-pointer with less than a minute left in the opening stanza knotted the score 30-30. Frank Barley's bucket with 37 seconds on the clock sent BYU to the locker room in front by two, 32-30.
Powell scored EKU's first three points of the second half and his basket with 18:30 left in the game got the visitors within one, 34-33. However, the Cougars answered with nine straight to begin the game-changing 30-8 run. BYU had a stretch where seven consecutive field goals came from three-point range. The Cougars hit 9-of-12 from behind the arc to start the half.
Tyler Haws three-pointer with 11:12 left in the game finished off BYU's streak of seven straight from deep and put his team up 64-41.
Powell led Eastern Kentucky with a career-best 23 points. He connected on7-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Walden finished with 15 points, seven assists and two steals. Haws had a game best 26 for BYU. He made 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Chase Fischer added 20 points.
The Cougars went 15-of-28 from three-point range and shot 58 percent from the field for the game.
EKU committed a season-high 17 turnovers while BYU turned it over 19 times.