TUESDAY'S SCORES
@VCU 78,
Belmont 51
East Tennessee 63,
@Eastern Kentucky 60
@Jacksonville State 64, UNC Asheville 55
@Southern Illinois 65,
Tennessee State 58
VCU 78, BELMONT 51
RICHMOND, Va. - Belmont University men's basketball dropped a 78-51 decision to VCU Tuesday night.
The Bruins (7-4), playing a third consecutive game without the services of OVC leading scorer Craig Bradshaw, got off to a positive start at the always electric Siegel Center.
A deep three-pointer from senior Spencer Turner and a layin from sophomore Evan Bradds got the Bruins within 7-5 at the first media timeout. But from there, Belmont labored to find the range, as promising looks from Turner and sophomore Taylor Barnette rimmed off. Sophomore Nick Smith got the Bruins within 14-7 with 10:46 left in the half.
Belmont fought in the half court, and played strong defense and rebounded well for long stretches. The Bruins missed out on scoring opportunities from the free throw line, as three successive empty trips stung a bit. After a three-pointer from Doug Brooks and a basket from Justin Tillman pushed VCU's lead to 34-15, Belmont closed the half on a 6-0 run. Bradds would provide all six points to get Belmont within 34-21 at halftime.
The Bruins shot 33 percent (6-for-18) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 3-for-13 from three-point distance. Belmont limited the Rams to only four second-chance points in the first half.
But a 10-2 VCU run to open the second half, pushed the margin to 21. The Bruins, a 40 percent three-point shooting team entering play, went 8-for-29 from three-point distance on the game.
Bradds led Belmont with 15 points.
EAST TENNESSEE 63, EASTERN KENTUCKY 60
RICHMOND, Ky. - Even though they trailed by 18 points with 7:37 left, the Colonels never backed down and nearly fought its way back to a win over East Tennessee Wednesday night. However, the visiting Buccaneers held on for a 63-60 victory.
Eastern Kentucky (5-4) actually had three chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute of action. Trailing by two, 62-60, sophomore Jaylen Babb-Harrison missed a three-pointer from the right wing with 45 seconds remaining.
After ETSU (6-2) missed a lay-up with 18 seconds showing on the clock, Eastern set up for another chance to even the score. This time, the Bucs’ zone defense forced a Colonel turnover with five ticks left. ETSU’s Devin Harris only made 1-of-2 free throws on the ensuing possession allowing EKU one final opportunity to extend the game.
With 2.0 seconds to work with on the clock, senior Timmy Knipp caught the inbounds pass near midcourt and found fellow senior Corey Walden on the right wing. Walden had to pump fake before getting off a shot and by that time the final horn had sounded.
Senior Eric Stutz led the Colonels with 13 points and eight rebounds. Walden added 13 points and four steals.
For ETSU, Rashawn Rembert tallied a game-high 30 points thanks to making a personal-high nine three-pointers. Lambert hit 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) three-point attempts in the first half as the Bucs took a 33-26 lead into intermission.
In the second half, three consecutive three-pointers by ETSU helped the visitors extend its lead to 57-41. A Rembert fast-break lay-up with 7:37 left pushed the advantage to 59-41.
From there, EKU rattled off 11 straight points, keyed by two Denzel Richardson three-pointers and another by Walden, to cut the deficit to seven points, 59-52, with 4:39 remaining.
The Buccaneers were able to stretch the lead back to 10 one more time, but the Colonels rolled off eight in a row, capped by a Walden trifecta, to close the gap to two, 62-60, with 1:39 still to play.
East Tennessee tied a school record with 15 three-pointers.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 64, UNC ASHEVILLE 55
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team shut down the nation's leading scorer on Tuesday night and handed UNC Asheville a 64-55 defeat in Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Gamecocks (7-4) used a stingy defensive effort in winning their seventh in the last eight games. It was JSU's 10th straight win over non-conference foes at home. It also swept the two-game series with the Bulldogs (4-6), who returned a 2013 game in Asheville that JSU won 71-69 on a tip in at the buzzer.
The Bulldogs leading scorer and the co-leading scorer in Division I entering the day, Andrew Rowsey, scored just six points on 1-for-7 shooting. The output was 18 points below his 24.4 points per game average and snapped a streak of 37 consecutive double-digit games for the sophomore. It was just the second time in his career Rowsey has been held in single digits, with the other coming at Duke early in his freshman season.
The Gamecocks got 16 points and a career-high eight rebounds from Darion Rackley, the leading scorer in a group of four JSU players in double figures. The St. Louis native, who joined the school's 1,000 Point Club on Sunday, moved into fifth on the school's Division I career scoring list with 1,023 points.
Senior D.J. Felder scored 11 points for his second-straight double-digit game off of the JSU bench, while junior Jeremy Watson's 10 points extended his streak of consecutive double-digit games to eight. Junior guard JaQuail Townser also had 10, while dishing five assists and grabbing six boards. Senior Jamal Hunter had nine rebounds, while Watson added six.
Senior Avery Moore scored eight but his largest contribution came on the defensive end, where he drew the assignment of shadowing Rowsey for most of the 28 minutes the Bulldogs leading scorer was on the floor.
The 55 points are 23 below the Bulldogs' season average and marked the first time this season they have been held under 60 points.
A slow starting game saw each team go without a field goal for the first three minutes until Asheville's David Robertson sank a jumper with 16:59 left in the half that gave the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead.
Townser answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, a shot that gave the Gamecocks the lead for good with 16:40 left in the half.
JSU stretched its first-half lead to as many as 12 at 26-14 with 7:35 on the clock, but struggles at the line helped Asheville cut its deficit to as few as four and to six at 33-27 at the half. The Gamecocks went just 7-for-17 from the free throw line in the first half but answered in a big way when the game was on the line down the stretch.
In a second half that saw Asheville get as close as two in the final three minutes, the free throw line was kind to JSU in the final 20 minutes, when the Gamecocks went 16-for-17 to finish the night 23-for-34 at the charity stripe.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 65, TENNESSEE STATE 58
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Tennessee State University men’s basketball team fell 65-58 to Southern Illinois on Tuesday night at SIU Arena.
The Tigers (2-8) were swept by the Salukis (7-4) in this season’s home-and-home set between the two schools. SIU takes an 8-7 advantage in the all-time series.
Two Big Blue players scored in double figures. Marcus Roper had 22 while Jay Harris added 11 to lead the team.
It was a team effort for SIU as five players scored eight or more points.
TSU was balanced on offense in the first half, shooting 42.3 percent from the floor. Roper (10 points on 4-for-6 shooting) and Harris (eight points on 3-for-4 shooting) accounted for two-thirds of the Tigers’ scoring for the first 20 minutes.
The Tigers scored five-straight to begin the game and held a 7-6 lead heading into the first media timeout. The Salukis grabbed the lead straightway after the break, thanks to efficient offensive play (50 percent shooting from the floor), and controlled it through halftime.
The Tigers scored just seven points for the first 12:33 of the final half creating, at one point, a 19 point deficit. They were able to bring it as close as three possessions with one minute to play, but SIU held the lead when the final buzzer sounded.
Roper remained active from the three-point line, scoring 12 points on 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. He finished 6-for-12 from that range.
TSU did hold SIU’s leading scorer, Anthony Beane, to under his season average as the junior scored 15 points (19.9 season average).