TUESDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 66, @Coppin State 63
Maryland-Eastern Shore 63,
@UT Martin 60
@Murray State 76, Alabama A&M 39
EASTERN KENTUCKY 66, COPPIN STATE 63
BALTIMORE, Md. - Playing in his hometown, junior Denzel Richardson hit a three-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to give Eastern Kentucky a 66-63 victory over Coppin State in Baltimore.
The Colonels (7-5) had a three-point lead in the final 30 seconds before Dallas Gary scored a bucket in the lane and was fouled. His ensuing free throw tied it 63-63 with 26.3 seconds left. As the clock ticked down, EKU’s Corey Walden had the ball under the basket but couldn’t get off a clean shot. Instead, he found Richardson in the right corner for the game winner.
Walden tied his career-best with a game-high 33 points. He also had five steals, four rebounds and four assists. He made 13-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range.
Richardson’s big shot was only his second field goal of the game. He finished with five points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Colonels never trailed after back-to-back three-pointers by Walden and Timmy Knipp turned a 55-53 deficit into a 59-55 lead with 4:48 left in the game. Two free throws by Ja’Mill Powell with 36.4 seconds remaining appeared to give EKU a secure lead, but Gary tied it on the Eagles next possession.
The Colonels shot 42 percent from the field and committed 11 fewer turnovers. However, CSU shot 50 percent from the field and made 60 percent of its three-pointers, going 12-of-20 from deep.
Eastern’s 26 percent shooting (7-of-27) from three-point range limited the impact of 26 Coppin State turnovers. The Colonels held just a 16-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
Taariq Cephas made 5-of-6 from long range to lead CSU with 17 points. Christian Kessee had four three-pointers and 13 points.
The Eagles hit five of their first six three-point attempts to take a 17-7 lead just over five minutes into the game. Coppin State (1-13) was held to 11 points the rest of the half.
The Colonels answered with a 10-0 run of their own, holding the home team scoreless for almost four minutes. Eric Stutz got it started with a free throw and then Walden scored nine straight. The final three points came off a Walden three pointer that bounced straight up off the rim and then fell through to tie the game 17-17 with 11:49 on the clock.
Coppin State’s last points of the first half came with 4:22 left to play. EKU scored the final five, including an old-fashioned three-point play by Walden with 3.5 seconds remaining, to take a 31-28 lead at the break.
Nine of Eastern’s 11 field goals in the first half were lay-ups as the Colonels made 9-of-12 from inside the arc. EKU was 2-of-15 from behind the three-point line. CSU made 6-of-8 from outside the arc.
MARYLAND-EASTERN SHORE 63, UT MARTIN 60
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team held a lead with under a minute to play this evening but Maryland-Eastern Shore closed out the contest with four unanswered points to escape with a 63-60 win at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (7-5) led for a majority of the first half before the game was tied at 26-all at the halftime break. After UT Martin accounted for the first bucket of the second half, Maryland-Eastern Shore held on to a lead until UT Martin went ahead 54-53 with 3:27 to go. The two sides then swapped seven leads in the waning stages, as the Skyhawks held on to a 60-59 advantage until a turnover and three missed three-pointers in the final 23 seconds came back to haunt UT Martin.
Deville Smith led the Skyhawks with 15 points while Marshun Newell amassed his fourth career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Twymond Howard (nine points, seven rebounds, three assists) and Javier Martinez (nine points on 3-of-3 shooting and 3-for-3 from the free throw line) also nearly cracked double-figures for UT Martin, who committed only five turnovers for the game but shot 38.6 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from three-point range.
Maryland-Eastern Shore (8-8) was paced by Devon Walker’s 16 points while Michael Myers tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. The Hawks shot 51.1 percent (24-for-47) for the contest en route to their third straight road win.
Four early points by Arkeem Joseph helped provide UT Martin with an 11-5 lead eight minutes into tonight’s contest. The Hawks then used a 9-0 run to go ahead by a 14-11 margin with just under nine minutes to play in the first half.
Alex Anderson and Newell connected on three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to sway the lead back in UT Martin’s favor at 21-18 and another trifecta – this time by Chandler Rowe – provided the Skyhawks with a 26-22 edge with 2:31 remaining in the first half.
Maryland-Eastern Shore then pieced together the last four points of the half to even the score at 26-26 at the break. Newell’s seven points led UT Martin while Walker was responsible for a game-high nine points at the half.
A layup by Smith opened the scoring in the second half but the Hawks would soon go on a 7-0 run to take a 37-30 lead with 15:38 left to play. Maryland-Eastern Shore led by eight points (52-44) with seven minutes remaining but Martinez scored five of UT Martin’s next eight points to ignite a rally. A pair of free throws by Howard with 3:27 to go capped off a 9-1 Skyhawk run and gave UT Martin a 54-53 lead.
Martinez (tip-in layup), Newell (two free throws) and Smith (eight-foot floater) each made big plays down the stretch to give the Skyhawks a lead, with Smith’s bucket coming at the 1:06 mark. However, Martin made a tough jumper with 41 seconds left to give Maryland-Eastern Shore a 61-60 lead and he added two more free throws with 18 seconds remaining to hand the Skyhawks their first home loss of the season.
MURRAY STATE 76, ALABAMA A&M 39
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Jarvis Williams had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead Murray State to a dominating 76-39 victory over Alabama A&M on Tuesday night.
Murray State (10-4) has now won eight consecutive games.
Jeffery Moss made 3 of 5 from long range to total 14 and T.J. Sapp nailed 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, also scoring 14 for Murray State.
The Racers ran out to a 25-5 lead midway in the first half and were up 43-17 at the break. Alabama A&M never challenged.
Murray State started hot and stayed that way, making 29 of 55 from the floor (52.7 percent) while limiting the Bulldogs to just 11-of-45 shooting (24.4 percent). The Racers dominated underneath grabbing 41 rebounds compared to 26 for Alabama A&M. Murray State also had 20 assists and nine steals.
Marcus Merriweather had 11 points for A&M (1-9).