THURSDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 75, @Tennessee State 65
@SIUE 93, Southeast Missouri 88 (OT)
@Eastern Illinois 91, UT Martin 79
@Belmont 99, Murray State 96
AUSTIN PEAY 75, TENNESSEE STATE 65
NASHVILLE - Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team opened Thursday night’s outing at Tennessee State on a 24-6 run and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire in a 75-65 victory to remain a factor in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division race.
Austin Peay (10-13, 4-5 OVC) remains in fourth in the West, unable to make up ground in the race after Eastern Illinois and SIU Edwardsville each picked up victories Thursday. A season-long swoon continues for Tennessee State, which falls to 3-22, 2-9 in the OVC.
The Govs raced out in the opening minutes, with Travis Betran getting hot in short order for the visitors. The senior from Harlem had 10 points before the game’s first media timeout and scored 15 in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three.
Junior forward Ed Dyson went down hard on a collision in the first half but bounced back with a solid performance, hitting all four first-half shots en route to 11 first-half points.
The Govs defense was exemplary early on. In particular, junior Damarius Smith was effective on OVC leading scorer Patrick Miller, holding him without a bucket until the 7:22 mark in the opening half. Miller would finish the evening with 17 points, below his OVC-leading 23.3 mark entering the contest.
After such a hot start, the Govs were bound to cool down in the second half. They shot a more pedestrian 43.5 percent (10-for-23) over the game’s final 20 minutes, enabling the Tigers to whittle down a lead that swelled to as much as 20 points in the opening moments of the second half.
The Tigers cut the deficit to six on a Jay Harris three-pointer with 3:25 remaining, but that would be as close as the hosts would get. Despite losing Smith early in the second half due to an ankle injury – he will be re-evaluated Friday morning – the Govs got solid minutes off the bench from junior Fred Garmon, in his first action since Jan. 18, and sophomore Preston Herring, who finished with six points and six rebounds in a season-high 17 minutes.
Betran led the Govs with 21 points on the evening, while Dyson added 20 to lead the Govs. For Betran, it was his first 20-point outing since Jan. 25 against Tennessee Tech, while it was Dyson’s first as a Gov.
Senior Will Triggs returned to double figures against the Tigers, scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting after being limited to just nine points against Murray State last Friday.
Two marks dampened the evening slightly for the Govs. Tennessee State grabbed 18 offensive rebounds – the fourth straight game an opponent has collected a double-digit offensive rebound total – and Austin Peay shot just 55.2 percent (16-for-29) from the free-throw line, its seventh sub-60 percent free-throw mark on the season.
SIUE 93, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 88 (OT)
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE drained 13 three-pointers Thursday and five SIUE players scored in double figures as SIUE outlasted Southeast Missouri 93-88 in overtime in Ohio Valley Conference basketball at Vadalabene Center.
The win is the fifth consecutive home win for the Cougars, who improved to 5-5 in OVC play and 9-14 overall. SIUE is now 4-1 in OVC play at the Vadalabene Center. Southeast Missouri fell to 3-7 in the OVC and 12-12 overall.
Trailing 77-74 and coming out of a timeout with 41 seconds left in regulation, SIUE ran a play for Kris Davis, who curled off a screen. Donivine Stewart found Davis on the left wing. Davis caught the pass and nailed a three-pointer to tie the score at 77.
Southeast Missouri's Tyler Stone got to the basket and hit a layup to put the Redhawks up 79-77 with 12 seconds left. After an SIUE timeout, Stewart found Keaton Jackson on the right baseline. Jackson connected on a layup with 0.6 seconds left to tie the score at 79 and send the game into overtime.
The game was tied at 36 at halftime, and it was the Redhawks who came out strong to start the second half. Southeast controlled the game and led for the better part of the period, pushing its lead to eight (53-45) after a free throw by Jarekious Bradely with 12:32 left in regulation.
SIUE converted on 4 of 5 attempts from the field, including both three-point attempts, to outscore Southeast 14-9 in the extra period. Christian Salecich drained his career-best fourth three-pointer of the game to open the overtime scoring for the Cougars, making it 82-79 less than a minute into the period. Rozell Nunn's fourth three-pointer of the game (also a career high) made it 89-83 SIUE with 1:34 left in the overtime.
Stone cut the SIUE lead to 91-88 with a three-pointer for Southeast Missouri with 48 seconds remaining in overtime. It was still 91-88 when Bradley missed a three-point attempt from the top of the key with just seven seconds left. Jackson hauled in the rebound after the miss and handed off to Stewart who was fouled. He sealed the win with a pair of free throws with five seconds to play.
Stewart turned in a double-double with 11 points and a career-best 11 assists. It was the first double-double of the season by a Cougar player.
Nunn led the Cougars in scoring with a career-high 21 points. He was 8 of 12 from the field and 4 of 5 from three-point range. Jackson scored 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Salecich was two shy of his career high with 14 points.
Stone led all scorers with a career-best 37 points on 15-of-19 shooting. Bradley, who came in averaging 20.7 points per game was limited to 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
For the game, SIUE hit 32 of 65 attempts from the field for 49.2 percent. The Cougars were 13 of 25 from three-point range and are 24 of 53 (.452) from long range in two games this season against Southeast Missouri. The Redhawks finished the night 36 of 65 (55.4 percent) from the field.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 91, UT MARTIN 79
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Senior forward Sherman Blanford scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Panther men’s basketball team to a 91-79 win over UT Martin on Thursday night inside Lantz Arena. EIU has won three consecutive Ohio Valley Conference games, moving to 6-5 in conference play and 9-14 overall.
For the second time in as many games, the Panthers trailed at halftime and engineered a second-half comeback. EIU hit 69.6 percent of its shot attempts in the second stanza, going 16-for-23 from the floor. The Panthers finished the contest with a .564 field-goal percentage (31-for-55).
Trailing 57-56 with 10:32 remaining in regulation, the Panthers went on an 11-1 run to take their first double-figure lead of the game, 67-57, at the 7:29 mark. EIU never relinquished the lead and outscored UT Martin, 32-22, in the final nine and a half minutes of play.
The first half had four ties and three lead changes with the Skyhawks posting their largest advantage of the game, 43-30, with 1:36 remaining before intermission. UT Martin was hot from the floor in the first half as they went 16-for-23 from the floor and 7-for-10 from behind the arc. The Skyhawks cooled off in the second stanza as they finished the game going 23-for-49 from the field and 7-for-21 from three-point range.
Three other Panthers scored in double figures as Dylan Chatman scored 19 points and Alex Austin and Josh Piper both added 11 points. EIU had 16 assists in the contest, led by Piper’s game-high five assists.
EIU held a 30-25 advantage on the glass, led by Chatman’s game-high nine rebounds. Blanford also added eight rebounds. The Panthers also forced 13 Skyhawk turnovers, converting the miscues into 19 points. Both teams shot well from the charity stripe as EIU was 20-for-25 and UT Martin was 26-for-32.
Myles Taylor led four Skyhawks in double figures with 17 points. Terence Smith added 14 points while Marshun Newell and Dee Oldham rounded out the scorers with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Mike Liabo led the team on the glass with five rebounds.
BELMONT 99, MURRAY STATE 96
NASHVILLE - Belmont University men's basketball defeated Murray State, 99-96, Thursday night in an epic OVC contest.
It was a third straight heart-stopping contest between the Bruins and Racers in less than two seasons, and was the first meeting since an unforgettable 2013 OVC Championship game. Belmont won, 70-68, in overtime on Kerron Johnson's game-winning shot.
And while (18-8, 9-2 OVC) and Murray State bid farewell to no less than seven players currently playing professionally, Rick Byrd and Steve Prohm once again put their respective teams in positions to succeed.
With a lively student section urging them on, the Bruins jump out quickly. Behind determined play from senior Blake Jenkins, Belmont seized a 13-4 lead five minutes in.
In fact, Jenkins would score 13 of Belmont's first 19 points, establishing a presence in the paint against the Racers' formidable duo of Jarvis Williams and Jonathan Fairell.
A basket from sophomore Craig Bradshaw and a three-pointer from senior Drew Windler increased the lead to 27-13 nine minutes in, prompting a Murray State timeout and sending Bruin fans into a frenzy.
But in the blink of an eye, the Racers would respond with an offensive tear of their own. Drives from Cameron Payne and torrid shooting from Dexter Fields highlighted a 15-2 Murray State run over three minutes that gave the visitors a 38-37 lead.
Jenkins and freshman Evan Bradds would answer for the Bruins, with freshman Caleb Chowbay providing a steal and coast-to-coast layin to tie the score at 45 at halftime.
Belmont shot 59 percent (17-for-29) in the opening 20 minutes – including 4-for-6 from three-point distance. The Bruins outrebounded Murray State, 17-11, in the first half, and forced seven turnovers.
After Payne opened second half scoring with a deep three-pointer, Jenkins capped an 8-0 Belmont run with a slam off a timely Bradshaw feed.
Williams scored 10 straight points for the Racers to tie the score at 61 with 13:27 left.
But in this exchange of offensive haymakers, the Bruins would strike back. Senior J.J. Mann scored seven points during a 12-2 Belmont run that gave the hosts a 73-63 edge with 11:12 remaining.
Scores from junior Reece Chamberlain, Bradshaw and Bradds enabled Belmont to maintain an 82-71 lead with 6:52 left.
Belmont's only brief scoring spell of the game allowed Murray State to climb within seven, 82-75, on a Jeffery Moss floater. After a defensive stop, Mann sank a much-needed jumpshot at the end of the shot clock to push the Bruin advantage back to nine, 84-75, with 3:52 remaining.
Two Williams free throws trimmed the margin to six with 2:41 left, but a Jenkins interior basket and five Mann free throws made the score 91-80 with 1:12 left.
Murray State continued to fight. A deep three-pointer from T.J. Sapp cut the margin to eight. Then after two more Mann free throws, Sapp and Payne would bury consecutive three-pointers in a six-second span to get the Racers within 93-89 with 46 seconds remaining.
After an exchange of one of two free throws from Chowbay, Bradds and Murray State's C.J. Ford, Payne scored inside to make the score 95-92 with 21 seconds left.
Belmont continued to turn to Mann, who would make four more free throws in the final 21 seconds, giving the Bruins a 99-94 lead with nine seconds left.
Payne would be fouled while attempting a three-point shot with under four seconds remaining.
The freshman would make the first two attempts to get the Racers within three, before Rick Byrd called timeout in advance of the third free throw.
With Jenkins and Bradds having fouled out, and Murray State the top offensive rebounding team in OVC play, Payne's third free throw attempt shaped up to provide even more drama.
But Payne's intentional miss did not hit the rim, leading to a violation and Belmont possession.
The Bruins would then be forced to use their final timeout on the subsequent inbounds pass. After huddling up, Chamberlain would have difficulty finding an open teammate and threw a pass towards a crowd near midcourt.
Sapp would intercept, dribble into the frontcourt, and release an off-balance 30-footer as the horn sounded. The shot, which would have forced overtime, narrowly missed.
The two teams went through the handshake line, showing mutual respect and emotional exhaustion from the spirited game.
All told, Belmont shot 56 percent (32-for-57) from the field – including 9-for-20 from three-point distance. The Bruins committed only three second half turnovers.
Jenkins led four Bruins in double figures with a career-high 25 points. Mann added 25 points and nine rebounds. Bradshaw had 22 points and six assists, while Windler recorded his first Bruin double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Payne led Murray State (13-9, 8-2 OVC) with 29 points.