SATURDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 88, @UT Martin 85
Belmont 76, @Jacksonville State 53
Eastern Illinois 78, @SIUE 74
@Southeast Missouri 118, Murray State 115 (2OT)
@Eastern Kentucky 70, Tennessee State 66
Tennessee Tech 91, @Morehead State 84
AUSTIN PEAY 88, UT MARTIN 85
MARTIN, Tenn. - Travis Betran scored a career-high 32 points while Chris Horton added 20 points and 16 rebounds to give Austin Peay State University an 88-85 victory, Saturday afternoon, against UT Martin in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Elam Center.
The victory briefly kept alive APSU’s hopes for an OVC tourney berth. But Eastern Illinois slammed the doors on those dreams an hour later by claiming a 78-74 road decision at SIU Edwardsville. By doing so the Panthers grabbed the eighth and final seed in the tourney that begins Wednesday. As a result, the Govs will not be making the trip to Nashville for the tournament.
For a second straight game, Betran did all he could to keep the Govs tourney hopes alive. After scoring 28 points in the Govs 83-80 loss at Southeast Missouri, Thursday night, the senior guard was even better against UT Martin, despite a rugged start.
He opened the game 0-of-4 and 2-of-8 from the floor and finished 10-of-23, including four three pointers in doing his best to extend his Govs career. Luckily for the Govs, center Chris Horton snapped out of his recent scoring funk with 14 first-half points, making 7-of-8 shots. His effort allowed the Govs to overcome an 11-0 deficit, which APSU answered with a 21-5 run.
But the game was tied at 38 at halftime and remained close through much of the second half. The Govs finally gained a little traction, going on an 8-0 run with Betran and Zavion Williams connecting on three pointers, to go up, 74-67, with 7:04. But at run’s end, Betran went down with a leg cramp. With his absence the Govs also lost much of their offensive footing.
As a result, UT Martin came back, led by Terence Smith, who hit four free throws and a field on an 11-4 run that saw the Skyhawks take an 81-80 lead on a Bobby Jones three pointer with 2:14 left.
But Will Triggs made a pair of Govs’ free throws with 1:46 remaining to give APSU the one-point lead. Then the Skyhawks’ Justin Childs was called for a walk that gave back the ball to the Govs. Betran then was fouled and connected on two free throws with 1:14 left.
UTM’s Smith then was fouled by his APSU namesake Damarius Smith—his fifth foul—and the Skyhawk junior made both to again make it a one-point game with 1:00 left in the game.
Betran missed a baseline jumper with 30 seconds left but Horton snared the rebound with 28 seconds remaining. Struggling from the free-throw line much of the final half of OVC play, Horton stepped to the lne and made both for an 86-83 advantage.
After a Skyhawks timeout the home team chose to work for a potential game-tying three pointer. Mike Liabo attempt came up short and Bobby Jones was fouled with 2.8 seconds left. Jones made both free throws to cut the deficit to one, 86-85.
Betran broke free and was fouled with 2.1 seconds left. Again the stepped to the line and made both. In fact, his second free throw made him 8-for-8 at the line for the day and allowed him (107 of 122/.8770) to pass Tim Thomas (1978-79; 64 of 73/.8767) for the single-season free throw percentage record. Betran also surpassed the 1,000-point mark in his two-year career, finishing with 1,008.
UTM threw ensuing inbounds pass to midcourt and it was knocked away by the Govs out of bounds with 1.0 second left. Martin was able to throw up a desperation shot that didn’t touch iron as the buzzer sound to allow the Govs to hold onto the victory.
In addition to Betran and Horton, Triggs—playing in his final game like Betran--narrowly missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
APSU made 21 of 25 (84 percent) of its free-throw attempts while shooting just below 50 percent from the floor (30 of 62, 48.4 percent).
Terence Smith led UTM with 20 points while Dee Oldham added 18. The Skyhawks stayed in the game by knocking down 11 three pointers.
APSU finished the season 12-18 overall and 6-10 in the OVC. UTM ended at 8-23 and 3-13 in league play.
BELMONT 76, JACKSONVILLE STATE 53
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Belmont University men's basketball defeated Jacksonville State, 76-53, Saturday afternoon to claim a fifth consecutive regular season conference championship.
The Bruins stormed out to an 8-0 lead behind the play of junior Reece Chamberlain and led from start to finish.
With several main rotation players in first half foul trouble, Belmont got significant bench contributions from junior Chad Lang, junior Spencer Turner and sophomore Jeff Laidig.
Belmont led 43-27 at halftime.
Sophomore Craig Bradshaw scored 10 points early in the second half, while senior J.J. Mann continued his season-long trend of making clutch plays and timely end-of-shot clock baskets.
The Bruins led by as many as 27.
Belmont shot 63 percent (29-for-46) from the field - including 7-for-14 from three-point distance.
Mann led four Bruins in double figures with 19 points. Chamberlain had 16, Bradshaw 15, and Lang a career-high 11.
Brian Williams led Jacksonville State (10-21, 4-12 OVC) with 15 points.
Belmont (23-8, 14-2) joins an exclusive fraternity of programs to win five straight regular season conference championships. Since the Bruins became an NCAA Division I member institution in 1996-97, only Belmont, Butler, Cincinnati, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Nevada and Xavier have won five straight conference regular season championships.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 78, SIUE 74
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Panther men’s basketball team wrapped up regular-season action with a 78-74 win over SIU Edwardsville on Saturday evening at the Vadalabene Center. EIU improves to 11-18 on the year and 7-9 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
SIUE started the game by hitting four of its first seven shot attempts, taking a 10-0 advantage at the 16:33 mark. The Panthers shook off the cold start and battled back to take their first lead of the game, 25-24, with 3:31 on the clock on a Chris Olivier layup. The redshirt-sophomore forward scored the Panthers final six points of the half as EIU took a 31-26 lead into intermission.
The Cougars started the second half on a 9-4 run to tie the game at 35. SIUE would tie the game at 41 at the 14:19 mark before the Panthers went on a 17-8 run to take their largest lead of the game, 58-49, with 5:59 left on the clock.
EIU led by nine again, 66-57, with 1:10 left in regulation before SIUE fought back to get within four late in the game. The Panthers would seal the victory with free throws down the stretch as they went 14-for-16 from the foul line in the final minute and 10 seconds of regulation. The Panthers finished the game going 31-for-41 from the foul line while SIUE went 9-for-23.
Oliver and Reggie Smith paced the Panther offense with 19 points each. Olivier went 8-for-15 from the floor while Smith went 2-for-5 from the floor and 15-for-17 from the charity stripe.
Sherman Blanford posted his 13th career double-double in the win, scoring 13 points and grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds. Alex Austin also scored 13 points as the sophomore guard went 5-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-6 from behind the arc.
EIU held a 40-36 advantage on the glass and had five more blocks (7-2). Olivier nearly missed his second career double-double as he had nine rebounds. Ray Lester had a double-double for SIUE, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Donivine Stewart led the Cougars with 15 points and a game-high six assists. Keaton Jackson and Tim Johnson both added 12 points in the loss while Kris Davis rounded out the double figure scorers with 11 points.
EIU went 22-for-53 from the floor and 3-for-11 from behind the arc while SIUE hit 50 percent of its shot attempts (29-for-58) and 58.3 percent of its three-point shots (7-for-12).
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 118, MURRAY STATE 115 (2OT)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Jarekious Bradley and Tyler Stone each turned in a double-double and seven different players scored double figures to lead Southeast Missouri (17-13, 8-8) to a 118-115 double overtime victory over rival Murray State (18-10, 13-3) Saturday in the regular-season finale at the Show Me Center.
Southeast left everything on the court in an all-out war between Ohio Valley Conference heavyweights.
The Redhawks, who are heating up at the right time, will carry a four-game winning streak to next week's OVC Tournament. Southeast is the No. 6 seed and will face No. 7 Eastern Illinois in the first round at 8 p.m., CT, on Wednesday, Mar. 5. No. 1 Belmont, No. 2 Murray State, No. 3 Eastern Kentucky, No. 4 Morehead State, No. 5 Tennessee Tech and No. 8 SIU Edwardsville complete this year's eight-team field.
Southeast led, 92-89, with 1:35 left before T.J. Sapp buried a three-pointer to tie the game with 20 seconds remaining in regulation.
MSU then had a chance to win in the first overtime when freshman Cameron Payne went to the free throw line with four seconds on the clock. Payne missed two free throws leaving the game at a 105-105 deadlock to set up another overtime period.
Southeast managed to outscore the Racers, 13-10, in the final OT, as freshman Antonius Cleveland sent a big jolt into the Redhawks by scoring seven points. Cleveland answered with game-tying baskets twice after MSU took the lead. He followed that up by splashing in a huge three-pointer to give Southeast a 114-111 edge at the 2:06 mark.
After Sapp made two free throws to cut the lead to one (114-113), freshman Jamaal Calvin countered with two clutch free throws with 11 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, Darrian Gray blocked Payne's shot, Stone got the rebound and pitched the ball ahead to Nino Johnson. Johnson rocked the arena with a breakaway two-handed dunk as time expired. Fans rushed the court and were later sent back to their seats as Johnson was tagged with a Class B technical foul for hanging on the rim. Jeffery Moss made two free throws to narrow the gap to 118-115 with 0.4 seconds left.
Both MSU and Southeast were red-hot out of the gate as each made 10 of their first 14 field goals for a scorching 71.4 percent.
MSU scored 18 of its first 29 points of the game from three-point range, connecting three times in four possessions to build an eight-point lead. Moss, Payne and Sapp each dialed up from long distance with Sapp's make stretching the Racers lead to 32-24 with 11:07 left to play.
Southeast weathered MSU's barrage of threes and responded with an 11-5 run to pull to within two. Cleveland threw down a dunk, made two free throws and forced a steal which led to a Bradley layup. Bradley's transition basket cut the Racers lead to 35-33 at the 7:08 mark.
Two possessions later, Southeast made it a two-point game again when Josh Langford scored a layup to dice MSU's lead to 37-35 (6:12).
Shortly after Moss' bucket gave the Racers 42-39 edge, Stone knocked down a three at the top of the key to tie the game. Stone's shot was followed by a Bradley layup the next time the Redhawks had the ball. Bradley rebounded Cleveland's missed layup and scored to give Southeast a 44-42 lead with 3:10 remaining.
Jonathan Fairell's jumper tied things up at 44-44, before the Redhawks gained more momentum prior to the intermission.
Langford made a layup and Calvin came off the bench to drain a three on back-to-back Southeast possessions, giving the Redhawks a 52-46 advantage at the half.
Calvin led all scorers at the half with 13 points, including nine from downtown. Stone added 11, while four of five MSU starters had double-digits in the scoring column in the game's opening 20 minutes. Southeast shot over 60 percent (.625) from the field in the first half, as well.
Bradley led all Southeast scorers with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Cleveland tossed in a season-high 21 points on 9-of-14 from the field and 2-of-4 at the free throw line.
Stone scored 17 points and had 14 rebounds to earn his third-straight double-double and fourth in five starts. He shot 6-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 at the free throw line, while dishing out four assists and getting two steals.
Langford and Calvin also had 17 points apiece, while Lucas Nutt chipped in 10. Seven of the eight Southeast players who played were in double figures.
Payne and Jarvis Williams led MSU with 25 points each. Sapp and Moss were close behind with 24 and 22 points, respectively. Dexter Fields was the fourth Racer starter in double figures with 15 points.
Southeast shot 56.4 percent (44-of-78) and outrebounded MSU, 46-34, on the night. The Redhawk bench held a hefty 62-24 advantage, as well.
A deafening season-best Show Me Center crowd of 3,607 witnessed the epic battle between the Redhawks and Racers, as Southeast moved to 2-1 in overtime games this season. Additionally, the Redhawks beat both Austin Peay and MSU at home in the same year for the first time since 1991-92, the inaugural season of their NCAA Division I era.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 70, TENNESSEE STATE 66
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky held off Tennessee State in its regular season finale, 70-66, on Saturday. With the win EKU claims the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
The Colonels (21-9, 11-5 OVC) will play the winner of the No. 6/No. 7 contest on Thursday night in Nashville, Tenn. Tip time for the quarterfinal game is set for 9 p.m. ET.
Plenty of seniors contributed in their final regular season game in McBrayer Arena. Glenn Cosey and Tarius Johnson paced Eastern with 14 points. Orlando Williams added 11 points off the bench.
For Tennessee State (5-25, 4-12), Patrick Miller piled up 25 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Kennedy Eubanks added 16 points and eight boards.
An 11-1 Eastern Kentucky spurt late in the second half proved to be the difference. Cosey, who tallied his 1,000th career point at EKU tonight, hit a pair of three-pointers in the pivotal stretch that gave the Colonels a 67-57 advantage with 3:26 left.
The Tigers made a rally down the stretch and had a chance to tie the game on the final possession of regulation. Trailing 69-66, Chaed Wellian got a wide open look from the right wing, but hit the front rim with less than five seconds remaining. Cosey then hit 1-of-2 free throws to seal the victory.
Eastern Kentucky scored 13 of the first 15 points at the start of the game and never trailed in the first half. The Colonels went into the locker room ahead, 31-25. Tennessee State hung around and grabbed its first lead on a Miller jumper with 7:31 left, 51-50. A couple of ties and lead changes ensued before the Colonels put together their big run.
The Colonels went 12-2 in home games this season.
TENNESSEE TECH 91, MOREHEAD STATE 84
MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) - Dwan Caldwell scored a career-high 29 points -- including 15 of 15 from the line -- and grabbed nine rebounds as Tennessee Tech defeated Morehead State 91-84 on Saturday night in a regular-season finale for both teams.
Dennis Ogbe had 18 points for the Golden Eagles (16-15, 9-7 Ohio Valley Conference). Jordan Johnson added 14 points and Jeremiah Samarrippas had 10.
Tennessee Tech led by as many as 11 points in the first half and went into the break with a 46-36 advantage. Late in the second, Brent Arrington sank one inside the paint to bring Morehead State to within four points, 82-78, with 1:16 left to play. But Caldwell's 6 of 6 from the line to finish helped keep the Eagles at bay.
Arrington came off the bench to lead the Eagles (19-12, 10-6) in scoring with 21 points.