2014 OVC Men's Basketball Championship - First Round

3/5/2014 8:20:47 AM

#5 TENNESSEE TECH 74, #8 SIUE 67
NASHVILLE (AP) - Jeremiah Samarrippas scored 16 points and had 11 assists as fifth-seeded Tennessee Tech held off eighth-seeded SIU-Edwardsville for a 74-67 win in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament on Wednesday night.

Tennessee Tech (17-15) built a 19-5 lead nearly midway through the first half and led 38-22 at halftime, but SIU-Edwardsville cut its deficit to 64-60 on a layup by Tim Johnson with 1:55 to play.

Samarrippas then responded by hitting a 3-pointer on Tennessee Tech's next possession to extend its lead to 7 as the Golden Eagles began putting the game away.

Dwan Caldwell, Javon McKay and Dennis Ogbe all scored 10 points apiece for Tennessee Tech, which shot 58.1 percent from the field.

Kris Davis led SIU-Edwardsville (11-20) with 19 points.

Tennessee Tech will play fourth-seeded Morehead State tomorrow night in the quarterfinals.

#6 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 79, #7 EASTERN ILLINOIS 61
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tyler Stone scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and sixth-seeded Southeast Missouri State beat seventh-seeded Eastern Illinois 79-61 in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament on Wednesday night.

Stone hit 11 of 17 field goals as the Redhawks (18-13) shot 50 percent from the field and 8 of 14 from 3-point range. Antonius Cleveland added 15 points for Southeast Missouri State while Nino Johnson had 12, Darrian Gray scored 10 and Lucas Nutt finished with 10 assists.

Southeast Missouri State built a 39-27 halftime lead and led by as many as 22 in the second half en route to its fifth straight win.

Sherman Blanford led Eastern Illinois with 22 points and Chris Olivier added 19 but the Panthers shot just 37.3 percent from the field.

The Redhawks advance to play third-seeded Eastern Kentucky in the quarterfinals on Thursday night.