SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 65, @Morehead State 62
@Eastern Kentucky 78, SIUE 62
@UT Martin 55, Jacksonville State 52
@Southeast Missouri 65, Tennessee Tech 61
@Murray State 91, Tennessee State 72
Belmont 89, @Austin Peay 83
EASTERN ILLINOIS 65, MOREHEAD STATE 62
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Eastern Illinois won its ninth straight game coming from behind in the second half on Saturday afternoon at Morehead State for a 65-62 win. The nine straight wins set the Panthers NCAA Division I record for consecutive wins.
EIU improved to 12-6 overall, 6-0 in the OVC as they swept the OVC East Division this year. Morehead State fell to 7-13, 2-3 in the OVC.
Eastern Illinois defense held Morehead State without a field goal until the 13:16 mark of the first half when the Eagles sank a 3-pointer by Corbin Collins. The Eagles first four field goals of the game came from 3-point range as they led 15-14 following Brent Arrington’s 3-pointer with 6:56 to play.
Cornell Johnston had three 3-pointers in the final 5:42 of the first half as the Panthers outscored MSU 11-2 to close out the half and lead 25-19 at the half. Josh Piper scored the other two points on a pair of free throws.
Johnston scored 12 points in the first and finished the game with 22 points going 4-of-5 on 3-pointers.
Morehead State opened the second half with a 19-5 run. Billy Reader had the first two baskets in the low block as the Eagles hit six of eight shots to open the half. Karam Mashour was big in the run scoring nine of his 12 points with three lay-ups and a 3-pointer.
Reggie Smith was able to slow the MSU run with a jumper at the baseline with just under 15 minutes to play after MSU had built the lead to 38-30. Smith had 11 points for EIU.
After weathering the Morehead State run, EIU tied the game with 5 minutes left to play on a free throw by Trae Anderson. A defensive stand led to a dunk by LeTrell Viser with 4:27 to play giving the Panthers a 53-51 lead.
Corban Collins tied the game for Morehead State with 3:25 to play following a steal and basket. Johnston responded with a three point play for the Panthers and they were able to hold off the Eagles.
Collins had 12 points for MSU. Reader and Brent Arrington led MSU with 16 points each as they shot 43 percent for the game after a 59 percent shooting effort in the second half.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 78, SIUE 62
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky used a strong second half and a career game from forward Eric Stutz en route to a 78-62 win against Southern Illinois Edwardsville Saturday night in McBrayer Arena.
Down 32-33 at halftime, EKU (11-6, 3-1 OVC) used a 10-0 run to start the second half and never looked back. Stutz scored a career high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, just one shy of his career high.
The highlight of the second half run came when Stutz hit back-to-back three-pointers and threw a beautiful pass to senior guard Corey Walden for a layup that pushed the Colonels’ lead to 18.
The Colonels led by as much as 20, outscoring the Cougars (7-9, 3-3 OVC) 46-29 in the second half. EKU was just 1-of-9 in the first half from three-point land, but hit 5-of-9 from deep and 14-of-21 overall in the second half of play.
Eastern held the Cougars to just 8-of-24 shooting in the second half and forced 23 turnovers for the game.
Walden added 19 points and had five assists. He took a hard foul that was upgraded to a flagrant two late in the second half. After a brief period out of the game, the senior was able to return.
Senior guard Timmy Knipp had 14 points, half of which came from hitting 7-of-8 free throws.
SIU Edwardsville was led by senior guard Kris Davis who shot 5-of-9 for 15 points, just above his season average of 14.5.
Eastern scored 38 points in the paint and added 18 assists on 26 made baskets.
UT MARTIN 55, JACKSONVILLE STATE 52
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team staved off a furious comeback attempt by Jacksonville State to earn a 55-52 victory over Ohio Valley Conference rival Jacksonville State at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks led by 21 points with 15:35 left to play in the second half before Jacksonville State used a 26-5 run to even the score with 2:49 remaining. UT Martin senior guard Deville Smith then accounted for the final three points of the contest to help the Skyhawks improve to 11-6 overall and 3-1 in OVC play. Today’s win marks the fourth 3-1 start to the OVC season in program history and first since the 2002-03 campaign.
Marshun Newell tossed in 17 points to go along with seven rebounds while Twymond Howard notched his second career double-double with 10 points and a career-best 12 rebounds for UT Martin. Smith chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Skyhawks, who attempted a season-low 10 three-pointers but connected on six trifectas on the evening.
Jacksonville State (8-12, 1-5 OVC) was led by Avery Moore and Malcolm Drumwright, who each scored 17 points to lead the Gamecocks’ second half charge.
Newell made sure the Skyhawks got off to a fast start, scoring UT Martin’s first four points. An alley-oop layup by Howard and three-pointer by Smith provided the Skyhawks with a 9-5 advantage with just under 16 minutes to play in the first half.
A little under two minutes later, Howard scored the first five points of a 9-0 Skyhawk run that resulted in an 18-7 UT Martin advantage at the 12 minute mark of the first half.
Newell buried a fast break three-pointer from the right wing at the 6:50 mark that padded the Skyhawk lead out to 28-15. Alex Anderson kept the UT Martin lead at 13 with a layup at the 5:02 mark and the Skyhawks settled for a 34-22 lead at the halftime break.
Howard nearly had a double-double (nine points, eight rebounds) in the first half while Newell also added nine points for UT Martin, who shot 56 percent from the floor (14-for-25) in the first half. Jacksonville State was led by Moore’s 11 points as the Gamecocks were held to 30 percent shooting (9-for-30) in the first half.
The Skyhawks accounted for eight of the first 10 points of the second half to build a 42-24 lead with 16:38 left to play. It was around that time that Newell took over with seven straight points for UT Martin, as his three-pointer from the left corner at the 15:33 mark resulted in a 47-26 lead for the Skyhawks – their biggest advantage of the evening.
After a Martinez pick-and-roll layup made the score 49-29, the Gamecocks used a 9-0 run to close within 11 points with 11 minutes to go. The Skyhawks were able to push their lead back out to 52-38 before Jacksonville State reeled off 14 unanswered points over a span of 5:53 to even the score at 52-all with 2:49 remaining.
Smith ended UT Martin’s lengthy scoring drought with a short jumper from the right baseline to put the Skyhawks on top by a 54-52 margin with less than a minute to play. UT Martin was able to get defensive stops on Jacksonville State’s next two possessions, as Smith made a free throw with four seconds left to put the Skyhawks ahead, 55-52. UT Martin then clinched the victory when JaQuail Townser’s three-point attempt in the waning seconds was off the mark for Jacksonville State.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 65, TENNESSEE TECH 61
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Jarekious Bradley scored a game-high 18 points and had two blocks in the final minute of the game to help Southeast Missouri (9-10, 3-3) secure a 65-61 win over Tennessee Tech (9-10, 1-5) Saturday night at the Show Me Center.
Southeast won its second-straight game and improved to 6-3 at home this season.
On a night where the Redhawks didn't shoot particularly well from the field and at the free throw line, it was the defense that rose to the occasion with the game on the line.
Down, 60-58, Bradley made four free throws in a row to regain a slight 61-60 advantage for Southeast with just under three minutes (2:55) left. Josh Langford then stole the ball from Jordan Johnson and Bradley finished with a layup to push Southeast's lead to three. Dwan Caldwell split a pair of free throws to make it a two-point game (63-61) with 1:27 left before the Redhawks made a huge defensive stand.
Bradley blocked Josiah Moore's layup 22 seconds later. Langford then got another steal before Nino Johnson swatted away Caldwell's shot. Johnson's big block came immediately after Caldwell rebounded a missed three-pointer by Torrance Rowe. Following a Antonius Cleveland turnover, TTU had one last chance. However, Bradley blocked Jordan Johnson's shot with three seconds left and buried two more free throws to nail down the 65-61 victory.
Southeast led the entire first half and carried a slight 32-30 edge into the locker room.
The Redhawks and Golden Eagles went back-and-forth as neither team led by more than six points.
Shortly after Marcus Wallace knocked down a pair of free throws to push Southeast's lead to 30-25, Mason Ramsey dropped in a three and Caldwell made a layup to dice TTU's lead to two.
Langford splashed in a three-pointer to give Southeast its largest lead of the night at 41-34 with 16:31 remaining. Javon McKay's free throws gave TTU its first lead at the 13:36 mark before the exciting finish down the stretch. The Golden Eagles missed their last 10 field goals of the game.
Bradley shot 5-of-13 from the field, made two threes and went a near-perfect 6-of-7 at the free throw line en route to his 15th double-digit scoring effort this year. He also had seven rebounds in 32 minutes. Johnson added 14 points, a game-high three blocks, two steals and five rebounds. Southeast shot under 40 percent (39.6) from the field and 53.6 percent (15-of-28) at the free throw line.
Charles Jackson and Johnson led TTU with 14 points apiece. Caldwell contributed 11 points and Moore pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, as well.
MURRAY STATE 91, TENNESSEE STATE 72
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Jarvis Williams finished with 21 points and six rebounds to lead Murray State to a 91-72 win over Tennessee State on Saturday.
T.J. Sapp had 18 points, including five 3-pointers and six assists, Cameron Payne contributed 14 points and nine assists and Jeffery Moss added 13 points and two 3-pointers for Murray State (15-4, 4-0 Ohio Valley).
Darreon Reddick scored 25 points, including 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point range and Jay Harris chipped in 22 points and four 3-pointers for Tennessee State (3-17, 0-5).
Murray State started off the game with a 21-4 run behind three straight 3-pointers, one from Jeffery Moss and the second two from Sapp. The Racers led by 19 at half. Midway through the second half, Murray State went on a 16-0 run capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Sapp and Payne.
BELMONT 89, AUSTIN PEAY 83
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont University men's basketball got balanced scoring and a spirited comeback effort as the Bruins defeated Austin Peay, 89-83, Saturday night.
Belmont, which entered having dropped consecutive conference games for the first time in five years, fell behind by 10 points early as Chris Horton led a strong Austin Peay push to open.
The Bruins found their stride and shot 57 percent in the first half in seizing a 38-37 halftime lead.
The game swung back and forth before Belmont rode the play of sophomore Evan Bradds, freshman Tyler Hadden and junior Craig Bradshaw during an 18-4 run which helped push out to a 70-55 lead with nine minutes left.
Austin Peay used some drives and rebounding from Horton to close within 82-77, but sophomore Taylor Barnette sank a clutch jumpshot with under two minutes remaining to help secure the victory.
Bradds led four Bruins in double figures with 22 points. Bradshaw had 20, Barnette 14 and Hadden a career-high 13.
Byrd joins Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Huggins, Roy Williams, Bo Ryan, and Rick Pitino as one of only seven active NCAA Division I head coaches with 700 career victories. Byrd is the only member from a non-power 5 conference.