SATURDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 56, @Eastern Illinois 52
Morehead State 66, @Jacksonville State 63
@UT Martin 70, Southeast Missouri 53
Murray State 60, @SIUE 54
@Tennessee Tech 83, Eastern Kentucky 81 (OT)
AUSTIN PEAY 56, EASTERN ILLINOIS 52
CHARLESTON, Ill. - With DeeDee Smith and the defense leading the way, Austin Peay State University rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to clip Eastern Illinois, 56-52, Saturday afternoon in Ohio Valley Conference play in Lantz Arena. It was APSU's first 2014-15 road victory.
The victory snapped APSU's two-game losing streak and improved it to 7-13 overall and 2-4 in the OVC. It proved to be a lost weekend for EIU, which lost its second straight in falling to 12-8 overall and 6-2 in the OVC—the Panthers lost to Murray State also at home, Thursday night.
With APSU down 33-20 just 1 ½ minutes into the second half, APSU coach Dave Loos called a timeout and instructed his Governors to press full-court against Johnston, the reigning OVC Player and Freshman of the Week, and his Panthers teammates. With the rangy 6-2 Smith harassing the 5-7, 150-pound Johnston, the young point guard into four second-half turnovers while fellow backcourt mate Reggie Smith committed three. Not only did Governors turn the 10 second-half turnovers into 16 points, they also forced the Panthers into a quicker tempo. After shooting 50 percent (12 of 24) in the first half, EIU was just 9-of-27 (33 percent) in the final half. The Panthers ended with 19 turnovers, 10 in the second half
APSU got off to a fast start, jumping out to an 11-3 lead in the game's first five minutes but then watched Eastern Illinois outscore the Govs 26-9 the rest of the half. In fact, after a 4-of-6 shooting start, the Govs were a horrific 4-of-18 (22 percent) the rest of half. When the Panthers scored the second half's first two buckets, Loos immediately called timeout and instituted a new defensive strategy—a risky one for a team that has a short bench.
Chris Horton started the 13-0 run with a short jumper to cut the deficit to 11 with 17:43 left. The run ended on a pair of Josh Robinson back-to-back three-pointers, the second with 13:40 left to make it a 36-36 contest. During that stretch EIU committed a trio of turnovers and went 0-of-5 from the floor.
Trae Anderson temporarily stopped the Panther drought by bulling his way inside, but the Govs Davis responded with a fee-throw line jumper to tie it again. But Smith stole the ball from Johnston and slammed the ball home to give APSU its first lead, 40-38, since midway in the first half. The Panthers' Luke Norman responded with a three to regain the advantage for EIU, 41-40, before Ed Dyson put APSU back up with a bucket.
It literally became a back-and-forth contest until Davis tied it at 49-49 with a free throw at the 2:34 mark and then Dyson, who led tied with Davis for the team lead with 14 points, gave APSU the lead for good with another free throw at the 1:35 mark. With a chance to put EIU back up, Luke Piotrowski misfired from close in with 24 seconds left. Horton grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled.
On another night in which the Govs struggled at the free-throw line (13 of 25), Horton calmly sank both free throws for a three-point advantage. Horton finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds—his 11th double-double this season. Johnston's attempt to tie with a three pointer came up short with 11 seconds left.
This time Davis was fouled and he made it a four-point lead with a one free throw with seven seconds left. Johnston answered with a three to cut the deficit to one with five seconds left but Robinson converted three-of-four free throws—Robinson finished with 11 points, his fifth straight double-figure effort—to allow the Govs to walk away with their first road win in 11 chances this season.
APSU shot just 19 of 50 (38 percent) from the floor, coupled with their second straight free-throw shooting performance below 60 percent. APSU also was out-rebounded 34-31
MOREHEAD STATE 66, JACKSONVILLE STATE 63
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Morehead State men's basketball team knocked down 9-of-12 from three-point range in the first half and led from start to finish in a 66-63 Ohio Valley Conference win over Jacksonville State on Saturday evening at Mathews Coliseum.
The Eagles improve to 9-13 overall, 4-3 in league play and 5-7 on the road, while the Gamecocks slip to 9-13 overall, 2-6 in conference action and 8-3 at home. Morehead State also improves to 20-8 in the all-time series with its fourth straight victory over Jacksonville State.
Morehead State drained 2-of-4 three-point attempts after intermission to finish at 69 percent. The 11 long-range buckets marked MSU's best effort since drilling 17 on Dec. 19, 2013. The Eagles began the day shooting 34 percent from three-point land, which ranked eighth in the league.
Sophomore Corban Collins paced four double-figure Eagles with 16 points. Senior Angelo Warner added 15, while junior Brent Arrington contributed 14 and senior Kareem Storey tossed in 13. Collins also tallied a game-high eight rebounds, while Warner posted a game-best five assists.
Collins knocked down 5-of-6 from the field, 4-of-4 from three-point distance and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Warner connected on 3-of-7 from the floor, 3-of-4 from long range and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. The duo had 25 points at halftime on 7-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Morehead State split the nets on 46 percent (19-of-41) overall and 85 percent (17-of-20) from the foul line to overcome a 17-turnover night. The Eagles managed advantages of 31-25 in rebounds, 15-9 in assists, 11-3 in three-point baskets and 33-9 in points from long distance.
The Eagles never trailed. The game was tied with 39 seconds to play, but Jacksonville State couldn't get over the hump. MSU's biggest advantage of 12 points came with 2:42 on the first-half timer.
Senior Darion Rackley was limited to 3-of-13 from the field, but made 10-of-11 from the charity stripe to finish with a team-best 16 points for Jacksonville State. He also collected a game-best four steals. The Gamecocks had a 26-14 scoring advantage in the paint and 18-12 edge in points off turnovers.
MSU also swept the Tennessee Tech-Jacksonville State trip, in the opposite order, last season. Those decisions capped four consecutive road wins en route to a 9-7 record in that category.
UT MARTIN 70, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 53
MARTIN, Tenn. - Four Skyhawks poured in double-figures in the scoring column to help the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team pick up a 70-53 Ohio Valley Conference home victory over Southeast Missouri this evening.
UT Martin led for over 27 minutes of the game and did not trail after the 3:12 mark of the first half. The Skyhawks shot 53.8 percent from three-point range (7-for-13) and won the rebounding battle by a 37-26 margin.
Deville Smith tossed in 18 points to lead UT Martin, while Twymond Howard accumulated 17 points for the Skyhawks. Alex Anderson scored 13 points while Marshun Newell racked up 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds for UT Martin, who improves to 12-7 overall with a 4-2 OVC mark.
Southeast Missouri (9-11, 3-4 OVC) was led by 21 points out of Isiah Jones. Antonius Cleveland pitched in with 11 points for the Redhawks, who were playing without leading scorer Jarekious Bradley.
Southeast Missouri got on the scoreboard first but the Skyhawks scored seven of the next nine points, four of which came from Javier Martinez. A three-pointer from the right wing by Smith gave UT Martin a 10-9 advantage but the Redhawks would soon claim a 20-15 lead with 10:35 remaining in the first half.
The Skyhawks came right back with a 10-2 run, capped off with a pair of Howard free throws that made the score 25-22 in UT Martin’s favor at the 5:16 mark.
Southeast Missouri would close in within two points with two minutes remaining in the half before Anderson caught fire, drilling three-pointers on three consecutive possessions to close out the half and give the Skyhawks a 40-32 advantage at the break.
Anderson scored 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting performance – including a 3-for-3 effort from three-point range – in the first 20 minutes. Jones had 13 points for Southeast Missouri, who shot 50 percent in the first half while UT Martin connected on 53.8 percent of its field goal attempts.
Newell scored the first bucket of the second half off an offensive rebound, giving the Skyhawks a double-digit lead at 42-32. UT Martin’s lead remained at 10 points with 14:48 left to play until Southeast Missouri compiled nine unanswered points to make the score 47-46 with 11:31 remaining.
The Skyhawks then were able to expand upon their lead, sinking four free throws and coming up with three buckets in the paint to go ahead by a 57-48 margin with seven minutes left to play.
After the Redhawks closed within seven points, UT Martin essentially iced the game with a 13-1 run over a stretch of 3:53, as the Skyhawks stretched their lead out to as many as 19 points in the waning moments of the contest.
MURRAY STATE 60, SIUE 54
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Murray State Racers pushed their winning streak to 15 Saturday with a 60-54 victory over the SIUE Cougars at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill.
The Racers improved to 17-4 and 7-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference and in the process clinched its 28th straight winning season. A mark that is fourth in the nation behind only Syracuse, Kansas and Arizona.
Cameron Payne scored 22 points and the Racers got a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds from Jarvis Williams. Jonathan Fairell tied his career-high with 14 rebounds.
After a tight game through the first half, the Racers used a 7-0 run to build their largest lead of the game at 42-36 with 13:47 left when Payne nailed a 3-point basket. Payne had a stretch where he scored 10 of 11 points for the Racers. Again the Racers went in front by six points at the 3:48 mark when Fairell rejected a shot in the paint and Payne finished on the other end for a 57-51 Racer lead.
That was MSU's final field goal of the game, but they managed to lock the Cougars down and held them to no field goals in the final 6:05.
In the frantic final seconds, SIUE had one chance to tie the game, but missed a 3-point try with 1:35 left. MSU kept the Cougars at bay when they grabbed six offensive rebounds in the final 1:10 of the game.
The first half featured three ties including the intermission score. Moss nailed a 3-pointer with 2.5 before half to tie it 31-31.
It wasn't a pretty stat sheet for the Racers, but they did the right things at the right time to keep their winning ways.
MSU shot 36 percent from the field on 21-of-59 shots, but SIUE was only 20-of-54 for 37 percent.
The Racers won the rebound battle 50-34 and had a season-high 21 offensive rebounds.
TENNESSEE TECH 83, EASTERN KENTUCKY 81 (OT)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Charles Jackson and point guard Torrance Rowe each recorded double-doubles, and five players scored in double figures as Tennessee Tech (10-11/2-6 OVC) pulled out a crowd-pleasing, 83-81 overtime victory over Eastern Kentucky Saturday night in Eblen Center.
Jackson, second in the nation in double-doubles, added another with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Rowe dished out a career-high 10 assists to go with 14 points in directing the victory.
Aleksa Jugovic also scored 14, including four clutch 3-pointers down the stretch, Javon McKay added 12 on perfect 5-for-5 shooting, and Dwan Caldwell finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
While those Golden Eagles put bigger numbers onto the stat sheet, junior Josiah Moore penciled in the biggest number when his fade-away 12-foot jumper from the right baseline broke an 81-all tie and proved the winning points with just 7.2 seconds to play.
The Colonels (11-8/3-3 OVC) had one final attempt, but Corey Walden's 32-foot heave at the buzzer was off the mark. Walden was the leading scorer for the Colonels with 22 points while dishing out seven assists. Eric Stutz finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Timmy Knipp had 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Colonels grabbed control early, erasing a 4-0 Tech start with a 16-2 run to build a double-figure lead at 16-6 with 13:24 left in the first half. The lead was as large as 13 points, while Tech pulled within six, but at the halftime buzzer the visitors took an 11-point advantage into the dressing room at 41-30.
They did it by forcing 10 Golden Eagle turnovers with seven steals in the first 20 minutes, and shooting 47 percent (8-for-17) from long distance.
A 3-pointer by Rowe with 8:57 to play put The in the lead for the first time since early in the game, 59-57. The contest was tied at 64-64 with four minutes left, and Tech was on top by four after that, 68-64, with 2:50 to go.
A free throw by Mason Ramsey left Tech with a 72-70 lead with 20 seconds left, before Walden made both free tries with five seconds to play to knot it again. A runner by Rowe at the buzzer was too hard, bringing overtime.
In the extra session, Tech went up by three points on three occasions, twice on baskets by Jackson and once on a jumper by Jugovic, and all three times on feeds from Rowe.
Walden pulled EKU within one after Tech's third three-point lead to make it 80-79. Moore made one free throw for an 81-79 Tech lead, and Stutz took a feed from Walden for a tying layup with 35 seconds left. That set the stage for Moore's game-winning jumper.
Tech shot a blistering 65.2 percent (15-for-23) in the second half and 66.7 percent (4-for-6) in overtime, finishing the game at 54.4 percent overall. The Golden Eagles also tied their season-high with 23 assists, and owned a 37-26 advantage in rebounds.
EKU finished the game hitting 50.9 percent (27-for-53), including 4-for-6 in the overtime period.