MONDAY'S SCORES
@Ball State 73,
Eastern Illinois 56
@#14 Indiana 102,
Austin Peay 76
Bethune-Cookman 86,
@UT Martin 79
@Ohio 75,
Tennessee State 67
@UNC Wilmington 78,
Eastern Kentucky 59
@Jacksonville State 96, Oakwood 60
@Illinois State 67,
Morehead State 66
@Air Force 80,
Tennessee Tech 70
@Arizona State 83,
Belmont 74
BALL STATE 73, EASTERN ILLINOIS 56
MUNCIE, Ind. - Some timely 3-point shooting by Ball State midway through the second half lifted Ball State to a 73-56 win over Eastern Illinois on Monday night at Worthen Arena.
Ball State led 36-32 at the half as both teams shot below 40 percent in the opening half. EIU cut that lead to three points on a bucket by A.J. Riley with 16:11 to play. Riley was one of two EIU players to finish in double figures with a game high 21 points.
Francis Kiapway had the hot hand at the right time for the Cardinals as he converted a four-point play at 12:43 to push the BSU lead to ten points at 47-37. Riley knocked down a 3-pointer for EIU only to be answered by another Kiapway 3-pointer as he had 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
Marshawn Blackmon’s 3-pointer with 10:55 cut the Ball State lead to single digits at 52-45. Jeremie Tyler hit a 3-pointer for BSU and the Cardinals never let EIU get closer than ten points the rest of the night. BSU was 4-of-10 from 3-point range in the second half.
EIU built a six point lead in the first half with Trae Anderson knocking down a pair of free throws at 9:53 which ended a 6-0 run by the Panthers. Cornell Johnston had a pair of free throws and a bucket by Patrick Muldoon during the run.
Anderson added 20 points for the Panthers going 8-for-11 at the free throw line. EIU was 19-of-27 as a team from the charity stripe.
Ball State won the battle on the glass by a 43-32 margin as the Cardinals snapped an 18-game losing skid dating back to last season. Bo Calhoun led BSU with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Sean Sellers had 13 points and 10 rebounds as Ball State improved to 1-1.
EIU fell to 0-2 on the season.
#14 INDIANA 102, AUSTIN PEAY 76
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Football coaches often talk about the greatest improvement a team makes is from Week 1 to Week 2. Austin Peay State University basketball coach Dave Loos could relate to that philosophy Monday night.
Austin Peay hung with 15th-ranked Indiana for much of the first half and the early portion of the final before the high-octane Hoosiers converted 15 consecutive shots to pull away for a 102-76 victory in opening-round action of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
Loos liked the patience the Govs showed on offense. It resulted in 29 of 60 (48 percent) shooting. They also connected on half (7 of 14) from three-point range—APSU made just one three pointer against Vandy. And the patience resulted in the Govs being credited with 15 assists—they had just one against Vanderbilt.
Trailing by 12 at halftime, 51-39, the Govs opened the second half with Khalil Davis converting the conventional three-point play, and after an empty Indiana trip, Kenny Jones making it a seven-point game, causing uneasiness among the Hoosier fans.
But consecutive dunks by Thomas Bryant and Collin Hartman plus a steal and layup by All-America guard Yogi Ferrell pushed the lead to 57-44 with 17:46 left in the half. But APSU responded with a John Murry dunk (he had 14 points off the bench), cutting it to 11.
After Indiana missed its last shot for the next 12 minutes, the Govs literally handed them the first bucket in the 15-shot streak when Max Bielfeldt stepped in front of a lazy pass near midcourt to ignite the 38-22 surge that saw the Hoosiers bombard seven three pointers during the 15-made-shot stretch. Indiana finished the game 16 of 27 (59 percent) from three-point range, including 8 of 10 in the final half.
Ferrell led Indiana with 22 points while James Blackmon added 20 as five Indiana player scored in double figures. The Hoosiers finished the night 40 of 60 (66.7 percent) from the field).
Horton led the Govs with 17 points (8 of 13 from the floor) and 12 rebounds—his 37th career double-double. He also blocked four shots and had four assists. Khalil Davis added 15 points on an efficient 4-of-7 field goal and 7-of-8 free-throw performance. Josh Robinson added 13 points.
In addition to be unable to stop the Indiana offense, the Governors major negative was 23 turnovers that led to 33 Hoosier points.
BETHUNE-COOKMAN 86, UT MARTIN 79
MARTIN, Tenn. - Four University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball players reached double-figures in the scoring column tonight but it wasn’t enough as the visiting Bethune-Cookman Wildcats used a late run to post an 86-79 win in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (0-2) fell behind by 17 points in the first half before charging forward for a 34-33 halftime advantage. UT Martin led for nearly 10 minutes in the second half before Bethune-Cookman went on an 11-0 run to take a lead that it would not concede the rest of the way.
Twymond Howard paced the Skyhawks with 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists this evening. Jacolby Mobley knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to 17 points while Kedar Edwards (14 points, seven rebounds, three steals) and Richard Lee (11 points, perfect 3-for-3 shooting from three-point range) also contributed with double-digit scoring totals. Alex Anderson had seven points and a career-best seven assists while Myles Taylor tallied seven points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Bethune-Cookman improved to 2-0 on the season behind Jordan Potts’ 25 points and six assists. LaRon Smith recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Ricky Johnson and Josue Salaam each scored 15 points. Mario Moody tossed in 10 points for the Wildcats, who shot 56.3 percent (18-for-32) from the floor in the second half.
Bethune-Cookman scored the first eight points of the game before Richard Lee connected on a three-pointer from the left corner at the 17:30 mark. The Wildcats answered with a 9-0 run to go ahead by a 17-3 margin less than six minutes into the contest.
Lee buried another three-pointer at the 13 minute mark to get the Skyhawks back within 12 points before Potts accounted for five straight points to push Bethune-Cookman’s lead out to 24-7 with 10:54 left to play in the first half.
Moments later, UT Martin would go on a three-point scoring barrage – as Mobley, Edwards and Anderson each canned treys in the span of 1:11 to slice the Skyhawk deficit to single-digits (27-18) at the 7:43 mark.
Terrence Durham accounted for five consecutive points during a 9-0 Skyhawk run before a pair of buckets in the final two minutes by Howard gave UT Martin a 34-33 halftime advantage.
The Skyhawks drained seven 3-pointers and outrebounded Bethune-Cookman by a 22-16 margin in the first half. Edwards compiled a line of seven points, six rebounds and three steals in 14 minutes off the bench for UT Martin. Potts’ 15 points led the Wildcats, who shot 37.5 percent (9-for-24) in the first 20 minutes.
After Bethune-Cookman reclaimed the lead with the first bucket of the second half, the Skyhawks reeled off six unanswered points to open up a 40-35 advantage with just under 18 minutes remaining.
The Wildcats pulled within one but UT Martin came right back with a 7-0 run, capped off with back-to-back treys by Mobley and Lee to make the score 49-41 in favor of the Skyhawks. An Edwards trifecta gave UT Martin a 59-52 advantage but the Wildcats stormed back with an 11-0 run to take a 63-59 lead with 8:43 remaining.
Howard and Edwards accounted for buckets on back-to-back possessions to even the score at 63-all. Bethune-Cookman then scored on two straight trips down the floor to take a four-point lead with 5:37 to go in the game.
The Skyhawks would get back within a single point on three more occasions – including at 74-73 after a Mobley trey at the 2:14 mark – but the Wildcats added two more three-pointers and made six of eight free throws from that point forward to close out the game.
OHIO 75, TENNESSEE STATE 67
OXFORD, Ohio - Competing on the road for the second-consecutive game to open the season, the Tennessee State men’s basketball team was handed a 75-67 loss at Ohio on Monday night at the Convocation Center.
Junior Wayne Martin collected his second double-double of the young season with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Tahjere McCall paced the Tigers with 17 points.
TSU (1-1) led by as many as 14 points in the first half and held a 10-point advantage with nine minutes to play, but Ohio (2-0) stormed back to steal the victory on its home court.
The Tigers finished with four players in double figures including 11 points from Johnny Woodard and 10 from Keron DeShields.
TSU shot 40.4 percent (21-for-52) from the field on the night.
UNC WILMINGTON 78, EASTERN KENTUCKY 59
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Senior Jarelle Reischel recorded his first double-double as a Colonel, but the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team fell at UNC Wilmington, 78-59, on Monday night at Trask Coliseum.
Reischel paced the Colonels with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Redshirt junior JaVontae Hawkins contributed 16 points and five boards, while freshman Nick Mayo scored 12 points, all in the second half.
EKU (1-1) shot just 33.3 percent (17-of-51) from the field in the loss.
Craig Ponder led the way for the host Seahawks, scoring 24 points, dishing out four assists and coming up with three steals. Dylan Sherwood just missed a double-double for UNCW, scoring 16 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
The Seahawks distributed 16 assists on the night. The Colonels notched only five.
Although UNCW (2-0) led from start-to-finish, EKU stayed within striking distance most of the night. After the Seahawks ran out to an early 13-4 lead, the Colonels clawed back to within four, 19-15, thanks to a three-point play by Hawkins with 7:13 remaining in the first half.
UNCW led by 11 at halftime, and used a 7-2 run to go up 45-29 just over a minute into the second half; however, Eastern kept fighting back. Mayo – who was held scoreless in the first half – scored six consecutive points, two of which came on a thunderous one-handed dunk on the baseline, to keep the Colonels alive.
A layup by Mayo with 14:56 on the clock cut EKU’s deficit to seven, 47-40. It was as close as the Colonels had been since late in the first half and it was as close as they would get the rest of the way.
The Seahawks responded with an 8-0 run to take a 55-40 advantage, and they led by double figures the rest of the way.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 96, OAKWOOD 60
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Everything was working in Jacksonville State's favor during its 96-60 win over Oakwood Monday night.
It started with JaQuail Townser sinking two of his career-tying four 3-point shots en route to his game-high 17 points. It finished with Andre Statam, a freshman from Cape Girardeau, Mo., bringing down one of his career-high seven rebounds to go along with 16 points, which was also a career high.
Townser and Statam were two of five Gamecock players in double figures for head coach James Green. Jared Hamilton finished with 12 points, six assists and five rebounds in 25 minutes of game action. Christian Cunningham also had 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. Rounding out the five some was Malcolm Drumwright, who has now scored in double digits in all three games this season, as he finished with 11 points and nine assists.
It's the first time Jacksonville State had five players in double figures since Darion Rackley (24), Drumwright (15), Jamal Hunter (15), Avery Moore (14) and D.J. Felder (10) reached the mark earlier this calendar year on Feb. 14, 2015 against Tennessee Tech, which was a span of six games.
Erik Durham added nine points and seven reboudns while Ed Jones, in his first collegiate action, had eight points in seven minutes. Greg Tucker and DelFinkco Bogan had five and four points respectively.
The game was ultimately decided in the first half when the Gamecocks scored 53 points on 56.4 percent shooting from the field. They followed it up with 43 points during the second half while shooting 45.9 percent. Green attributed his team's second win of the season to the 24-to-5 assist-to-turnover ratio during the game's 40 minutes. The Gamecocks also scored 54 of their points in the paint.
For Oakwood (4-7), Ronnie Abrams scored a team-high 13 points while bringing down a game-high eight rebounds. Ollie Felps added 12 points and four assists.
The Jacksonville State defense held Oakwood to a mere 37.1 shooting percent during the game and forced 12 turnovers.
ILLINOIS STATE 67, MOREHEAD STATE 66
NORMAL, Ill. - Sophomore Miguel Dicent's three-pointer with five seconds to go put the Eagles up, 66-65, but on the next possession, Illinois State's Devaug Akoon-Purcell got free for a layup at the buzzer, as Morehead State fell, 67-66.
The Eagles move to 1-1 on the young season.
Morehead State went into the locker room trailing, 32-31, but started the second half on a 19-9 run to open a 50-41 lead. Junior Xavier Moon had 10 of the 19 points during the run as the Eagles opened the half knocking down nine of their first ten shots.
Akoon-Purcell kept the Redbirds in the game and with just under six minutes to go, he followed a slam with a three-pointer from the top of the key, giving ISU the lead at 61-59, their first lead since 38-36.
There were four lead changes in the final five minutes, but in the end, the team that had the ball last won the game.
Moon finished the game with a team-high 18 points. After knocking down his first seven shots, four of which were from deep, he failed to knock down a shot the rest of the way, finishing 7-of-12 overall and 4-of-7 from three-point range. He also had four rebounds, an assist and a steal, but it was his ability to score the basketball that really turned the corner for the Eagles early in the second half.
The Eagles finished the game shooting 41 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three, while the Redbirds shot 51 percent overall and 60 percent from deep.
The most impressive stat of the night for the Eagles was their 37-27 rebounding advantage against a much bigger team. They finished with 18 offensive rebounds to ISU's seven, and had 11 second chance points to the Redbirds' four.
Junior DeJuan Marrero nearly finished with a double-double for the Eagles as he had 16 points and eight rebounds. Junior Corban Collins finished with 11 points and three assists, despite missing the final seven minutes of the game after fouling out. Dicent's three-pointer with five seconds to go was his lone bucket of the night as he finished with five points
Akoon-Purcell led the Redbirds with 23 points and was 9-of-13 from the floor.
AIR FORCE 80, TENNESSEE TECH 70
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - Trevor Lyons scored 18 points, Hayden Graham scored 15 on 7-of-12 shooting, and Air Force held off Tennessee Tech's second-half rally to win 80-70 on Monday night.
CJ Siples scored 14 for the Falcons (2-1), who were outrebounded 43-34, but outshot the Golden Eagles 59 percent to 32 percent and scored 42 points in the paint.
The Golden Eagles opened the second half with an 11-4 run and steadily gained ground, taking a 57-56 lead on Torrance Rowe's layup with 7:02 left. But Graham on the next possession hit a 3-pointer to spark a momentum-changing 11-1 run and Air Force stayed ahead.
Tennessee Tech led 10-5 on a 3-pointer by Shirmane Thomas, but Air Force took the lead on a 15-2 run and led 40-27 at halftime on 67 percent shooting.
Rowe scored 18 for Tennessee Tech (1-2), Anthony Morse added 14 with 11 rebounds, and Hakeem Rogers scored 13.
ARIZONA STATE 83, BELMONT 74
TEMPE, Ariz. - Belmont University men's basketball nearly pulled off a second straight high-profile road win, but dropped an 83-74 decision at Arizona State Monday night.
After defeating Marquette to open the season, the Bruins (1-1) fought through uncharacteristically poor shooting to lead several times in the second half.
But the host Sun Devils, who shot 2-for-17 from behind the arc in their opener, went 10-for-21 from three-point distance.
Meanwhile, the Bruins shot just 8-for-31 from long distance.
Arizona State closed the game on a 14-6 run.
Sophomore Austin Luke led four Bruins in double figures with a career-high 17 points and eight rebounds.