TUESDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 59, Pepperdine 55 (Estero, Fla.)
Belmont 80, @Kennesaw State 55
@Tennessee Tech 86, Jackson State 82 (OT)
@Morehead State 85, Marshall 61
Campbell 77,
@SIUE 74
@Tennessee State 77, Reinhardt 61
@Texas Rio Grande Valley 83,
Southeast Missouri 74
Alabama A&M 73,
@Jacksonville State 69
MURRAY STATE 59, PEPPERDINE 55
ESTERO, Fla. - The Murray State Racers have a date in the Gulf Coast Showcase championship game after they posted a 59-55 victory Tuesday over the Pepperdine Waves in Estero, Fla., at Germain Arena.
Trailing 53-51 with 2:45 left, the Racers came up with the key plays to push their record to 4-1.
An 8-2 run to the finish started with a pair of free throws from Bryce Jones with 1:59 remaining to tie the score. After Pepperdine hit two from the line, Chad Culbreath hit a layup to tie it again with 1:30 left. Pepperdine gave the ball back to MSU on a turnover, which led to Wayne Langston hitting two of his 17 points to give the Racers the lead for good with 53 seconds left. The Waves missed a 3-point try and fouled Jeffery Moss who hit both free throws with 11 seconds left to seal the win.
Langston tied for game honors with a career high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Moss scored 12 points for MSU's only other double-digit scorer.
The Racers' defense again saved the day on what was a slow shooting game with the team hitting 40 percent on 22-of-51 shots. MSU locked Pepperdine down in the final five minutes holding the Waves to 1-of-6 including three misses from the 3-point line. The Racers held the Waves to 37 percent for the game on 20-of-54 from the field.
BELMONT 80, KENNESAW STATE 55
KENNESAW, Ga. - Behind balanced scoring and stingy defense, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Kennesaw State, 80-55, Tuesday evening to win the Legends Classic subregional championship.
Despite drawing understandable attention after making 27-of-28 field goals over his last two games, junior Evan Bradds continued to lead the Belmont offensive attack.
Sophomore Amanze Egekeze buried two three-pointers in the opening three minutes to give the Bruins an early 11-6 lead. A three-pointer from freshman Kevin McClain and an offensive rebound putback by freshman Dylan Windler made the score 20-15 at the 1:22 mark.
But a basket by Aubrey Williams and a three-pointer from Yonel Brown gave Kennesaw State a brief 23-22 edge. Following a Rick Byrd timeout, Belmont went on a 11-2 run - capped by a three-pointer from senior Craig Bradshaw - to seize a 33-25 lead.
The Bruins held the host Owls without a field goal the last 5:32 of the first half, as a Bradds basket and a three-pointer from junior Taylor Barnette pushed the Bruin lead to 41-29 at halftime. Belmont shot 52 percent (16-for-31) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 9-for-21 from three-point distance.
After Kennesaw State closed within 41-33 with 18:59 remaining on a Nick Masterson jumpshot, Belmont responded with a decisive 14-2 spurt. Consecutive three-pointers from Bradshaw and sophomore Austin Luke pushed the margin to 20, 55-35, with 15:54 left.
A Bradds layin and seven straight Egekeze points made the score 65-43 with 11:17 remaining. The Belmont bench sealed the deal, with sophomore Tyler Hadden adding seven points down the stretch.
All told, Belmont shot 54 percent (32-for-59) from the field - including 13-for-32 from three-point distance. The Bruins outrebounded Kennesaw State, 43-33. and held the Owls to 33 percent shooting, 29 percent in the second half.
Bradds, Bradshaw and Egekeze each scored 17 points for Belmont. Bradds was named Tournament MVP, while Egekeze was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Yonel Brown led Kennesaw State (1-4) with 14 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 86, JACKSON STATE 82 (OT)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Senior Torrance Rowe scored a career-high 35 points, including a layup at the buzzer in regulation to keep the Golden Eagle hopes alive, and Ryan Martin netted a career-high 20 points as Tennessee Tech (2-2) overcame a huge rebounding deficit to claim a thrilling 86-82 victory over Jackson State (1-4) in overtime Tuesday night in Eblen Center.
The Golden Eagles trailed by 10 with under four minutes to play and by six points with 2:31 remaining in regulation.
Rowe raced the length of the floor in the final 5.2 seconds of regulation, swerved between two defenders in the lane, and hit a reverse layup that just beat the buzzer to send the game to overtime tied at 71-71.
In the extra period, the Golden Eagles had a 7-2 edge on the boards, reversing what had been Jackson State's domination on the glass throughout the contest. JSU had 28 offensive rebounds and 56 overall in the game, finishing regulation with a 54-33 edge.
Tech had tied it at 69-69 on Martin's 3-pointer with 13 seconds left before Raeford Worsham put the Tigers ahead with, what else, a tip-in on a missed shot for a 71-69 lead to set the stage for Rowe's dash.
After a couple of early ties in the extra period, Anthony Morse (photo above) hit two free throws that put Tech ahead for good, 77-75. Rowe followed with a 3-pointer for an 80-75 lead, then made four straight free throws.
A 3-pointer at the buzzer by JSU's Tony Stancil cut the final margin to four.
JSU held a narrow, 36-33 lead at halftime, thanks in large part to 11 second-chance points. The Tigers owned a 23-12 advantage in rebounds, including 10 on the offensive boards.
Jackson State's huge advantage in rebounds allowed the Tigers to push their three-point lead into double digits in the second half, but Tech never allowed the difference to climb beyond 10. The last 10-point JSU lead came with four minutes to play, 66-56, on a 3-pointer by Paris Collins.
The Golden Eagles closed regulation with a 15-5 run to tie the game, with the string started by a Rowe jumper. He also added four free throws in the run, before Martin's first 3-pointer of the night tied it with 13 seconds to play.
Up to that point, Tech had trailed since the Tigers broke a 38-38 tie on Chace Franklin's jumper with 17:11 left in the second half.
Rowe was 9-for-18 from the field and 15-for-17 at the free throw line, finishing with 35 points along with five rebounds and five assists. Martin hit 11-of-13 at the line on his way to 20 points, and grabbed nine rebounds. Morse finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
It was the first 35-point game by a Golden Eagle since Belton Rivers hit 35 against Northwestern State on Feb. 17, 2007.
Collins topped JSU with 21 points, along with six rebounds and three blocked shots before fouling out. Franklin had 16 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Worsham added a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Golden Eagles shot 41.5 percent from the field (22-for-53) and went 37-for-45 at the free throw line for 82.2 percent. It was the first time a Tech team had made at least 35 free throws in a game since Nov. 3, 2007.
JSU shot 37.2 percent (32-for-86) for the game, including 12-for-30 from long range for 40 percent.
MOREHEAD STATE 85, MARSHALL 61
MOREHEAD, Ky. - A very balanced offensive attack led the Morehead State men's basketball team past the Marshall Thundering Herd on Tuesday night in Johnson Arena, by a final score of 85-61.
The Eagles advance to 3-1 on the season while the Herd fell to 0-2. It marked the third straight win for MSU over Marshall in the long running series.
The Eagles took a 38-27 lead into the locker room, after big first halves from junior Ty'Quan Bitting and senior Lyonell Gaines off the bench. The Eagles quickly extended that lead as junior DeJuan Marrero scored six straight points out of the locker room, adding a block on the defensive end. This was all part of an 8-0 run for the Eagles to start the second half.
Morehead State finished the game shooting 53 percent from the field and holding Marshall to 36 percent accuracy. The Eagles connected on 18 of their 25 free throws and handed out 21 assists.
Morehead State outrebounded the Herd, 45-27, led by Marrero's eight boards. He also added eight points.
Every Eagle on the roster got in on the scoring by night's end.
Junior Corban Collins finished the game with a team-high 15 points to go along with his eight assists. He shot 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Gaines racked up nine points, junior guard Xavier Moon added nine as well, while Bitting finished with eight points, all in the first half. Sophomore guard Miguel Dicent also contributed seven points.
The Eagles held advantages of 50-20 in points in the paint and 44-20 in points scored by reserves. After an early advantage by the visitors, the Eagles led for 34:16 of the contest.
CAMPBELL 77, SIUE 74
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Campbell used a 15-2 run over a 6:53 stretch in the second half to erase an eight-point SIUE lead and held on for a 77-74 win over the Cougars in men's basketball at Vadalabene Center.
SIUE has dropped three straight and fell to 1-3 with the loss. Campbell improved to 2-2 with the win.
SIUE's Devin Thornton buried a three-pointer from the right corner as the first half expired and the Cougars led 41-39 at the break. Both teams had sizable runs in the first half, which featured 10 lead changes and eight ties.
Campbell pulled out to a three-point lead in the second half thanks to five points in the first 1:03 of the period.
C.J. Carr converted on a three-point play, hitting a layup, getting fouled and making his free throw with 16:42 to play to tie the score, 46-46. Yemi Makanjuola then converted his own three-point play to put the Cougars up 49-46. Carlos Anderson made it a five-point lead with a jumper before the Camels evened the score.
Another jumper from Anderson was sandwiched by a pair of Campbell three-pointers from Troy Harper and Curtis Phillps, and the game was tied 53-53 with 14:18 to play.
The Cougars then pulled away with points from Anderson, Carr, Mike Chandler and Grant Fiorentinos in a 13-5 run to build their biggest lead of the night at 66-58 before the Camels took over.
Burak Eslik nailed a three-pointer from the right wing to move SIUE within two (75-73) with 50 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession, Fiorentinos forced a steal and found Carr in the front court. Carr was fouled and hit one of two shots to pull within one at 75-74. Campbell's Kyre' Hamer knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 77-74 with 25 seconds to play.
Following an SIUE timeout, Eslik made a drive to the basket but couldn't get the shot to fall. After an offensive rebound and a kickout, Carr had a look but couldn't get a three to fall as time expired.
Carr led SIUE with a season-high 14 points. Fiorentinos scored in double figures for the second consecutive game, adding 13 points and five rebounds. Eslik scored 12 points, and Anderson scored 11 while pulling in seven rebounds. Makanjuola scored seven points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Cougars doubled up the Camels in total rebounds 48-24 and turned 20 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points.
Campbell forced 13 turnovers and scored 21 points as a result.
Chris Clemons scored a game-high 26 points to lead Campbell. Hamer added 10 points.
TENNESSEE STATE 77, REINHARDT 61
NASHVILLE - Balanced scoring and a strong first-half defensive effort propelled the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 77-61 home victory over Reinhardt at the Gentry Center on Tuesday night. The win helps the Tigers move to 3-2, matching the program’s best start through five games since the 1998-99 season.
Redshirt junior Wayne Martin, who entered the game tied for seventh in the nation with 12.8 rebounds per game, posted his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Redshirt senior Keron DeShields led the Tigers with 14 points, while senior Demontez Loman collected a season-best seven boards.
TSU (3-2) held the Eagles (5-4) to 33.9 percent (21-for-64) shooting and held a 51-37 rebounding edge.
On the night, 11 different players scored for the Tigers, who limited Reinhardt to 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
Strong defensive play for the Tigers kept the Eagles off the scoreboard for the first 4:48 of the contest, building up a 13-0 advantage highlighted by a fast-break dunk by Tahjere McCall (Philadelphia, Pa.). Reinhardt would trim the TSU advantage to 11 on two occasions, the second coming on Daquan Langston’s layup with 10:23 showing on the first half clock to put the score at 20-9.
The Tigers quickly regained the momentum, however, with a 7-0 run that included two Martin layups and a three from Johnny Woodard to grow the lead up to 27-9. The Eagles did not score their 10th point of the game until a Langston free throw with 8:01 to go in the opening half.
Using balanced scoring with 10 different players scoring in the half, the Tigers took a 44-20 lead into the locker rooms. The 20 points allowed by TSU are the second fewest in a half in the Dana Ford era.
In the second half, Reinhardt used a 12-5 run out of the gate to cut the TSU lead down to 49-32. The Tigers struck back with a 14-3 run of their own to distance themselves from the Eagles at 63-35, their largest lead of the night, with 11:56 to play. Loman and Neville Fincher converted dunks for the Tigers in the stretch.
Reinhardt then made a comeback that cut the lead down to 11 with 4:32 to go thanks to a 22-5 run that spanned nearly seven minutes, but it was not enough as the Tigers pulled away in the closing minutes.
On the defensive end, McCall finished with five steals to go with six points, six rebounds and five assists.
For Reinhardt, Josh Cooper registered a team-best 14 points off the bench.
TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY 83, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74
EDINBURG, Texas - Trey Kellum scored 21 points and had nine rebounds to lead four players in double figures, but Southeast Missouri (0-4) lost its fourth-straight road game when it fell to Texas Rio Grande Valley (2-3), 83-74, Tuesday night.
UTRGV, which trailed, 42-36, at the intermission, shot 62.1 percent from the field in the second half and outscored Southeast, 34-18, inside the paint to pull away.
Southeast put together its best half of basketball this season in the game's opening period.
Kellum, who made his first career start as a Redhawk, scored 10 points in the first 4:15 of the game to help get the Redhawks a 13-7 lead. He also had two offensive rebounds in that stretch.
Antonius Cleveland's jumper later gave Southeast its first double-digit lead of the season at 25-14 at the 10:35 mark. The Redhawks then headed into the locker room up by six.
Down by five (56-51) with 14:25 left to play in the second half, UTRGV used a 12-0 run to get ahead of Southeast.
Shaquille Hines kickstarted the surge with a layup and split a pair of free throws before Antonio Green followed with five-straight points. Dakota Slaughter knocked down a three and was fouled, converting a 4-point play that pushed UTRGV's lead to 63-56 with 10:42 left.
Kellum answered with five unanswered points, quickly dicing the Vaqueros lead to 63-61 with just under 10 minutes to go.
UTRGV regrouped to run its lead to 12 points (73-61) before the Redhawks countered again, this time with a 9-0 run to get to within three. Joel Angus III and Cleveland each made two free throws. Marcus Wallace then scored a layup and buried a three to narrow the Vaqueros lead to 73-70 with 4:19 remaining.
Isiah Jones' layup made it a one-possession game once more (75-72), but Southeast missed 5-of-6 field goals, three free throws and three layups in the final 3:15.
Southeast outrebounded UTRGV, 39-34, and had 17 offensive boards. The Redhawks also made a season-high seven 3-pointers, forced 13 turnovers and collected a season-best 10 steals.
Kellum shot 9-of-12 from the field and 3-of-5 at the free throw line to lead all Southeast scorers. He also had an assist and one steal in 23 minutes.
Jones followed with 17 points, including nine from 3-point range in 34 minutes. Cleveland and Wallace contributed 12 and 10 points off the bench, respectively. Wallace dished out a career-high nine assists and Angus pulle down nine rebounds, as well.
Hines led four UTRGV starters in double-digits with 23 points. Dan Kimasa turned in a double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Slaughter had 16 points and Green contributed 10. All five of the Vaqueros starters played at least 36 minutes.
UTRGV made 18-of-29 field goals and buried five of its seven threes en route to outscoring Southeast, 47-32, in the second half.
ALABAMA A&M 73, JACKSONVILLE STATE 69
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State put forth a furious comeback attempt but couldn't overcome an explosive first half by Alabama A&M in a 73-69 loss Tuesday night.
Ladarius Tabb's 26-point performance gave the Bulldogs enough cushion to withstand a late second half rally by Jacksonville State to walk out of Pete Mathews Coliseum as winners. Rakiya Battle sealed the win with three free throw baskets in the game's last 12 seconds.
With 56 seconds left, JaQuail Towner tied the game at 67, before Alabama A&M outscored the Gamecocks by four over that period. The Bulldogs were up 41-35 after the first half, before JSU battled back. JSU erased what was once a 14-point deficit in the second half.
Andre Statam missed the game-tying basket before Erik Durham missed another game-tying chance in the game's last 30 seconds.
To go along with Tabb's performance, Battle and Nicholas West also added 13 points each. West brought down seven rebounds to Tabb's six. Battle dished out four assists while Adrian Edwards chipped in with eight points and 10 rebounds.
For Jacksonville State, Malcolm Drumwright has a team-high 18 points and five rebounds while JaQuail Townser added 16 and five boards in a game-high 38 minutes. Durham chipped in with 12 points, five rebounds and three steals. Jared Hamilton scored 10 points and brought down a team-high seven rebounds.
Christian Cunningham had three block shots to go along with his six points before fouling out late in the game.
14 of the Gamecocks 69 points came off of the 13 Bulldog turnovers during the game.
Alabama A&M outshot the Jacksonville State 48.5 percent to 39.4 during the first half, which included 46.7 percent from behind the arc.