TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 80, Florida Atlantic 73
@Chattanooga 80,
Tennessee Tech 69
@Belmont 80, Ouachita Baptist 54
EASTERN KENTUCKY 80, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 73
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team held visiting Florida Atlantic to four points for nearly seven minutes midway through the game and out-scored the Owls by 13 at the free throw line in an 80-73 victory on Tuesday at McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels (8-4) were down five, 34-29, with 2:31 left in the first half before senior Jarelle Reischel closed out the first stanza with a personal 8-2 run. Eastern then scored 12 of the first 14 points of the second half to stretch it to a 20-4 run.
A pair of free throws by junior JaVontae Hawkins capped the run and put EKU in front by 11, 49-38. Florida Atlantic (2-7) didn’t score its fourth points of the second half until the 15:38 mark.
Eastern took its largest lead of 13 points, 54-41, on four straight free throws by Reischel and senior Ja’Mill Powell with 13:55 to play. FAU closed the gap to two, 68-66, on a lay-up from Jeantal Cylla with less than five minutes remaining, but the visitors’ run ended there.
The Colonels held FAU to 32 percent (11-of-34) shooting from the field and 10 percent (1-of-10) shooting from three-point range in the second half to secure the win.
Reischel led all players with 19 points and had a team-best seven rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Nick Mayo, the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week, finished with 18 points, three assists, three steals and two blocks. One of his assists was an alley-oop pass to Hawkins early in the second half.
Eastern Kentucky remained unbeaten at home this season, moving to 7-0 inside McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels shot 43 percent from the field, but made 82 percent at the free throw line, going 27-of-33 from the charity stripe. FAU was 14-of-16 at the free throw line for the game.
Adonis Filer led the Owls with 16 points and nine rebounds.
CHATTANOOGA 80, TENNESSEE TECH 69
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Rebounding proved to be the difference maker Tuesday evening, as the Chattanooga Mocs (8-2) defeated the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team (7-4) in The McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn., 80-69.
Chattanooga corralled 38 rebounds in the contest, 13 more than the Golden Eagles, allowing for 13 second chance points. Between that and the team's red-hot shooting percentage from downtown, Tech found itself in a 23-point hole towards the middle of the second half.
The Golden Eagles knocked down its own share of shots from downtown, particularly late in the second half. Led by Hakeem Rogers, Tech connected five times from after the deficit reached 23, trimming the lead down to 11. The comeback came too late, however, as the Mocs held on for the victory.
The Mocs connected on 50 percent of their shots from the field, including a scorching 60 percent from 3-point range. Tech nearly matched its opponent's production, firing 48.1 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Rogers led the Golden Eagle scoring effort, dropping a game-high and career-best 21 points thanks to 5-for-8 shooting from downtown and 8-for-14 shooting overall. He also notched two steals and a block while playing 24 minutes.
Ryan Martin tallied 16 points and six rebounds over 38 minutes of action while Anthony Morse just missed out on his second double-double of the year, posting 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Aleksa Jugovic connected on four of his eight three-point attempts and finished the contest with 14 points and three assists.
Chattanooga saw four players of its own tally double figures in scoring, led by Tre' McLean with 19 points and eight rebounds. Greg Pryor added 17 points and five assists while Eric Robertson tallied 15 points and three steals. Johnathan Burroughs-Cook wrapped up play with 14 points.
BELMONT 80, OUACHITA BAPTIST 54
NASHVILLE - Behind a season-high 16 points from Mack Mercer, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Ouachita Baptist, 80-54, Tuesday night.
Belmont, in its first game action in eight days following semester exams, led 35-20 at halftime.
But the Bruins' traditional three-point shooting prowess was not on full display, as the hosts missed 21 of their first 25 attempts from long distance, including 0-for-11 to start the second half.
Belmont (7-4) ended the game on a 25-7 run.
Junior Evan Bradds, the nation's field goal percentage leader, added his 10th career double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Tirrell Brown led Ouachita Baptist (2-7) with 12 points.