SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 89, Austin Peay 54
@Jacksonville State 55, Tennessee State 50
@SIUE 76, UT Martin 68
Belmont 88, @Tennessee Tech 82
MURRAY STATE 89, AUSTIN PEAY 54
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers pushed their winning streak to 22 Saturday with an 89-54 win over the visiting Austin Peay Governors at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
The Racers (24-4) remained undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference at 14-0.
Cameron Payne led the way with 22 points on 5-of-8 shooting from long range, while dishing out eight assists. Jonathan Fairell and Jeffery Moss each scored 13 points. Wayne Langston came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points, while Jarvis Williams added 10 points.
The Racers took control of the game early with a 22-11 start and pushed it to a 37-25 lead when Payne hit a 3-pointer at the first half buzzer.
MSU started the second half on a 12-2 run to go in front 61-27 with 16:30 left.
With a win Thursday, the Racers will tie the school and OVC record of 23 in a row set by the 2011-12 team that started the season 23-0.
After the game, the Racers were presented the OVC regular season championship by OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche. MSU clinched the title a week ago with their win at Southeast Missouri State (Feb. 14).
JACKSONVILLE STATE 55, TENNESSEE STATE 50
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - A late spurt by the Jacksonville State men's basketball team gave the Gamecocks a 55-50 win over Tennessee State on Senior Day at Pete Mathews Coliseum Saturday.
The Gamecocks (12-17, 5-9 Ohio Valley Conference) got a combined 44 points from their four seniors in their final home game in a JSU uniform and capped an 11-3 record at home in 2014-15, the best home season since 2003-04. The win also avenged a loss to the Tigers (5-23, 2-11 OVC) in late January in Nashville.
Forwards D.J. Felder and Jamal Hunter led the charge for the Gamecocks in their final home game. Felder led all scorers with 15 points, while Hunter scored 13, pulled down eight boards and blocked three shots.
Senior guards Darion Rackley and Avery Moore scored eight apiece and each grabbed seven boards in leading JSU to a 34-29 advantage on the glass.
The Tigers got 11 points and eight rebounds from Demontez Loman, while Jay Harris and Marcus Roper scored nine apiece in the loss.
The Gamecocks opened the game with a hot hand, building an early six-point lead, but they cooled and the Tigers answered with an 8-0 run that gave them their first lead of the night at 23-20.
The Gamecocks battled back to reclaim the lead at the half, a 28-27 advantage on a Felder layup with less than a minute on the clock. He finished the half with nine points to lead all scorers.
JSU scored the first two baskets of the second half to push its lead to five in less than a minute. The Gamecocks stretched it to 37-31 before a 6-0 TSU run tied it with just under 13 minutes to play.
TSU hung around before a Loman jumper with 3:42 put the Tigers back on top, 48-47. That score remained until a pair of Malcolm Drumwright free throws put JSU back on top with 1:47 to play.
Hunter put back a Drumwright miss with 50 seconds on the clock to make it a three-point game and a Rackley steal on the other end put Moore at the line to ice the game.
SIUE 76, UT MARTIN 68
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Freshman C.J. Carr scored a career-high 21 points while senior Kris Davis dropped in 19 as SIUE men's basketball won for the third consecutive game, scoring a 76-68 senior night victory over UT Martin.
The win moved the Cougars to 12-14 overall and 8-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Both win totals are new program highs at the Division I level. SIUE finished the home season at 11-3 at home this season, which also is a new benchmark at the Division I level.
UT Martin fell to 17-10 overall and 9-5 in the OVC.
For the second time in as many games, the Cougars built double-digit first-half lead only to see it slip away. A Michael Messer jumper with 11:22 to play in the first half gave SIUE its largest lead of the night at 18-6.
UT Martin battled back to take a 36-35 lead after a turnover and a bucket by Arkeem Joseph with 1:46 left before the half. Carr added the final basket before the break to put the Cougars on top 37-36 at halftime. Carr finished the first half with 14 points.
The Skyhawks built their lead to as many as six points (57-51) when Alex Anderson drained a three-pointer with 10 minutes left in the game. SIUE used a quick 10-2 run to take a 61-59 lead after a three-point play with 6:26 left.
UT Martin briefly regained the lead twice. Keaton Jackson put SIUE up for good with a free throw to make it 66-65 with 2:33 to play. Rozell Nunn hit six free throws over the final 49 seconds to secure the win.
SIUE connected on 54 percent (27-50) of its shots for the night. It is the third consecutive game that the Cougars have shot better than 50 percent from the field.
Carr was 8 for 14 from the field, including 3 for 8 from three-point range.
Davis was 6 for 9 and drained a season-high four three-pointers. The 19 points moves Davis' career total to 1,283 points.
Nunn finished with 12 points, including seven from the free throw line. Messer added 10 points. Donivine Stewart scored five points and led the team with eight rebounds and seven assists.
BELMONT 88, TENNESSEE TECH 82
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont University men's basketball rode near record-setting shooting to outlast Tennessee Tech, 88-82, Saturday night.
The Bruins led virtually throughout, extending a 43-36 halftime lead to 12 points with 11:25 remaining on a three-pointer from sophomore Nick Smith.
But behind the play of Dwan Caldwell and Torrance Rowe, the host Golden Eagles roared back to seize a four point lead, 76-72, with 4:58 left.
Belmont remained poised, getting huge plays from Smith, Craig Bradshaw and Reece Chamberlain down the stretch to close the game on a 16-6 run.
For the game, Belmont shot 65.3 percent (32-for-49) from the field for the game - just shy of its single-game NCAA Division I era record of 67 percent shooting at Eastern Kentucky two seasons ago.
Bradshaw led five Bruins in double figures with 17 points.
Belmont is 18-10, 10-5 OVC, remaining atop the OVC East Division.