THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 63, Jacksonville State 57
@Murray State 65, Eastern Illinois 57
@Austin Peay 64, SIUE 61
UT Martin 69, @Tennessee State 52
@Morehead State 86,
Tennessee Tech 73
EASTERN KENTUCKY 63, JACKSONVILLE STATE 57
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky held Jacksonville State scoreless for the majority of the final three minutes, resulting in a 63-57 victory in McBrayer Arena on Thursday.
The win kept Eastern (18-10, 10-5 OVC) on pace to win the Ohio Valley Conference East Division. With another home court victory on Saturday against Tennessee Tech, the Colonels will clinch first place in the East, the No. 2 seed in next week’s conference tournament and the double bye that comes along with it.
After D.J. Felder capped a 14-6 Gamecock run with a three-pointer to get within one, 55-54, with 2:48 left in the game, JSU didn’t score again until 18 seconds remained. Corey Walden hit a lay-up and two free throws, and Denzel Richardson made two from the stripe for six straight EKU points.
Jacksonville State (12-18, 5-10 OVC) missed two 3-pointers and two free throws in the final minute before Malcolm Drumwright made a trey with 17.7 seconds left to cut the Eastern lead to four, 61-57. Walden made two more free throws with 12 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Seniors Timmy Knipp, Eric Stutz, and Walden led the charge with 43 of Eastern’s 63 total points. Knipp and Stutz both had 14 points and five rebounds apiece. Walden had 15 points – all in the second-half – eight rebounds, and four steals.
After the halftime break the Gamecocks came out on an 8-2 run to tie the game, capped by a three-point shot from the right wing from Darion Rackley. Rackley then scored another triple to give JSU their last lead of the game, 36-35, with 14:47 on the clock.
Eastern answered with a 14-4 run, polished off by a lay-up and free throw from Walden. The Gamecocks scored just four points during a stretch of 7:18.
Despite trailing by nine, with its postseason hopes on the line, JSU didn’t fold and began its own run that would get the visitors within one with less than three minutes to play.
Jacksonville State had three players in double digits. Felder finished with a game-best with 21 points and nine rebounds. He hit on 5-of-9 three-point attempts. Rackley and Drumwright had 10 each.
The Colonels shot 94 percent (15-of-16) from the free throw line while JSU made 16.7 percent (1-for-6). EKU out-rebounded the Gamecocks by one and had five fewer turnovers.
MURRAY STATE 65, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers honored their seniors and extended the nation's second-longest win streak to 23 Thursday in a 65-57 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
MSU's 23-game win streak ties the Ohio Valley Conference record that was set by the Racers' team in 2011-12.
The Racers (25-4) improved to 15-0 and moved to one win from becoming the first at MSU to go undefeated in the OVC play. MSU plays the regular season final Saturday at UT Martin.
Racer seniors Jonathan Fairell, T.J. Sapp and Jarvis Williams played their final regular season game at the Bank and were honored before and after the game. This senior group played 28 home games together over the last two seasons and won 21.
The Racers jumped out quickly 14-2 at the 12:30 mark on a Williams hook in the lane. After EIU cut the lead to 25-21 at 3:30, the Racers ended the half on a 9-0 run to lead 34-21. MSU had their largest lead of the night at 55-38 when Sapp hit a 3-pointer with 8:28 left. The Panthers got as close as seven with 1:04 left before the Racers closed out their record-tying win.
Cameron Payne led the Racers with 22 points to go with five assists, while Williams was one rebound from a double-double with 17 points. Sapp hit for 14 points and five assists.
AUSTIN PEAY 64, SIUE 61
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - On Senior Night, Austin Peay State University's senior class rose to the occasion.
Forward Chris Freeman scored a career-high 24 points while Damarius Smith produced the go-ahead bucket with 40 seconds left and Ed Dyson sealed the contest in the closing seconds with free throws as Austin Peay defeated SIU Edwardsville, 64-61, Thursday night, in Ohio Valley Conference action in Dave Aaron Arena.
The victory snapped the Governors eight-game losing streak and improved them to 8-21 overall and 3-12 in the OVC. SIUE fell to 12-15 overall and 8-8 in the OVC.
With APSU trailing by eight, 43-35 and 11:29 remaining, a pair of seniors helped changed the game's momentum. The 6-6 Freeman, on a fast-break pass from Smith, dunked over the Cougars' Grant Fiorentinos. That play energized the Govs and the crowd. After a missed Keaton Jackson layup, Josh Robinson responded for the Govs with his only three pointer, cutting the six-point deficit in half.
Smith then rebounded a missed SIUE shot and he found a streaking Assane Diop down the floor. Diop dunked to make it a one-point game, 43-42, with 9:04 left.
Robinson then ripped the ball out Jackson's hand before Smith drove the lane, scoring on a layup before being fouled. He converted the three-point play to gove APSU a 45-43 lead with 8:18 left.
From there it became a seesaw contest. Any time the Govs would gain an advantage, the Cougars answered with a three pointer. In fact, back-to-back threes from C.J. Carr and Donivine Stewart actually gave the Cougars a four-point advantage, 51-47, with 5:51.
But Chris Horton tipped in a Govs miss to cut the lead to two and then Khalil Davis nailed a three pointer from the left wing—his only field goal on the night. Horton then made a pair of free throws to give APSU the lead 54-51 with 4:04 remaining before Rozell Nunn tied it at 54 with a three-pointer.
But Freeman responded on the next two possessions by powering the ball to the basket to give APSU a 58-54 lead with 3:31 remaining. Jackson then put-back a Cougars miss to shave the deficit to two with 2:28 left. After an APSU miss Nunn connected for his second three pointer of the half to provide the Cougars a one-point lead, 59-58 with 2:03 remaining.
After the two teams exchanged turnovers, Smithy drove the lane and scored to give APSU a one-point advantage with 40 seconds left.
Kris Davis, the Cougars leading scorer on the year, missed a three-point attempt with Horton's hand in his face. Smith grabbed the rebound with 20 seconds left and was fouled. He hit the first of the one-and one to give APSU a 61-59 lead, but the second one bounced out. Stewart then attempted to drive but the defense collapsed on him, giving him nowhere to go but back to the floor—a walk with 14 seconds left.
Dyson, who like Freeman and Smith was playing his final home game, then was fouled on the inbounds pass and calmly sank both free throws to give APSU a four-point lead. Freeman missed hit one more free throw to give APSU a five-point lead with six seconds left—that free throw gave him his career-best 24th point.
Freeman finished with a double-double—his third this season—with 24 points (9-of-12 from the floor) and 10 rebounds. However, it was Horton who owned the defensive boards. He matched his career high 18 (APSU out-rebounded SIUE 46-27), including defensive grabs, to go with three blocks. Horton's second block of the first half allowed him to pass Josh Lewis (257 blocks, 2000-03) for career blocks and move him into second place all-time in the OVC behind Lorenzo Coleman (438, 1993-97).
Robinson was APSU's only other double-figure scorer with 11 points.
The Govs finished the night with 38.5 percent (20 of 52) shooting—the 21st time this season they have shot less than 40 percent—but actually outshot the Cougars, who connected on only 37.7 percent (20 of 53) shots.
Davis led SIUE with 18 points while Nunn finished with 13.
UT MARTIN 69, TENNESSEE STATE 52
NASHVILLE - A trio of juniors tossed in double-figures in the scoring column as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team soared past Tennessee State by a 69-52 margin at the Gentry Center this evening.
The Skyhawks (18-10, 10-5 Ohio Valley Conference) broke a tie with 11 unanswered points in the early stages of the second half to break the game open. Tennessee State would not get any closer than five points for the duration of the contest.
Reigning OVC Newcomer of the Week Alex Anderson established a new career-high with 21 points tonight, sinking four 3-pointers while going a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Twymond Howard was responsible for 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting while also adding seven rebounds for the Skyhawks, who also received 14 points and seven rebounds out of Arkeem Joseph. Deville Smith pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds to help UT Martin win the battle on the glass by a 38-26 margin.
Tennessee State (5-25, 2-13 OVC) was led by Jay Harris’ 18 points while Darreon Reddick scored 13 points to round out the double-digit scorers for the Tigers.
UT Martin started the game on a 6-0 run thanks to three-pointers by Smith and Anderson in the first two minutes of the contest. The Tigers then answered with six unanswered points of their own to even the score coming out of the first media timeout.
Another trifecta by Anderson capped off a 10-4 run and gave UT Martin an 18-12 lead midway through the first half. However, Harris then reeled off eight straight points in a span of 1:12 to give Tennessee State its first lead of the game at 20-18.
Anderson accounted for five straight points for the Skyhawks to boost UT Martin ahead by a 23-20 margin but the Tigers hit three-pointers on three consecutive possessions to claim a 29-25 lead with 3:27 to go before the halftime break.
The Skyhawks then concluded the first half on a 9-3 run, with Newell tossing in five of UT Martin’s points in the run. The spurt gave the Skyhawks a 34-32 lead through 20 minutes of play.
Anderson’s 11 points in the first half guided UT Martin, who shot an even 50 percent (12-for-24) from the floor. Harris accumulated 13 points for the Tigers, who sank 60 percent (6-of-10) of their attempts from three-point range in the first half.
After Tennessee State scored to begin the second half, UT Martin went on an 11-0 run, as four Skyhawks chipped in points during the surge. A Joseph layup at the 15:19 mark extended UT Martin’s lead out to 45-34.
The Tigers then cut the Skyhawk lead to five points (49-44) with nine minutes remaining but Howard heated up, burying a big straightaway three-pointer before converting a contested swooping layup at the 7:40 mark to give UT Martin a double-digit lead at 54-44.
Tennessee State would not get within single digits the rest of the way. A deep three-pointer by Anderson put the finishing touches on a 9-0 run and provided the Skyhawks with their biggest lead of the night at 67-48 with two minutes remaining.
MOREHEAD STATE 86, TENNESSEE TECH 73
MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) - Brent Arrington scored 17 points, Karam Mashour added 16 and Morehead State cruised to an 86-73 victory over Tennessee Tech on Thursday night.
Mashour scored 14 of his points in the first half and Arrington added 10 for a 50-33 lead at intermission. The Eagles (14-16, 9-6 Ohio Valley) shot 26 of 29 (89.7 percent) from the free throw line.
Tennessee Tech's Aleksa Jugovic made three-straight from distance, and knocked down a pair of free throws less than two minutes later to close within seven points, 67-60, with 8:31 remaining. The Golden Eagles then cooled, going 3:08 without a basket and allowing Morehead State back into a double-digit lead that it held the rest of the way.
Jugovic scored 18 points for Tennessee Tech and accounted for all three of its treys. The Golden Eagles (12-17, 4-11) shot 78.8 percent (26 of 33) on free throws.