SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Jacksonville State 82, UT Martin 60
@SIUE 67, Eastern Kentucky 65
@Eastern Illinois 84, Morehead State 82 (OT)
@Belmont 76, Austin Peay 58
@Tennessee State 73, Murray State 71
@Tennessee Tech 91, Southeast Missouri 55
JACKSONVILLE STATE 82, UT MARTIN 60
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Erik Durham and Jacksonville State shot their ways past UT Martin in an 82-60 Ohio Valley Conference matchup on Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Durham, a junior from Springfield, Mo., made eight 3-pointers, one off the school record, and scored career-high 31 points to lead the Gamecocks (7-14, 3-3 OVC) on a night that saw 17 3-pointers fall through the JSU nets. The hot night from the floor paced JSU past a Skyhawks (10-9, 2-2 OVC) team that entered the day in first place in the OVC's West Division.
JSU claimed its second win in a row and got back to .500 in league play with a performance that saw the Gamecocks outduel the Skyhawks in almost every statistical column. They shot .51 percent from the floor and 47 percent from behind the arc while holding UTM to a shooting percentage of 36 and a 3-point percentage of just 22.
The Gamecocks outrebounded UTM, 33-29, committed just eight turnovers to the Skyhawks' 10 and dished 20 assists on just 29 made field goals.
Durham's night was the brightest of many highlights for JSU. The transfer from Lamar State in Texas, missed five games to an ankle injury and hadn't scored in double figures in any of his four games back before Saturday.
He came off the bench and led a group of four Gamecocks in double figures and five JSU players that connected at least once from behind the arc. Senior JaQuail Townser scored 13 points, while junior Greg Tucker and freshman Jared Hamilton each added 12. Sophomore Malcolm Drumwright flirted with a triple-double, scoring eight and dishing nine assists.
The Skyhawks got 15 points from Twymond Howard, despite a 4-for-13 night from the floor. His 6-for-8 effort from the stripe aided his scoring total, while Myles Taylor added 11 points. Both players had six boards in the loss.
The Gamecocks started the game on fire from beyond the arc, going 9-for-22 in the first half to build a 44-30 halftime lead. Durham was 4-for-7 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes to lead all scorers with 17 points at the break.
That hot shooting continued into the start of the second half for the Gamecocks, who connected on seven of their first 10 shots from the floor and four of their first six from behind the arc to pull out to a 66-38 lead with just over 11 minutes to play.
SIUE 67, EASTERN KENTUCKY 65
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE men's basketball earned the first Ohio Valley Conference win for Head Coach Jon Harris Saturday, defeating Eastern Kentucky 67-65 at Vadalabene Center.
The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Cougars, who improved to 4-14 overall and 1-5 in the OVC. Eastern Kentucky dropped to 11-9 overall and 2-3 in the OVC.
The Cougars held Eastern Kentucky scoreless over the final 3:00 of the game and turned a three-point deficit into the two-point win.
The Cougars trailed 32-31 at halftime, marking only the second time this season they have come back to win when trailing at the half. SIUE opened the second half on a 12-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 43-34 following a three-pointer by C.J. Carr with 16:22 to play in the game.
EKU, which didn't hit a three-pointer in the first half, got its first of the day from Issac McGlone at 7:52 to take back the lead at 53-54.
The game was tied five times over the last 7:29 and 11 times total. The lead changed 12 times.
Burak Eslik scored 21 points to lead SIUE in scoring for the third consecutive game. Eslik has averaged 28 points in those three games. Carlos Anderson added a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds. Carr added eight points and six assists. Jake Newton scored a season-high eight points off the bench and knocked down two three-pointers.
The 65 points are the second-fewest scored this season by EKU, which came into the game averaging 82.7 points per game, good for 24th best in the country. The Cougars also held the addvatage on the glass, outrebounding the Colonels 40-26. SIUE's 19 offensive rebounds led to 13 second-chance points.
Nick Mayo scored a game-high 28 points to lead Eastern Kentucky. He was 10-14 from the field and 7 for 9 at the free throw line. Jarelle Reischel, the OVC's leading scorer, was limited to just 12 points. Javontae Hawkins added 10 points for the Colonels.
SIUE scored 28 points in the paint and held a two-point advantage in that category, while EKU used 19 SIUE turnovers to score 22 points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 84, MOREHEAD STATE 82 (OT)
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Casey Teson hit the shot that sent the game to overtime. Cornell Johnston hit the shot that gave Eastern Illinois the lead in overtime as the Panthers rallied from 11 points down in regulation to beat Morehead State, 84-82, on Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena.
Teson’s 3-pointer came with seven seconds remaining in regulation. Morehead State missed a shot with 0.4 seconds remaining and Aboubacar Diallo knocked the entry lob pass out of bounds for EIU to finish regulation tied at 73-73.
In overtime Johnston drained a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to give EIU an 80-78 lead. Demetrius McReynolds iced the game with four free throws as EIU improved to 6-12 overall, 3-3 in the OVC. Morehead State dropped to 9-8, 3-2 in the OVC.
The Eagles shot 57 percent in the first half including 60 percent from 3-point range to build a 46-38 halftime lead. Xavier Moon had all of his 17 points in the first half for MSU with Corban Collins chipping in with ten.
EIU stayed within striking distance with A.J. Riley scoring ten points. Riley would finish with 22 points including four points in the overtime session.
Collins scored five of Morehead State’s first seven points to open the second half as MSU extended its lead to 13 points. Collins free throws at 18:04 made it 53-40.
The Panthers went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes with 3-pointers by Johnston and Luke Norman. Collins stopped the EIU run with a 3-pointer at 15:15 as he led all scorers on the day with 28 points.
Back-to-back baskets by Riley brought EIU to within two points at the 13:29 but EIU was unable to the lead as the Panthers missed three consecutive 3-point shots that would have put EIU in front.
Three offensive rebounds by Treshaad Williams kept MSU possessions alive as the Eagles slowly pushed the lead back to 11 points on a jumper by DeJuan Marrero with 5:11 left to play.
EIU closed regulation with a 15-4 run holding MSU without a field goal for the final 5:11 of the game. Morehead State’s final four points of regulation all came at the free throw line. During the EIU run Teson had a pair of 3-pointers, the biggest coming with seven seconds remaining.
Johnston posted his second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. McReynolds added 14 points.
BELMONT 76, AUSTIN PEAY 58
NASHVILLE - Behind 10 first half three-point field goals, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Austin Peay, 76-58, Saturday night.
With the visiting Governors throwing two or three defenders at junior Evan Bradds - who entered the evening with double-doubles in eight of his previous 11 games - Belmont showcased its outside game.
A three-pointer from freshman Dylan Windler gave Belmont a 24-8 lead eight and a half minutes in. The Bruins shot 63 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including 10-for-17 from three-point distance. Belmont led 46-23 at halftime.
Six quick points from sophomore Amanze Egekeze made the score 54-27 with 16:03 left. The Bruins led by as many as 29, and limited Austin Peay to 34 percent shooting.
Junior Nick Smith led balanced scoring with 14. Egekeze had 13, while Windler had his first career double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Chris Horton led Austin Peay (8-12, 1-4 OVC) with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Belmont (13-6, 5-0 OVC) has won an NCAA-best 33 consecutive conference home games and 73 of its last 77 at home.
TENNESSEE STATE 73, MURRAY STATE 71
NASHVILLE - Tahjere McCall hit a layup with 2.5 seconds left to lift the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 73-71 home victory over Murray State on Saturday night at the Gentry Center to keep the Tigers undefeated in Ohio Valley Conference play at 5-0. The win was the first for TSU over the Racers since Feb. 9, 2012.
The Tigers improved to 14-4 on the season, matching the start of the 1994-95 team that won the OVC regular season championship, while the Racers slip to 8-10 overall and 2-3 in the OVC. TSU’s last home win over Murray State came on Feb. 14, 2008. The victory also extends TSU winning streak to five games.
McCall led the home side with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists on the night. Three other TSU players finished in double figures in Keron DeShields with 15, 12 from Wayne Martin and 10 from Darreon Reddick.
For the Racers, Bryce Jones finished 10-for-10 from the free throw line and led his team with 18 points.
A back-and-forth contest in the early going saw the Tigers take a 19-14 advantage midway through the half on a jumper from Marcus Roper.
After the Racers took a 21-20 lead with 7:50 left in the first half, TSU responded with a 9-0 run to regain the advantage at 29-21. During the run, which was highlighted by a Martin layup off a McCall no-look pass, TSU held the Racers scoreless for more than three minutes.
The visitors ended the half by scoring the final three points to close the gap to 37-34 through 20 minutes.
The Racers had the better of the play to kick off the second half, leveling the score at 42-42 1:38 into the half. Bouncing right back, the Tigers answered with an 11-2 run for a nine-point edge at 53-44. On the run, Martin finished a layup, blocked a shot on Murray State’s next possession and hit another layup next time down the floor.
Murray State tied the score at 55-55 with 9:16 to play and took the lead at 58-55 on Justin Seymour’s corner three on the next possession.
The game remained close, and TSU tied it back up at 67-67 on Martin’s free throws with 3:24 left.
Down the stretch, the Tigers gained a four-point edge at 71-67 on two McCall free throws with 1:14 to play before Jeffrey Moss’ layup with just over a minute left put the margin back down to two.
A pair of Jones free throws for MSU leveled the score at 71-71 with 22.1 seconds left setting up McCall’s late-game heroics.
TSU held a noticeable advantage inside, scoring 36 points in the paint to Murray State’s 16. The Tigers also finished with a 35-27 rebounding edge.
TENNESSEE TECH 91, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 55
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri (2-16/0-6 OVC) had no reply for Tennessee Tech's sophomore Aleksa Jugovic as he drained seven 3-pointers in a first half rainstorm and had 25 points at the intermission.
Tennessee Tech (13-6/5-1 OVC) opened a gaping 51-21 lead by halftime, then emptied the bench over the final 20 minutes on the way to a 91-55 Ohio Valley Conference victory in Eblen Center Saturday night.
Jugovic, who was within one trey of tying the school record, attempted just one more shot in limited second-half action and finished the night with 27 points. Anthony Morse added 15 points on 6-for-7 accuracy and Mason Ramsey scored 10. Ramsey made his first career start, filing in for Ryan Martin who was injured in the last game and played just six minutes against SEMO.
Another school record that was threated came when Torrance Rowe collected 12 assists, but the senior also saw little court time after halftime in the lopsided affair. He had five point and six rebounds.
Tech shot nearly 60 percent in the opening half, including 10-for-20 from long range, to open the huge lead. The Golden Eagles defense limited SEMO to 23.5 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes.
The Redhawks finished the night hitting 33 percent, including 3-for-22 from long distance.
Trey Kellum topped SEMO with 18 points and five rebounds, hitting 8-for-12 from the field. Tony Anderson also reached double figures with 10 points, while Jaylin Stewart posted eight points and the same number of rebounds.
Tech roared out to a 12-0 lead, and Jugovic hit four of his first five 3-pointers to push the difference to 26-9 with 12:09 to play. The lead ballooned to 35 points with two minutes left in the half, 51-16 on a layup by Morse.
The largest Tech margin of the night came at 39 points when Savonte Frazier's 3-pointer made it 88-49 with 1:47 to play in the game.
The win bumped Tech's record at home this season to 10-0, the best start in Eblen Center since a 13-0 beginning to the 2004-05 season. It also improved the all-time Tech record at home against Southeast Missouri to 21-5.