SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 62, Morehead State 57
Tennessee State 72, @Southeast Missouri 66
Eastern Illinois 75, @Jacksonville State 64
Eastern Kentucky 79, @Austin Peay 70
@Tennessee Tech 86, SIUE 63
@UT Martin 122, Boyce College 60
MURRAY STATE 62, MOREHEAD STATE 57
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers won their eighth-straight Ohio Valley Conference opener with a 62-57 victory over the Morehead State Eagles at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
Wayne Langston recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds as the Racers won their league opener for an eighth-straight season since their last loss to Eastern Kentucky in 2008.
Freshman Brion Sanchious made his second start this season and ended at the free throw line with 24-seconds remaining. He drained both and hit another one with 9.7 seconds on the clock to seal the win. He ended the day with eight points and five rebounds in 35 minutes on the floor.
Before Sanchious hit his big free throws, Bryce Jones hit back-to-back 3-point baskets for a 57-50 MSU lead at 2:35. Jones scored 14 points and had three assists.
The game was tight until then with 15 lead changes and 13 ties.
The Racers rallied to a 10-4 run in the final minutes of the first half to lead the Eagles 62-57.
Damarcus Croaker went 3-of-3 from 3-point range and finished with nine points.
TENNESSEE STATE 72, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 66
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - In a back-and-forth contest to open Ohio Valley Conference play, the Tennessee State men’s basketball team used a gritty effort to defeat Southeast Missouri, 72-66, on Saturday at the Show Me Center. The win improves TSU to 10-4 to double last year’s win total of five.
The Tigers (10-4, 1-0 OVC) trailed the Redhawks (2-12, 0-2 OVC) by four with 3:43 to play before closing the game on a 15-4 run to pull out a victory and snap a two-game losing streak.
Tahjere McCall led four TSU players scoring in double figures with 17 points and eight rebounds. Keron DeShields added 15 points, while Marcus Roper and Darreon Reddick scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
For SEMO, Antonius Cleveland led all scorers with 21 points and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds.
The Tigers fell behind early with the Redhawks taking a 9-4 advantage three minutes into the game.TSU was able to tie the game in the next minute, setting up a seesaw game with 13 ties and 10 lead changes. Later in the half, DeShields hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Tigers their largest lead of the half of seven points at 35-28 with 2:17 to go before halftime.
The Redhawks scored the final five points of the first half to cut the Tigers’ lead down to 35-33 heading into the break.
SEMO continued to play well early in the second half, scoring the first seven points to take a 40-35 edge.
The game remained close as the Redhawks held a 62-58 advantage right after the final media timeout with 3:43 left. On the next two possessions, however, Xavier Richards hit a jumper and Wayne Martin nailed two free throws to level the scoring at 62-62 with 2:52 left.
Reddick’s three with 2:07 remaining put the Tigers up, 65-62, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. After the teams exchanged buckets, Reddick came up with another big shot with 56.0 seconds left for a 69-64 advantage. Two-straight defensive stops coupled with three made free throws in the final 24 seconds gave TSU the victory.
The Tigers finished with 38 rebounds to SEMO’s 35 and shot 45.5 percent (25-for-55) from the field.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 75, JACKSONVILLE STATE 64
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Eastern Illinois rode the hot hand of Demetrius McReynolds who scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half as the Panthers came from behind to win 75-64 at Jacksonville State on Saturday afternoon.
EIU improved to 4-10, 1-1 in the OVC while JSU fell to 5-12, 1-1 in the OVC.
EIU shot 70 percent in the second half knocking down 19-of-27 shots from the floor. McReynolds was 9-of-11 from the floor in the second half finishing as one of three EIU players in double figures.
JSU led by as many as ten points late in the first half as Malcolm Drumright connected for a pair of free throws to put the Gamecocks in front 32-22 with 1:41 to play. EIU closed the half with a 6-0 run as Marshawn Blackmon had two lay-ups and McReynolds hit a jumper with two seconds remaining to cut JSU’s halftime lead to 32-28.
Drumright hit a jumper with 18:01 to play in the game as JSU ran its lead back out to seven points at 39-32. Drumright had 19 points for JSU.
McReynolds answered with a 3-pointer and lay-up to cut the lead to three. The Panthers tied the game with 14:49 to play as Trae Anderson’s lay-up tied the game at 40-40.
The two teams traded baskets over the next seven minutes. Anderson hit a lay-up with 7:56 to play followed by a McReynolds jumper with 7:31 to play and EIU never trailed again.
EIU took its first double digit lead with 2:36 remaining on a McReynolds lay-up. The Panthers closed the game with free throws and a lay-up by Casey Teson in the final 52 seconds. Teson opened the game 3-for-3 on 3-pointers and finished the game with 14 points.
A.J. Riley rounded out the double figure scorers for EIU with ten points while Cornell Johnston had ten assists and nine points. EIU finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor.
JaQuail Townser and Jared Hamilton added double digit scoring efforts for the Gamecocks. Townser had 15 points and Hamilton finished with 12.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 79, AUSTIN PEAY 70
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team sank seven consecutive free throws in the final 33 seconds to seal a 79-70 win over host Austin Peay in its OVC opener at the Winfield Dunn Center on Saturday night.
EKU (10-6, 1-0 OVC) led by 13, 67-54, following a pair of free throws by sophomore Paul Jackson with 5:15 to play in the game; however, APSU (7-9, 0-1 OVC) rallied in the waning minutes and pulled to within four, 73-69, on a layup by Josh Robinson with 27 seconds on the clock.
Senior Ja’Mill Powell and Jarelle Reischel combined to sink seven free throws down the stretch, though, as the Colonels held on for the key conference road win. EKU had missed its previous five free throws before Powell and Reischel sealed it.
Despite playing with foul trouble, Reischel (17 points) and junior JaVontae Hawkins (18 points) led EKU in scoring on the night.
Jackson finished with 12 points and a game-high six assists, while Powell came off the bench to contribute 13 points and four rebounds. Freshman Nick Mayo (12 points) rounded out five Colonels in double figures.
The Colonels shot 50 percent (27-of-54) from the field, improving to 7-2 in games in which they shoot 50 percent or better.
EKU stifled Austin Peay to 30 percent (6-of-20) shooting from deep. The Govs also shot 56 percent (18-of-32) from the free throw line.
The Colonels’ defense held the Governors without a field goal for 6:39 in the first half, as Eastern Kentucky opened a 24-18 lead following a jumper by Jackson with just under eight minutes on the clock.
A layup by Hawkins with just over a minute on the clock helped the Colonels take a 10-point lead, 40-30, into the locker room at halftime.
EKU took its largest lead of the game, 50-36, when Jackson came up with a steal and found Powell for a fastbreak dunk at the 16:22 mark of the second half.
However, the Colonels went scoreless for over five minutes midway through the second half to allow APSU to slowly claw back into the game.
With the win, EKU has now won four straight against Austin Peay. The Colonels have won their last five OVC openers.
TENNESSEE TECH 86, SIUE 63
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Big men Ryan Martin and Anthony Morse each posted career scoring highs to lead Tennessee Tech (10-5/2-0 OVC) to a convincing 86-63 Ohio Valley Conference victory over SIUE (3-11/0-2 OVC) Saturday night in Eblen Center.
Martin drained 26 points and Morse added 17 as the Golden Eagles enjoyed a 44-22 scoring advantage in the paint to notch their ninth consecutive homecourt victory to open the season.
Tech also received a little R&R from the backcourt; Torrance Rowe and Hakeem Rogers scored 12 points each in the victory. Aleksa Jugovic chipped in with a career-high eight assists.
Carlos Anderson was the lone Cougar to score in double figures, finishing with 16 points.
The inside game allowed Tech to shoot a blistering 57.4 percent from the field, going 31-for-54 including 40 percent (8-for-20) from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles also scorched the net from the free throw line, hitting 80 percent (16-for-20).
Another key ingredient in Tech's recipe for success was defense. The Golden Eagles limited SIUE to 39.2 percent shooting (20-for-51).
Tech established a double-figure lead in the first five minutes, going up 16-6 to open the contest.
The Cougars put together an 11-2 run to go from a 14-point deficit to scratch their way to within five points, 32-27, with 4:47 to play in the first half.
Tech closed the half with a 10-2 run to take a 42-29 lead into halftime.
A 10-2 Tech run midway in the second half opened the gap to 20 points, 60-40. The largest difference in the contest was 25 points, which Tech registered three times in the final 5:40.
Morse was 7-for-9 from the field and added seven assists and one blocked shot, pushing him into a tie for seventh all-time in blocked shots.
UT MARTIN 122, BOYCE COLLEGE 60
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to six games after a 122-60 triumph over Boyce College at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center tonight.
With the victory, the Skyhawks (8-7) improve to above .500 for the first time this season. UT Martin also tied its second-longest win streak in its Division-I history, trailing only the 2008-09 Ohio Valley Conference championship team that won a school-record 11 consecutive games.
The Skyhawks equaled a school record this evening with 16 three-pointers made. UT Martin also dialed up 16 treys during last season’s 104-79 victory at Northwestern State in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Overall, UT Martin shot 56.4 percent (44-for-78) with a season-best 26 assists tonight.
Six Skyhawks reached double-figures in the scoring column for the first time since Jan. 13, 2014. Alex Anderson led the way with 18 points while Richard Lee and Chandler Rowe each contributed 14 points apiece. Kedar Edwards (13 points), James Harrison (13) and Fatodd Lewis (11) also reached double-digits while Myles Taylor added a game-high nine rebounds and Jalen Variste accumulated game-highs of 11 assists and six steals.
Boyce College (3-11), a National Christian College Athletic Association school based out of Louisville, Ky., was led by Drew McKay’s 12 points. Maxx Katzbeck and Mike Jones also recorded 11 points apiece but UT Martin amassed 19 steals on 21 Bulldog turnovers.
UT Martin went on a 10-0 run early, the last eight points coming via Anderson. The senior out of Memphis drained a pair of three-pointers in the span of 19 seconds before capping off the run with a fast break layup at the 16:25 mark.
Four straight points by Rowe extended the Skyhawk lead to double-digits (19-9) with 12:49 to play in the first half. Moments later, UT Martin used a 22-0 run over a stretch of 6:11 to open up a 33-point lead. Six different Skyhawks pitched in with a bucket during the spurt, including a pair of treys by both Anderson and Lee.
The frontcourt tandem of Rowe (six points) and Lewis (five) combined for 11 of UT Martin’s final 17 points of the first half, allowing the Skyhawks to take a 65-20 lead at the break.
Anderson’s 14 points led all scorers at halftime while Edwards (12) and Rowe (10) also cracked double-digits in the scoring column in the first half. UT Martin shot 53.5 percent (23-for-43) while the Bulldogs combined to make 25.9 percent (7-for-27) of their attempts in the first 20 minutes.
Taylor was responsible for seven of the Skyhawks’ first 14 points to open the second half. UT Martin hit triple-digits on the scoreboard at the 8:52 mark after Malik London stuffed home a putback dunk off an offensive rebound.
Later in the second half, Harrison put on a show offensively – knocking down three trifectas in the span of 2:15 to open up a 114-55 Skyhawk lead. The 16th and final three-pointer of the game – a deep jumper from the left wing by Lewis with 47 seconds left to play – gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the night and provided the final scoring margin of 122-60.