THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 91, Jacksonville State 88
@Morehead State 81, Tennessee Tech 74
@Austin Peay 90, SIUE 86 (OT)
@Murray State 68, Eastern Illinois 58
Belmont 82, @UT Martin 72
EASTERN KENTUCKY 91, JACKSONVILLE STATE 88
RICHMOND, Ky. - Late game heroics from junior JaVontae Hawkins and senior Jarelle Reischel helped the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team bounce back from a two-game losing streak to beat visiting Jacksonville State, 91-88, Thursday night at McBrayer arena.
With 2:51 to play, Jacksonville State took its first lead since midway through the first half, 80-79. But a lay-up from Hawkins and a steal and lay-up by Reischel with 2:14 to play put EKU up 83-80 and proved to be the dagger the Colonels needed to put away the Gamecocks.
JSU missed two free throw attempts with 1:16 left in the game and Hawkins sank two from the charity stripe at the other end to build an 85-80 advantage. Eastern (12-9, 3-3 OVC) made 6-of-8 from the line in the final 37 seconds to seal the victory.
Hawkins finished with his first double-double as a Colonel, contributing 21 points and 10 rebounds. Reischel notched 16 points, bringing his double-digit scoring streak to 17 games.
Freshman Nick Mayo dropped 18 points on the Gamecocks. The freshman is averaging 13.9 points-per-game, and is the leading scorer among Ohio Valley Conference freshmen. Junior Jaylen Babb-Harrison came off the bench to score 11 points, all in the first half.
Sophomore Paul Jackson rounded out five Colonels in double figures with 10 points. He also dropped a game-best nine assists.
Jeremy Watson led the way for Jacksonville State (7-15, 3-4 OVC) with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Malcolm Drumwright also tallied 19 points for the Gamecocks.
EKU started the game on a 5-0 run thanks to a three-pointer from junior Isaac McGlone and a pair of Hawkins free throws. From there the Gamecocks clawed back, eventually taking a 27-26 lead at the 7:47 mark. It would be their last lead until the 2:51 mark in the second half.
Eastern pulled ahead late in the first half with a run sparked by a three-pointer from Babb-Harrison and another three from McGlone. EKU went into halftime with a 42-37 lead.
The Colonels maintained their lead throughout most of the second half, finally giving it up with 2:51 to play when the Gamecocks went up, 80-79, on a free throw by Drumwright. Eastern used a combination of scoring from Hawkins, Reischel and Paul Jackson to pull away and pick up the crucial OVC East win.
MOREHEAD STATE 81, TENNESSEE TECH 74
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball team defeated the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 81-74, on Thursday night at Johnson Arena as a strong second-half performance propelled the hosts to victory.
The Eagles improved to 10-8 overall and 4-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Tennessee Tech fell to 13-7 and 5-2 in league play. It was the fourth straight win for MSU over TTU in the long-running series.
After going into the locker room down 38-35, MSU came out firing in the second half. The Eagles outscored TTU 46-36 in the second period, holding the Golden Eagles to just 3-of-14 shooting in the game's final 10 minutes.
The homestanding Eagles shot 44 percent (24-of-55) from the field and set season highs in free throw attempts and makes, hitting 27-of-36 freebies. MSU won the rebounding battle, pulling 35 boards to TTU's 34. Sixteen rebounds came on the offensive glass and led to 17 second-chance points.
Junior guard Xavier Moon finished with a career-high 24 points, 17 of which came in the second half.
Senior forward Anthony Elechi recorded his first double-double of the season and the second of his career, finishing the game with 15 points and 14 rebounds. He played a pivotal role down the stretch, netting 13 of his points and pulling down nine of his rebounds in the second half, while accounting for 11 of Morehead State's 16 offensive rebounds.
Freshman guard Malik Maitland came off the bench to score 10 points.
Tennessee Tech's Torrance Rowe led the way for his team, dropping in 22 points. Ryan Martin had a double-double (20 points and 13 rebounds), while Aleksa Jugovic scored 21. The rest of the Golden Eagles combined for only 11 points though on just 3-of-10 shooting.
AUSTIN PEAY 90, SIUE 86 (OT)
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore guard Josh Robinson nailed a long three-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to send the game to overtime and then provided seven points in the extra session, including the game-sealing free throws, as Austin Peay State University rallied for a 90-86 Ohio Valley Conference victory, Thursday night, in Dave Aaron Arena.
The victory snapped a three-game Govs losing streak and improved them to 9-12 overall and 2-4 in the OVC. It also was Dave Loos’ 400th APSU coaching victory—Loos is the OVC’s all-time wins leader.
The defeat dropped SIUE to 4-15 overall and 1-6 in the OVC. And it was as much as painful defeat for the Cougars as it was a joyful one for the Governors. Leading by three pointer, 76-73, with 30 seconds left, Robinson missed a potential game-tying three-point attempt with 11 seconds left. SIUE grabbed the rebound and got it to Jake Newton, who scored a career-high 22 points on seven three pointers. The senior went to the free-throw line for an opportunity to put the game away. He missed both free-throw attempts with 8.4 seconds left. Robinson grabbed the rebound, dribbled close to the top of the three-point arc and let fly his game-tying shot. That shot gave him his 30th, 31st and 32nd point, sending the contest to overtime.
It was a back-and-forth contest through the first two minutes of overtime. But SIUE took the lead when Newton hit his seventh three pointer for an 81-80 advantage with 3:18 left. Then Yemi Makanjuola hit two free throws to give the Cougars an 83-80 advantage.
However, Robinson answered with a pair of free throws to cut it to one and then after the two teams came up empty on a few possessions, Robinson scored on a layup on a pass from Zach Glotta to give APSU a one-point 84-83 lead. However, that advantage was short lived as Burak Elsik, the reigning OVC Player of the Week, was fouled on a three-point attempted. He nailed all three free throws—he was 11 of 12 at the line on the night—to give SIUE an 86-84 lead with 1:10 left.
With SIUE’s attention on Robinson, he found fellow St. Louis-area native Zach Glotta alone in the right corner for a three pointer with 58 seconds left. Bursak attempted to answer but shot an air ball on a three-point attempt, with the ball rolling out of bounds with 33 seconds left.
The Cougars then fouled Robinson with 21 seconds left. He stepped to the line and made his 15th and 16th straight free throws for an 89-86 lead. On the ensuing play, Robinson came up with a steal defensively and was fouled with 3.4 seconds left.
Robinson finally missed a free throw on the front end of the two-shot foul but he nailed the second for the game-sealing point.
That missed free throw cost Robinson APSU’s first 40-point game since Derek Wright had 43 against Southeast Missouri, Jan. 29, 2008. Still he finished with a career-best 39 points, including his 17-of-18 at the free-throw line—he came into the game ranked 10th nationally in free-throw percentage (90.2 percent). Chris Horton tallied his 16th double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds, but it was a struggling night for the Govs’ post player, who made just 6-of-16 shots.
The Governors’ other double-figure scorers were a pair of reserve freshmen. Glotta and Chris Porter-Bunton each finished with 10 points.
The Govs trailed by double digits twice in the second half, the last time 71-61 with 4:52 left after a C.J. Carr three pointer. But APSU then went on a 10-0 run, including a pair of Robinson three pointers plus a two pointer to tie the game.
Elsik matched Newton with 22 points while Carlos Anderson added 13. Makanjuola finished with 13 rebounds.
MURRAY STATE 68, EASTERN ILLINOIS 58
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers used one of their best defensive performances of the season Thursday in a 68-58 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
The Racers held the Panthers to 32 percent from the field on 17-of-54 shots to improve to 3-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 9-10 overall.
The opposition had no answer for Wayne Langston as the big lefty went to work on EIU for a career-high 24 points. Langston hit 10-of-14 shots and made 4-of-7 from the line to go with seven rebounds and a pair of assists.
Jeffery Moss and Gee McGhee added 10 points each to help the Racers attack to a 45 percent night on 25-of-55 shots. MSU was 6-of-15 from the 3-point line, with McGhee hitting three.
Every one of the Racers’ eight players that saw court time grabbed at least two rebounds as the Racers won the battle of the glass 40-34. McGhee pulled down eight.
In the first half, the Racers broke open a close game with an 11-1 run to lead 32-16 at the 6:27 mark. Langston was a force with 16 points on 6-of-9 shots. The Racers pushed their lead to 42-21 on a pair of free throws from Moss with 2:12 left. However, EIU went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 42-29 at intermission.
EIU pushed its run to 13-0 spanning the halftime and got as close as eight points with 18:33 remaining at 42-34.
The Racers quickly got the lead back into the teens when A.J. Patty hit a pair of layups for a 57-43 lead at the 12:09 mark. When Langston scored his 23rd and 24th points on a tip-in with 2:41, the Racers were on their way to squaring their OVC mark at 3-3.
BELMONT 82, UT MARTIN 72
MARTIN, Tenn. - Behind a career-high 20 points from sophomore Amanze Egekeze, Belmont University men's basketball defeated UT Martin, 82-72, Thursday night.
After trailing 33-32 at halftime, the Bruins (14-6, 6-0 OVC) poured in eight second half three-point field goals to seize control.
Belmont's all-OVC duo of senior Craig Bradshaw and junior Evan Bradds combined to score 29 points after halftime. A layin from sophomore Mack Mercer gave Belmont its largest lead, 70-51, with 6:51 left.
The Bruins held UT Martin to 36 percent shooting.
Egekeze had 20, Bradshaw 19 and Bradds 18. Freshman Dylan Windler added a career-high 14 rebounds.
Myles Taylor led UT Martin (10-10, 2-3 OVC) with 18 points.