SATURDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 89, @Eastern Kentucky 83
Eastern Illinois 87, @Austin Peay 86 (OT)
@Murray State, SIUE
TENNESSEE TECH 89, EASTERN KENTUCKY 83
RICHMOND, Ky. - The stage is all set for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to host one of the most important weekends of the season next Thursday and Saturday, a pair of Ohio Valley Conference East Division games against fellow title contenders Tennessee State and Belmont.
The Golden Eagles (14-7/6-2 OVC) cemented their spot near the top of the divisional standings and kept themselves smack in the race with a rollicking, 89-83 victory Saturday afternoon at frigid Eastern Kentucky.
Junior Aleksa Jugovic and senior Torrance Rowe each poured in 24 points to pace the Golden Eagles, who dominated on the glass but lost three players via fouls.
Ryan Martin, who saw just six minutes of action in the first half due to early foul trouble, narrowly missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. Anthony Morse, who caught his fifth foul with 4:15 remaining, added a game-high 10 rebounds while Hakeem Rogers came off the bench to contribute 12 points and five rebounds.
Two other players who filled key roles in the win were guard Markell Henderson and forward Courtney Alexander. While they didn't pile up eye-popping numbers, they stepped up when the Tech bench needed to rally behind the foul-plaqued starters. Tech's bench outscored EKU, 20-4.
Three players topped the 20-point mark for EKU (12-10/3-4 OVC), led by Jarelle Reischel with 25. He also had nine rebounds and five assists. Javontae Hawkins added 22 points and five rebounds, while Nick Mayo finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
After seeing Tech own the lead for most of the first eight minutes, the Colonels used a 12-1 run to vault into a 28-20 lead with 8:17 to play in the opening half. Mayo scored six of the 12 during the stretch, which was capped by a layup from Ja'Mill Powell.
A 10-2 Golden Eagle run brought things to a 30-30 tie with 5:31 remaining and the two teams traded jabs until Tech carried a 45-40 lead into halftime. Rowe started the streak with back-to-back jumpers while Rogers drained back-to-back 3-pointers to knot the game.
Tech held onto its lead the entire 20 minutes of the second half, building the margin as large as 12 points midway through the period when Rowe's two free throws made it 66-54.
The Colonels once again fought their way back, using a 13-3 stretch to pull within two points, 78-76, with 2:27 to play.
Tech's lead was down to two points one more time, at 80-78 with 58 seconds left to play when Rowe scored perhaps the most critical points of the day -- he calmly buried a 3-pointer with 39 seconds remaining for a little breathing room and a five-point lead. The basket came from a perfect feed by Jugovic, who drove the lane and drew three defenders. The Golden Eagles were able to hold on until the final buzzer by controlling the score with 6-for-6 shooting at the free throw line.
After shooting 52 percent in the first half, Tech managed to connect on just 38.7 percent in the second half but the Golden Eagles went 16-for-20 at the charity line after the intermission. Owning a 17-5 edge on the glass in the first half, Tech outrebounded EKU 27-17 in the second half.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 87, AUSTIN PEAY 86 (OT)
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A.J. Riley went coast-to-coast to make a driving lay-up with 0.3 seconds left in overtime to give Eastern Illinois an 87-86 win at Austin Peay on Saturday night in the Dunn Center in Clarksville.
Riley finished with 18 points including the final eight points for EIU in overtime as the Panthers improved to 7-13 overall, 4-4 in the OVC. APSU fell to 9-13 overall, 2-5 overall.
After holding off Austin Peay for most of the second half, EIU pushed its lead to 72-64 on a 3-pointer by Cornell Johnston with 2:26 to play. Riley knocked home a pair of free throws that gave the Panthers a commanding 74-65 lead with 1:46 to play.
APSU closed the game with a 10-1 run to tie the game at 75-75 at the end of regulation. Josh Robinson had two baskets and three free throws to spark the run with Zach Glotta banging home a 3-pointer.
EIU led by one in the final 33 seconds of overtime and looked like they might have sealed the win when Luke Norman pulled down a rebound on a missed Glotta 3-pointer. EIU was called for a turnover giving APSU the ball with 11 seconds left. Robinson was fouled and sank both free throws to put the Governors up by one with 5.7 seconds in the game. Robinson finished with 20 points after scoring 39 on Thursday in the APSU win over SIU Edwardsville.
After the Robinson free throws, EIU pushed the ball up the court for Riley to hit the game winner. Riley was 10-of-14 from the free throw line and added seven assists.
EIU led 37-32 at the half as both teams shot below 40 percent for the half. Both teams shot over 50 percent in the second half with EIU finishing the night at 47 percent. APSU shot 43 percent.
Trae Anderson led EIU with 20 points while Johnston added ten. The Panthers won the battle on the glass with a 47-37 margin. Anderson just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
APSU had two big offensive rebounds in the final minutes on missed free throws to keep possessions alive. Chris Horton had 15 rebounds to go with 22 points. Jared Savage added 11 points off the bench.
MURRAY STATE 70, SIUE 54
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Bryce Jones scored 16 points and Murray State cruised to a 70-54 victory over SIU-Edwardsville on Saturday night.
Jeffery Moss made three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points for Murray State (10-10, 4-3 Ohio Valley). Damarcus Croaker had 12 points and Wayne Langston added 11 for the Racers. Gee McGhee had a game-high eight rebounds and chipped in five points.
Keenan Simmons, Carlos Anderson and Grant Fiorentinos scored eight points apiece for SIU-Edwardsville (4-16, 1-7), which has lost nine of its last ten games.
Murray State started on an 11-0 run, built a 35-25 halftime lead and led by double digits the rest of the way.
Langston made a jumper to open the second half, sparking a 22-12 spurt and the Racers had a 20-point lead with 11:29 remaining. Jones scored eight points and Moss added six during the stretch.