WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee State 66, @Eastern Illinois 61
Belmont 85, @SIUE 77
TENNESSEE STATE 66, EASTERN ILLINOIS 61
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Tahjere McCall hit six free throws in the final 30 seconds and finished with a team-high 24 points to lead the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 66-61 road victory over Eastern Illinois in Ohio Valley Conference action on Wednesday night at Lantz Arena.
TSU (11-4, 2-0 OVC) dominated in the early going and had a 17-point lead in the first half before Eastern Illinois (4-11, 1-2 OVC) stormed all the way back, forcing the Tigers to win the game at the free throw line down the stretch.
The Tigers were up by four in the final minute on a three from Keron DeShields before the Panthers’ Cornell Johnston answered with a three of his own with 36.6 seconds left to put the score at 60-59. McCall put the lead back up to three with two free throws, but EIU again cut the deficit to one point at 62-61 on Trae Anderson’s layup with 11.5 seconds on the clock.
Two more free throws from McCall with 8.2 seconds put the cushion back up to 64-61. After an Anderson three-point attempt was off the mark on the other end, McCall iced the game with two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining for the win.
DeShields finished as TSU’s second-leading scorer with 14 points, while Wayne Martin was two rebounds shy of a double-double with 10 points and eight boards. For EIU, Anderson posted a team-best 20 points.
With the game tied at 5-5, the Tigers seized control of the first half with a 16-2 run in which TSU held EIU off the scoreboard for nearly five minutes. Capped by a McCall jumper, TSU held a 21-7 advantage with 7:39 to go in the first half.
Just over three minutes later, TSU took its largest lead of the first half of 17 points when McCall’s three-point play gave the visitors a 28-11 edge with 4:35 left before the break.
The Panthers finished the half by scoring eight of the final 10 points to cut the Tigers’ lead down to 31-23 through 20 minutes. It was the fifth time this season TSU has held an opponent to fewer than 25 first-half points. TSU shot 42.3 percent (11-for-26) in the first half and limited EIU to 33.3 percent (8-for-24) from the field.
The Panthers quickly trimmed their deficit down to three on a dunk by Demetrius McReynolds in first 2:30 of the second half.
EIU leveled the scoring at 42-42 on an Anderson jumper with 11:27 remaining in regulation, but TSU responded right away with five points in a row to retake the lead.
The Tigers would go on to lead by as many as eight points with 5:26 left. After EIU trimmed the lead down to one in the final minute, TSU won the game at the free throw line, finishing 18-for-24 from the charity stripe.
EIU held a 36-33 rebounding edge, marking the first time TSU has been outrebounded and won.
BELMONT 85, SIUE 77
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Craig Bradshaw and Evan Bradds scored 22 points each as Belmont University men's basketball defeated SIU Edwardsville, 85-77, Wednesday night.
Bradds and Amanze Egekeze combined to score the Bruins' first 19 points of the game as Belmont carried a 42-29 halftime lead.
The hosts Cougars rallied behind the spirited play of Keenan Simmons, who scored a career-high 21 points all in the second half.
Leading 69-68 with five minutes left, Belmont closed the game on a 16-9 run. Nick Smith and Bradshaw each buried timely three-pointers during the run.
Bradds added 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double over the last nine games.
It concludes a stretch of 12 out of 16 games on the road to open the season for Belmont (10-6, 2-0 OVC).