WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Marshall 85,
Morehead State 77
Southeast Missouri 74, @Western Illinois 71
@Western Kentucky 74,
Jacksonville State 67
MARSHALL 85, MOREHEAD STATE 77
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Senior Xavier Moon led the way with 19 points as Morehead State men's basketball fell at Marshall, 85-77, on Wednesday night.
With their first loss on the year, the Eagles fall to 2-1 on the season.
After leading the majority of the first half, the Eagles went into the locker room at halftime, trailing 44-42.
Marshall then went on a 17-4 run to build 67-56 lead wth ten minutes to go before Morehead State answered with an 11-4 run of their own to get it back to 71-67.
The Eagles pulled within two at 75-73 on a layup by sophomore Malik Maitland with four minutes to go and had several chances to pull even, but couldn't get a key shot to fall.
Moon scored 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-of-9 shooting from three-point range. He knocked down three of his first four three-point attempts and had 15 points at the half.
Maitland and junior Miguel Dicent both scored ten points and Maitland also added a team-high six assists. Senior Treshaad Williams added nine points and nine rebounds, while senior DeJuan Marrero added eight points and six rebounds, all of which came in the second half.
Senior Stevie Browning led Marshall with 32 points as she shot 12-of-18 from the floor and 4-of-6 from deep.
The Thundering Herd shot 30-of-36 from the free throw line, while the Eagles shot 3-of-6. Morehead State outrebounded Marshall, 38-36, and finished with 13 offensive rebounds.
Prior to the loss tonight, Morehead State had won three straight against Marshall.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74, WESTERN ILLINOIS 71
MACOMB, Ill. - Southeast Missouri (2-1) overcame a 12-point deficit and had four players score double figures in a dramatic 74-71 win over Western Illinois (1-2) Wednesday night.
SEMO trailed, 53-41, with 12:51 remaining before outscoring WIU by 15 points (33-18) the rest of the way. The Redhawks beat the Leathernecks in Macomb for the first time since 1972.
Freshman Denzel Mahoney knocked down two free throws to give the Redhawks a 64-63 edge with 3:31 left in the game, their first lead since around that same time (3:42) in the first half.
Shortly after Jabari Sandifer's 3-pointer put WIU ahead, 67-64, Milos Vranes answered with a three of his own to bring the game to its seventh tie.
Mahoney again gave SEMO the lead (69-67) with two more free throws at the 1:54 mark.
Antonius Cleveland then made it a two-possession game when he added a pair of free throws.
Things would get interesting in the final minute as Dalan Ancrum narrowed the gap to 73-71 with 38 seconds on the clock.
WIU later rebounded the ball off a missed jumper by Jamaal Calvin with six seconds.
Following three-straight timeouts, Ancrum's fall away 16-footer was no good and Mahoney grabbed the rebound with 1.4 seconds remaining.
Mahoney split a pair of free throws to extend SEMO's lead to 73-71 before stealing the inbounds pass at halfcourt as time expired.
SEMO had a tough first half shooting the basketball, but offset its struggles with good defense. The Redhawks missed 12 of their first 14 field goals of the game, despite getting several good looks with many of their attempts inside the paint.
In an opening stanza that included four ties and six lead changes, neither team had much of a lead until WIU went on an 11-0 run in the final four minutes.
After Calvin's layup gave the Redhawks a 22-21 advantage with 3:42 left, the Leathernecks build a double-digit lead behind Sandifer (4) and Garret Covington (5) who accounted for nine of the points. James Claar's layup capped the surge, giving WIU a 32-22 advantage at the 1:26 mark.
Mahoney quickly answered the Leathernecks run with five points to cut the lead in half before WIU headed into the locker room ahead, 34-29.
SEMO shot 37.5 percent (12-of-32), its lowest field goal percentage in a first half this season.
Cleveland, who was clutch, particularly in the game's final 20 minutes, finished with a game-high 20 points. He dropped in 15 points in the second half alone and shot 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 at the free throw line. Cleveland also dished out two assists, gathered three blocks and had a steal in 33 minutes.
Vranes followed with 15 points, his third-straight double-digit performance off the bench. He was 6-of-9 from the field and knocked down three 3-pointers, while leading the Redhawks with seven rebounds.
Trey Kellum added 13 points and six boards, and Mahoney chipped in 10 points with five coming at the free throw line.
In addition, Calvin went without a turnover in 27 minutes.
SEMO outrebounded WIU, 37-30, and made 20-of-27 free throws. Seventeen of those makes were in the second half.
Covington and Sandifer topped the Leathernecks with 19 points apiece.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 74, JACKSONVILLE STATE 67
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - A second-half surge helped Western Kentucky to a 74-67 win over Jacksonville State at E.A. Diddle Arena Wednesday night.
The Hilltoppers used an 18-6 run to begin the second and take a lead following a 30-30 score at the half. Senior guard Thomas Pancake scored all of his 14 points in the second half.
Despite the seven-point loss, head coach Ray Harper was pleased with his team's play against the Conference USA opponent.
The Gamecocks controlled the first half with 20 rebounds and four points off turnovers. Senior Erik Durham led the scoring effort with 11 points, followed by junior Malcolm Drumwright with nine points.
JSU led for 14:05 of the first half and led by as many as 11 points. A 13-2 run that lasted nearly eight minutes pushed the Gamecocks out in front. Drumwright bucketed seven points during the stretch, but Western Kentucky closed the gap to tie it at the half.
Harper's squad managed to keep the game close in the second half until the halfway point. The game was tied 46-46 at the 10:52 mark, but that's when the Hilltoppers went on their game-changing run led by Thomas. The guard went 5-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-6 from behind the arc.
Durham finished the night with a team-best 17 points, and junior Norbertas Giga nailed down 12 in the second half to end with 16 points. It's the third consecutive game Giga has score 10 points or more. Senior Greg Tucker had 11 points to round out the Gamecocks' double-figure scorers.
The Gamecocks out-rebounded the Hilltoppers 11-8 on the offensive glass. Christian Cunningham totaled eight rebounds, and Andre Statam had a team-high four offensive boards.