THURSDAYS' SCORES
@Saint Louis 74,
Eastern Illinois 69
@Tennessee Tech 95, Alabama A&M 61
@Auburn 85,
Eastern Kentucky 64
SAINT LOUIS 74, EASTERN ILLINOIS 69
ST. LOUIS - Eastern Illinois led 44-33 at the half but the Panthers opened the second half cold from the floor as they lost 74-69 at Saint Louis on Thursday night.
EIU was held scoreless for the first six and half minutes to open the second half as SLU took a 44-43 lead on a 3-pointer by Davell Roby with 17:08 to play in the game. Roby would lead the Billkens with 18 points as four SLU players finished in double figures.
EIU ended the scoring drought with a Casey Teson jumper that stopped a 15-0 SLU run. Teson would tie the game at 57-57 for the Panthers with a 3-pointer. Teson had eight points. The sophomore guard from just outside Saint Louis had a chance to win the game for EIU as Cornell Johnston stole the ball with 16 seconds remaining. Teson’s 3-pointer was contested and fell short off the rim.
Saint Louis closed out the game at the free throw line hitting 7-of-10 down the stretch. The Billikens shot 51.7 percent in the second half to finish at 49.1 percent for the game.
EIU cooled off in the second half shooting 38.2 percent for the game. Johnston led EIU with 18 points and seven assists.
Eastern Illinois closed the first half with a 16-3 run as the Panthers were hot from 3-point range in the first half. EIU was 8-of-16 from 3-point range in the opening half with four of those in the final 3:29 of the half. Demetrius McReynolds hit a 3-pointer to start the run as he had 13 points, all in the first half.
Saint Louis native Johnston had 14 first half points as he followed McReynolds late first half 3’s with back-to-back 3-pointers that pushed EIU’s lead to 39-30 with 2:01 to play in the half.
After Reggie Agbeko stopped an 11-0 EIU with a basket in the low post, Montell Goodwin drained a 3-pointer to give the Panthers a ten point lead. McReynolds had a tip in in the final four seconds of the half to give EIU a 44-33 halftime advantage. Goodwin had 11 points in the game.
EIU held a 17-16 first half rebound margin with Muusa Dama pulling down ten first half rebounds, his second straight double figure rebounding game. Dama finished the game with 15 boards.
Agbeko finished with 18 points before fouling out in the final minutes. Jermaine Bishop added 14 points and Elliott Welmer had 15.
TENNESSEE TECH 95, ALABAMA A&M 61
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It seemed only fitting that on a night fans saw the Tennessee Tech men's basketball donned in its alternate gold, the Golden Eagle squad seemed to possess the Midas touch. Tech tickled the twine early and often on its way to blitzing Alabama A&M Thursday evening, 95-61.
Stuck in a rut from both the field (.356) and from beyond the arc (.218), Tech used a lighting-rod of a performance by junior guard Markell Henderson to guide its way to a significantly strong night offensively. Making his first career start, Henderson lit up the scoreboard to the tune of a career-high 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting, including a 5-for-8 showing from downtown.
The Boswell, Okla. native was so hot early, he tied his previous best scoring output in the game's first six minutes. And the rest of the Golden Eagle squad followed his lead early. After a Henderson triple resulted in a 3-0 lead, the Golden Eagles fired off a 12-5 run, enjoying a 10-point lead at the first media break.
While the shooting from both the entire Tech squad, as well as Henderson, would come back down to earth towards the end of the half, the team still finished the game with impressive showing from the field (.587) and from 3-point range (.476).
With the offense flowing the entire game, the Golden Eagle defense was able to calmly give the Bulldogs fits, forcing 16 turnovers on the power of a season-high 11 steals. Coupled with another strong effort on the glass – Tech out-rebounded A&M 36-30 – the defense made its especially tough on the Bulldog shooters, holding the visiting bunch to just 37.7 percent shooting.
AUBURN 85, EASTERN KENTUCKY 64
AUBURN, Ala. - The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team led host Auburn by as many as six points late in the first half and had a chance to take the lead midway through the second half, but the Tigers slowly pulled away down the stretch for an 85-64 victory over the Colonels on Thursday night at Auburn Arena.
EKU (1-2) overcame a hostile Southeastern Conference road environment and hung with undefeated Auburn (3-0) deep into the second half. The Colonels pulled to within two, 48-46, on a three-pointer by junior guard Dillon Avare with 14:13 remaining, and had a chance to take the lead on their next possession, but sophomore forward Nick Mayo missed a go-ahead three-point attempt. Auburn then responded with a decisive 17-4 run over the next seven minutes to put the game out of reach.
Mayo led Eastern with 20 points and four rebounds. Mayo has now scored 20 or more points in all three of EKU’s games this season.
Senior wing Jaylen Babb-Harrison contributed 14 points, while Avare came off the bench to spark the Colonels with 11 points, including three three-pointers.
After Auburn ran out to a 10-2 lead following a pair of free throws by Mustapha Heron less than two minutes in, EKU responded with a 15-2 run and grabbed a 17-12 advantage on a foul shot by Mayo with 12:43 showing on the clock.
Eastern maintained control of the game for much of the first half, and took its largest lead, 27-21, on a three-pointer by Mayo with 6:45 remaining.
Auburn used a 16-5 spurt to retake the lead, before a jumper at the buzzer by Avare sent the Colonels into the locker room at halftime down by three, 37-34.
EKU pulled to within one, 39-38, following a driving layup by Babb-Harrison with 18:28 remaining in the game, and stayed within range of the Tigers for the next five minutes.
The Colonels made it a two-point game, 50-48, when freshman Gist got a layup to go with 13:00 on the clock.
That was as close as Eastern got, though, as Auburn countered with a decisive 15-2 run and took a commanding 65-50 lead when Heron converted a free throw with 7:30 left.
Heron paced Auburn with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
EKU won the turnover battle on the night, forcing Auburn into 15 miscues.
The Colonels received 22 bench points in the game, a majority of which came from Avare and freshman DeAndre Dishman, who scored eight points, grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot.