FRIDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 77, Northern Kentucky 69 (Oxford, Ohio)
@TCU 79,
Jacksonville State 60
@Bradley 84,
Southeast Missouri 78
Southern Illinois 101,
@SIUE 83
@UT Martin 85, Cleveland State 74
AUSTIN PEAY 77, NORTHERN KENTUCKY 69
OXFORD, Ohio - Down 16 points with 12 minutes to go, Austin Peay State University men's basketball team staged a furious comeback to record an astonishing 77-69 comeback win against Northern Kentucky in the first game of the Tarkett Sports Classic.
Behind a season-high night from junior Josh Robinson and another sizzling second half from senior John Murry, the Governors were able to rally from a 48-32 hole, outscoring the Norse 45-21 over the final 12 minutes. Murry had 14 of his career-best 19 points during this stretch, while Robinson tallied 16 of his game-high 31 and hit a quartet of three-pointers to pace the comeback.
The first-half did not go nearly as well for Austin Peay, which found itself playing catch-up from the outset thanks to a 9-2 Northern Kentucky run to open the game. The Govs would battle back to within a point with under five minutes remaining in the half thanks to a Murry jumper, but the Norse closed the half like they started it—on a 9-2 run to take a 35-27 lead into the break.
The Norse lead swelled to 16 after an 11-5 run to open the second half. But then Murry and Robinson caught fire and took the Govs from down 16 to tied in the span of seven minutes, capping the comeback with back-to-back three-pointers from Robinson. The Governors then outscored Northern Kentucky 18-10 over the last five minutes, with Murry scoring 12 by himself during that stretch of play.
TCU 79, JACKSONVILLE STATE 60
FORT WORTH - A season-high 19 points from junior Malcolm Drumwright was not enough to lift the Gamecocks over Texas Christian University at Schollmaier Arena.
Jacksonville State (1-3) fell 79-60 to the Horned Frogs (3-0) on Friday following a strong offensive second half from the home team. TCU was 15-for-26 (57.5%) from the floor in the second period to pull away in what had been a neck-and-neck contest.
Along with Drumwright's 19 points, senior Erik Durham (11) and junior Norbertas Giga (11) each tallied double figures. Both Durham and Giga came up two boards short of a double-double.
The Gamecocks kept it tight at the half, trailing 36-31. It was the smallest deficit they had faced when trailing at the half.
Durham bucketed two threes and two free throws to lead the scoring in the opening half. JSU trailed by as many as 12 points, but an 8-1 run gave the Gamecocks momentum heading into the locker room.
Drumwright opened the second period with a three-pointer from the corner, and Giga followed up with a jumper to pull the lead within one point - the smallest deficit since being tied 12-12 at the 12:49 mark in the first half - but went on the offensive almost immediately after.
TCU turned a one-point lead into a 10-point lead in five minutes. Frogs' guard Brandon Parrish scored 10 of his game-high 20 points during the 15-6 run.
The Gamecocks held TCU to a season-low 79 points despite the defeat. JSU also dished out a season-best 15 assists.
BRADLEY 84, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 78
PEORIA, Ill. - Southeast Missouri (2-2) suffered an 84-78 road loss to Bradley (2-2) Friday night at Carver Arena.
SEMO missed a season-high nine free throws and those loomed large in the end.
William Tchiengang scored his first points of the season at the free throw line to slice BU's lead to 47-44 with 12:48 left to play, but that was as close as the Redhawks would get in the second half.
BU, which led the entire game, took its largest lead of the night when Darrell Brown split a pair of free throws to make it a 74-59 game at the 2:47 mark.
The Redhawks kept fighting and managed to outscore the Braves, 19-10, the rest of the way, but ultimately fell short.
SEMO fell behind by nine points (25-16) with 7:42 left in the first half. After going a stretch of 5:48 without a field goal, Jamaal Calvin and Daniel Simmons ended the drought with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions.
Calvin and Simmons ignited an 11-4 SEMO run capped by two free throws by Kellum that made it a 29-27 game with 3:38 remaining.
Jonathan Dalton later drained a 3-pointer to chop BU's lead to 31-30 at the 2:47 mark before the Braves took a 38-35 edge at the half.
SEMO entered the game shooting 76 percent at the free throw line, but finished 13-of-22 tonight.
Antonius Cleveland and Daniel Simmons led the Redhawks with 16 points apiece, while Trey Kellum and Dondre Duffus each followed with 10. Cleveland also had five rebounds and missed six free throws. It was his 14th-straight game scoring in double figures.
In his return home, Peoria native Kellum scored all of his points in a strong first half. He fouled out with a little over five minutes left in the game.
Meanwhile, Simmons reached double figures for the first time this season.
The Redhawks forced 15 turnovers to just five that they committed themselves. SEMO outscored the Braves, 42-32, inside the paint and scored 16 of its points off turnovers.
JoJo McGlaston led BU with a game-high 19 points. The Braves shot 54.2 percent (26-of-48) from the field and outrebounded SEMO by a +20 margin (43-23). BU shot 38 free throws, as well.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 101, SIUE 83
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southern Illinois connected on 68.5 percent of its shots and ran away from SIUE 101-83 Friday at Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars even their record at 2-2 for the season. The Salukis also are 2-2.
SIUE had three players score in double figures. The Cougars knocked down 53.3 percent (16-30) of their shots in the second period and shot 47.4 percent (27-57) from the field for the game.
Tre Harris led SIUE with a career-best and game-high 24 points. He was 7 of 13 overall and 5 of 10 from three-point range.
Jalen Henry came within a point of his career high with 17 points. Freshman Christian Ellis scored a career-high 16 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out a career-high six assists with just a single turnover.
The two teams traded leads five times early in the first half before the Salukis made a run midway through the half and never looked back.
SIUC saw three players top the 20-point threshold en route to spoiling SIUE's home opener. The Salukis were 22 for 30 (73.3 percent) from the field in the first half and 37 of 54 (68.5 percent) for the game.
Sean O'Brien led SIUC with 22 points and nine rebounds. Mike Rodriguez and Leo Vincent finished the night with 20 points apiece.
UT MARTIN 85, CLEVELAND STATE 74
MARTIN, Tenn. - Javier Martinez amassed his first career double-double as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team opened up an early lead and fended off a Cleveland State comeback in an 85-74 Bluegrass Showcase win at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Martinez notched new career-highs in points (23) and rebounds (14) this evening, sinking 10 of his 12 field goal attempts. The 6-7, 210-pound senior out of St. Croix, Virgin Islands helped push a Skyhawk team who led by as many as 30 points in the first half before the visiting Vikings got within four points with 2:27 left to play. Martinez followed with four of the next five UT Martin points to help the Skyhawks improve to 3-1 on the season.
Kedar Edwards scored 17 points and tied a career-high with seven assists for the Skyhawks while Jacolby Mobley (16 points) and Fatodd Lewis (10 points) each scored double-digits for UT Martin. Matthew Butler also compiled nine points, a career-high seven rebounds and four assists for the Skyhawks, who shot 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field.
Cleveland State (1-2) was led by Rob Edwards’ 22 points – 16 of which came in the final 20 minutes. Bobby Word (14 points), Derek Sloan (10 points) and Jibri Blount (11 rebounds) also came through with big performances for the Vikings.
UT Martin found itself down by an 8-4 margin early but the Skyhawks clamped down on defense and changed the course of the game. UT Martin held Cleveland State without a point for a span of 8:17, doubling up the Vikings for a 16-8 lead. Mobley bookended the Skyhawk run with three-pointers before Cleveland State got back on the scoreboard with an old-fashioned three-point play at the 9:23 mark of the first half.
Another lengthy Viking scoring drought resulted in UT Martin’s largest lead of the game. Cleveland State did not score for a five-minute stretch while a tip-in by Martinez capped off a 39-5 Skyhawk run and provided UT Martin with a 43-13 advantage with less than three minutes to go in the first half.
The Vikings got within 24 points before a Malik Pugh trifecta from the right wing gave the Skyhawks a 50-23 halftime advantage.
Martinez nearly had a double-double (13 points, nine rebounds) in the first half alone while Mobley dialed up 13 points for UT Martin, who connected on 63 percent (17-for-27) of its shot attempts and outrebounded the Vikings by a 24-9 margin.
UT Martin’s lead reached 28 points (55-27) at the 16:19 mark of the second half but Cleveland State went on a 14-2 run to make the score 57-41. Lewis, Edwards and Kahari Beaufort each scored over the next three minutes for the Skyhawks as they maintained a 17-point advantage.
The Vikings followed with 12 of the next 16 points to close within single-digits at 66-57. UT Martin quickly pushed its lead back out to 11 points thanks to a layup by Martinez but another Cleveland State run – this time a 9-2 spurt – trimmed the Skyhawk lead to 70-66 with 2:27 to go.
Martinez then came through with an offensive rebound and tip-in on UT Martin’s next possession and after a Mobley free throw, Martinez converted a tough contested layup to extend the Skyhawk advantage out to 75-66 with 1:19 left to play.
Cleveland State would not get any closer than six points the rest of the way, as Mobley (two free throws), Chandler Rowe (two free throws) and Edwards (two dunks) closed out UT Martin’s victory.