SUNDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 76, Delaware 75 (Oxford, Ohio)
Sam Houston State 78,
@Tennessee Tech 71
UMKC 85,
Murray State 74 (Bowling Green, Ohio)
AUSTIN PEAY 76, DELAWARE 75
OXFORD, Ohio - On the same day he scored his 1,000th career point, junior Josh Robinson dropped in the game-winning bucket with 1.9 seconds left to lift the Govs to a 76-75 win against Delaware at the Tarkett Sports Classic.
After the Blue Hens went up 75-74 on a free-throw, Robinson drove the length of the floor and laid in the final two of his 23 points over the Blue Hens defense
A balanced first-half attack gave the Govs a 38-36 lead going into the half. Senior Kenny Jones (nine points, eight rebounds) and junior Dre'Kalo Clayton (eight points) controlled the interior, while Robinson scored eight in a back-and-forth battle that featured four ties and 10 lead changes in the opening 20 minutes alone.
The second half turned into the Kenny and Josh Show, with the duo combining for 32 of the Governors 38 second half points—17 for Jones, 15 for Robinson. After being up two at the half, Austin Peay roared out on a 17-5 run to open the second half, with Robinson scoring eight, including his 1,000th career point on a three-pointer with 18:23 to go, during this stretch.
The lead would reach 15 with 9:29 left on an emphatic Jones dunk, but Delaware would chip away at the lead thanks to a flurry of scoring from Devonne Pinkard; he scored 22 to lead the Blue Hens, including 13 in the final 4:56. He tied the game at 69 on a three with 2:29 to go, then put Delaware up three with 50 ticks left on another three-pointer.
Robinson responded with another three to tie it again with 34 seconds left. When Eric Carter went 1-of-2 from the line with 7.9 to go, that set the stage for Robinson's last-second heroics.
SAM HOUSTON STATE 78, TENNESSEE TECH 71
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A resurgent comeback bid fell just short for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball Sunday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles battled back from a 20-point second-half deficit to within four points before ultimately falling to Sam Houston State, 78-71.
Picked to win the Southland Conference over perennial favorite and NCAA Cinderella, Stephen F. Austin, the Bearkats used a suffocating defense and lights-out shooting touch to leap out to a 24-3 advantage over the opening 10 minutes of the contest. In that span, Sam Houston State knocked down 4-of-5 attempts from downtown while forcing 10 Tech turnovers.
From that point on, the Golden Eagles made the proper adjustments and started hitting some shots, trimming the lead down to a 14-point, halftime deficit.
Tech came out of the break on fire, scoring seven straight points to chop the Bearkat lead in half in the first two minutes of play, with junior Markell Henderson's layup after a Sam Houston State timeout seemingly igniting the crowd noise to a new level. The noise erupted 10 seconds later as the guard rejected a shot by Aurimas Majuaskas, giving Tech a chance to pull within five.
The visitors hauled in a miss on the other end and answered the Golden Eagle run in kind, scoring 13 straight points to run the lead back up to 20 points with just over 12 minutes to play. Once again, Tech dug in deep, trading blows and taking advantage of some opportunities to cut the lead to six over the next four minutes.
Once again, however, Sam Houston State answered back, taking an 11-point advantage with six-and-a-half minutes to go on a layup from Chris Galbreath Jr.
Golden Eagle junior Aleksa Jugovic dropped a triple to put a dent in the Bearkat armor, but Dakarai Henderson answered with his own trey to put the lead back into double digits.
Jugovic drained another 3-point attempt to start another Tech run with just over five to play, getting a follow up jumper from fellow junior Mason Ramsey. Tulane transfer Kajon Mack battle hard for a defensive rebound on the other end of the floor, drawing a foul and crashing hard to the deck.
He walked off some pain to calmly sink two free throws to bring the Golden Eagles within four points with just over four minutes left of action. It would mark the closest Tech could get, however, as the Bearkats made free throws down the stretch and a couple of sure-looking buckets rattled out for the Golden Eagles late.
At the end of it all, Tech out-rebounded its fourth straight opponent to open the year, hauling in 41 to Sam Houston State's 36 boards, including a 16-8 advantage on the offensive glass. The turnover battle stayed equal, but the Tech offense struggled to shoot the ball for the third time this season, finishing at 35.5 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from down town.
Jugovic led Tech with 23 points on a 7-for-11 night, including sinking four of his eight attempts from beyond the arc. He also drained all five free throw attempts while collecting four rebounds and two steals.
Ramsey boasted a strong showing, scoring 14 points and grabbing five boards while Mack also posted double digits with 12 points. Mack also recorded four rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Ja'Cardo Hawkins collected a season-high 10 rebounds and dropped in seven points while rejecting four shots. Fellow junior college transfer Stephaun Adams posted a season-best 10 points while dishing out six assists.
UMKC 85, MURRAY STATE 74
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Murray State Racers dropped an 85-77 loss Sunday to the Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos at the Bill Frack Tournament in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Jonathan Stark led the Racers (2-2) with 17 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, while MSU got 14 points from Terrell Miller and 13 points from Bryce Jones. Gilbert Thomas added eight points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes off the MSU bench.
In the first half, the Racers hit UMKC (3-1) with a 12-3 run after the game was tied 17-17. Jachai Taylor came off the MSU bench and hit a 3-point basket and then a fast break layup. When Bryce Jones hit a 3-pointer at the 5:21 mark, the Racers had a 29-21 lead. UMKC answered and went back in front with a minute left in the half and kept the lead through the intermission 36-34.
MSU fell behind by nine in the first three minutes of the second half, but came back again to take a 48-47 lead on a 12-2 run with 14:04 remaining. UMKC got control of the game with a 9-2 run to lead 70-62 at the 5:28 mark and the Racers couldn’t any closer than four the rest of the way.
The Racers had a 48 percent shooting second half on 16-of-33, but couldn’t chase down UMKC who went 16-of-34 for 47 percent.