MONDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 71, Troy 67
@Bowling Green 78,
Murray State 77
Florida 78,
Belmont 60 (Tampa, Fla.)
UT Martin 72, @Canisius 69
EASTERN ILLINOIS 71, TROY 67
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Demetrius McReynolds got a hot shooting hand late and Eastern Illinois made free throws when the Panthers most needed them as EIU was able to grind out a 71-67 win over Troy on Kid’s Day at Lantz Arena on Monday afternoon.
McReynolds scored eight points on three straight possessions giving EIU a 62-61 lead with 2:15 to play as he converted a three point play. On the next defensive possession, McReynolds had one of EIU’s 11 team steals and drained a 3-pointer to put the Panthers up 65-61. Following a 3-pointer by Kevin Baker for Troy, McReynolds again answered with a jumper at the elbow to put the Panthers up three with 1:21 to play.
Troy would tie the game at 67-67 on a three point play by Jeremy Hollimon with 1:08 to play. Hollimon had a chance to give the Trojans the lead in the final 39 seconds but missed two free throws. EIU would battle for a loose ball and Montell Goodwin would be fouled. Goodwin sank both free throws with 15 seconds left as he was one of four Panthers in double figures finishing with 16 points.
The Trojans had a shot to win the game with five seconds left but Baker’s 3-pointer was off the mark. Cornell Johnston was fouled on the inbounds play and sank both free throws to give the Panthers a four point cushion at 71-67. Johnston had 11 points and four assists as he moved into second on the EIU career assists list with 349.
Playing in front of 3,111 students from area schools EIU jumped out to a 12 point lead as Goodwin sank a 3-pointer with 8:59 to play in the first giving EIU a 26-14 lead. Troy would chip away at that lead the remainder of the half trimming it to one point on another three point play by Holliman with 1:47 to play in the first. Holliman had eight points as EIU led 38-33 at the half.
Eastern Illinois was able to keep the lead at one or two possessions most of the second half with the biggest lead of seven points coming on the first bucket of the second half by Goodwin.
Troy was in the bonus midway through the second half and converted at the foul line to tie the game at 54-54 with 7:21 and then take the lead at 55-54 with 6:39 to play as Juan Davis Jr., made three of four at the foul line. Troy finished the day 19-of-27 at the line. EIU was 13-of-21 including five straight misses late in the second half.
Jordon Varnado gave Troy a 57-56 lead with 5:53 to play and Davis knocked down two at the foul line to give Troy its biggest lead at 59-56 with 3:56 to play. Johnston tied the game with a 3-pointer for EIU setting the stage for McReynolds late game hot shooting. McReynolds finished with 19 points. Ray Crossland added ten of the bench.
The Panthers did a better job defensively on Varnado on Monday afternoon limiting him to 11 points and 11 rebounds. He had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Troy on Nov. 14. Wesley Person was held without a 3-pointer for the second time this season against EIU as he finished with ten points. The Panthers snapped Person’s 61-game streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer made in the last meeting. Kevin Baker led Troy with 15 points.
Muusa Dama had 13 rebounds for EIU, his third game this season with double figure rebounds.
BOWLING GREEN 78, MURRAY STATE 77
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Murray State Racers dropped a 78-77 loss Monday against the Bowling Green State Falcons Monday night in the final game of the Bill Frack Tournament at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Jonathan Stark led the Racers with 28 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the 3-point line and Bryce Jones had a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists.
The Racers (2-3) lost their last two games in the event after they beat Green Bay in game one. MSU is home Saturday against Alabama A&M at 7 p.m. at the CFSB Center.
The final seconds of the game were frantic as the Racers made run for the win after they trailed by 14 points with 15:32 left.
The Racers kept chipping away and finally they a trio of 3-point baskets from Jonathan Stark to tied it 71-71 with 3:28 left. Jones hit a three for a 77-75 lead with 1:00 left, but BGSU answered with one of their own for a 78-77 lead with 46-seconds remaining. After Stark made one free throw, the Falcons missed a layup 5.1 left. Stark raced to other end where his jumper from the free throw line at the buzzer was no good.
The Racers started the game on a 13-5 run less than five minutes in when they scored on a pair of run-out dunks by Damarcus Croaker and Stark. However, the Falcons hit MSU with a 12-2 run to put the Racers down 27-20 with 6:10 before the half. With 33-seconds left, Jones scored a three-point play, but BGSU’s Ali Ismail’s four-point play with four-seconds remaining put the Racers in a 41-34 hole at the intermission.
FLORIDA 78, BELMONT 61
TAMPA, Fla. - Belmont University men's basketball fought through an early deficit but dropped a 78-61 decision to Florida Monday night.
The Bruins fell behind 22-4 in the opening six minutes before riding the inspired play of senior Evan Bradds to close within 12, 38-26, by halftime. Belmont then had two chances to close within six points early in the second half before Canyon Barry sparked a 15-0 Gator run.
Bradds led Belmont with 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting, while sophomore Kevin McClain had 10.
Barry led Florida (4-0) with 17 points.
The game was played at Amalie Arena.
UT MARTIN 72, CANISIUS 69
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The University of Tennessee at Martin overcame a double-digit deficit and used a balanced scoring attack to secure a big 72-69 road victory at Canisius in the Bluegrass Showcase this evening.
The Skyhawks (4-1) trailed by 11 points in the first half but stormed back to eventually open up a double-digit lead of their own with 7:20 remaining. Canisius was able to trim its deficit down to three points and had a chance to tie the game in the final 30 seconds before a defensive stand sealed the win for UT Martin.
Javier Martinez led the Skyhawks in scoring for the second straight game, tossing in 17 points to go along with seven rebounds. Kedar Edwards accounted for a stat line of 16 points, eight rebounds and a career-best seven assists while the starting backcourt of Jacolby Mobley (15 points) and Matthew Butler (11 points) also scored in double figures.
Canisius (1-3) was led by Phil Valenti’s 21 points while Jermaine Crumpton and Kiefer Douse added 17 and 11 points, respectively. The Golden Griffins held a 36-32 halftime lead but only shot 20 percent (6-of-30) from three-point range tonight.
UT Martin trailed for the entire first half as Canisius jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. Martinez helped the Skyhawks close within five points after he scored six of UT Martin’s first 10 points of the contest.
A Mobley three-pointer at the 12:29 mark of the first half pulled the Skyhawks within four points at 17-13 but a 7-0 Golden Griffin run provided Canisius with an 11-point lead just over three minutes later.
Martinez converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cap off an 11-3 UT Martin run to make the score 33-30. The Golden Griffins answered with a trifecta before a nice move inside by Dante Bailey provided the 36-32 halftime score.
Leading the Skyhawks at the break was Martinez, who had 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting. The duo of Valenti and Crumpton each had 12 points apiece to pace Canisius.
Two quick buckets by Mobley and Edwards tied the game at 36-all less than a minute into the second half. The Golden Griffins scored four unanswered but a Chandler Rowe offensive rebound and stickback gave UT Martin its first lead of the game (45-44) with 15:39 remaining.
Canisius evened the score at 49-49 but Butler knocked down a big triple to ignite a 10-1 Skyhawk run. During that span, UT Martin received a huge lift from senior forward Malik London, who threw down a pair of dunks and notched an old-fashioned three-point play on three straight possessions.
A fast break layup by Butler at the 7:20 mark gave the Skyhawks a 66-56 edge while a Mobley jumper kept UT Martin’s lead comfortable at 70-61 with just under four minutes to go.
However, the Golden Griffins reeled off eight of the next 10 points and had the ball down by three points with 30 ticks left. After the Skyhawks snuffed out Canisius’ initial play call, the Golden Griffins called timeout with nine seconds left to regroup. UT Martin then locked down its defense one more time and forced an errant, off-balanced three-pointer from the left wing that fell short and into the arms of Edwards as the Skyhawks celebrated their first road win of the season.