SATURDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 61, IUPUI 58
Jacksonville State 76, Northern Arizona 63 (Las Vegas, Nev.)
@Eastern Illinois 72, South Alabama 62
@Eastern Kentucky 92, Berea College 64
@Murray State 91, Alabama A&M 54
@Austin Peay 82, Spalding 63
@Tennessee State 96, Reinhardt 64
SIUE 61, IUPUI 58
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - – Burak Eslik hit a pair of free throws with 8.3 seconds left Saturday to seal a 61-58 victory for SIUE men's basketball over IUPUI at the Vadalabene Center.
SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said the Cougars benefitted from a total team effort in its first regular season win at home. The Cougars improved to 3-3 while IUPUI fell to 2-4.
SIUE held IUPUI to 38.1 percent shooting from the field, including 4 of 16 (25 percent) from three-point range. Matt O'Leary led the charge for the Jaguars with 22 points followed by 16 from Darell Combs.
The Cougars shot just 35.3 percent from the field led by 13 points from Eslik and 10 each from Carlos Anderson and Christian Ellis.
Ellis played a team-high 31 minutes for the Cougars and provided four assists.
Despite being a freshman, Harris showed supreme confidence in the 6-foot, 2-inch guard from Oakland, California.
With a game that featured 13 lead changes, SIUE locked down the final five minutes of the game. After a pair of free throws by IUPUI's O'Leary with 5:41 to play, SIUE garnered the last tie of the game on a made free throw by Ellis at 4:23.
SIUE took the lead for good (54-52) on Tre Harris' layup with 4:23 to play. After a pair of free throws by Devin Thornton, Combs hit the second of his three three-pointers to pull within one 56-55 with 2:31 to play.
SIUE then made its final five free throws down the stretch with one from Harris, two from Ellis with 37 seconds left and the two from Eslik in the waning seconds. Combs had hit his final three-pointer with 15 seconds left but missed the rim on the left for his final three-point attempt of the contest.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 76, NORTHERN ARIZONA 63
LAS VEGAS - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team made it four-straight wins, including two over the last two days, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., with a 76-63 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Christian Cunningham neared a double-double performance, finishing with nine boards and a career-high 19 points. The Gamecocks (4-3) were also one point shy of having five different players reach double figures in points for the first time in 26 games as Malcolm Drumwright ended the day with 14, followed by Erik Durham (13) and Jacara Cross (10). Freshman Tyrik Edwards finished with nine points.
After a couple of scoreless minutes to begin the day, NAU's Ako Kaluna opened the scoring with a 3-pointer in a sign of what was to come from the Lumberjacks who shot 32 3-pointers on the afternoon - twice as many as JSU.
Following a missed attempt from outside with 13 minutes to play, Edwards grabbed the rebound and found fellow freshman Cross streaking down the right side for a fast break bucket to even the game at 10-10. Cross set a career high with 10 points Saturday, all of which came in the opening 20 minutes. The lead changed hands five times early before JSU moved ahead, 13-12, on a layup from Cunningham.
The Gamecocks held a five-point advantage at 25-20, following a triple from Durham with five minutes and change left before halftime. NAU cut its deficit to one multiple times before heading to the locker room trailing 31-30.
The Gamecocks scored the first seven points of the second half courtesy a pair of inside baskets from Cunningham, followed by a three from Drumwright which gave Jax State its largest lead of the game at 38-30. The lead reached double figures when Cunningham turned an offensive rebound into a second-chance bucket with 15 minutes remaining. The native of Albuquerque, N.M., led the second-half charge with 15 points after the break, and finishing one rebound shy of a double-double. JSU finished with 15 second-chance points after winning the rebound battle, 48-33, Norbertas Giga matched Cunningham with a team-best nine boards.
After the Gamecocks took a game-high 17-point lead, the Lumberjacks responded with an 8-0 run forcing Ray Harper to call timeout with just under 10 minutes to play, leading 57-48. NAU came as close as six, but Tucker's triple at the 3:37 mark pushed the Gamecocks back to a double-digit lead at 69-58. From there, JSU controlled the clock on its way to securing its third-straight win of the season.
Durham was recognized for his exceptional weekend following the game, earning a spot on the all-tournament team. The senior totaled 33 points on the weekend and knocked down 10 3-pointers (10-for-15) over the two-day trip. Including the preliminary games at TCU and Western Kentucky, Durham put up a four-game total 62 points in the Global Sports Classic.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 72, SOUTH ALABAMA 62
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois defense clamped down defensively midway through the second half and used a key 10-2 run in the final six minutes of the game as the Panthers handed South Alabama its first loss of the season with a 72-62 win on Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.
EIU improved to 4-2 on the season while South Alabama dropped to 5-1 on the year. The Jaguars were ranked No. 23 in this week’s CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
Leading 36-33 at the half Eastern Illinois held South Alabama to only two free throws for just over eight minutes as EIU opened a 46-44 lead at the 14:43 mark into a 56-46 lead until 6:30 remained in the game. Nick Stover broke the long field goal drought with a 3-pointer that cut the Panthers lead to seven points. Stover was one of two USA players in double figures finishing with 13.
During the defensive stand EIU scored on jumpers by Cornell Johnston, Ray Crossland, Montell Goodwin and Patrick Muldoon. Goodwin’s jumper was a 3-pointer as he was one of five EIU players in double figures with 14 points.
South Alabama closed the gap to five with 5:19 to play on a jumper by Shaq Calhoun. EIU answered with a 10-2 run that gave the Panthers a 13 point lead with 3:01 to play on another 3-ponter by Goodwin.
Stover sank three free throws with 24 seconds left to cut the lead to seven points. Crossland and Johnston put the game away as EIU scored its final six points at the free throw line.
USA shot 50 percent in the first half before EIU limited the Jaguars to 39 percent shooting in the second half. EIU finished the game shooting 44 percent from the floor and 45 percent from 3-point range.
The two teams had five ties in the first half with South Alabama taking the lead at 11-10 with 14:26 to play in the first half. EIU led by as many as seven points in the first half.
Crossland led EIU with 15 points and three steals. As a team EIU had 11 steals marking the third straight game that EIU posted double digit steals. Muusa Dama just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Johnston had ten points, eight assists. Demetrius McReynolds finished with ten.
Ken Williams led all players with 24 points scoring 12 in each half for South Alabama.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 92, BEREA COLLEGE 64
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University cruised to a 92-64 victory over Berea College on Saturday at McBrayer Arena, the first meeting between the Madison County men’s basketball teams since 1997.
Five players scored in double figures, led by Nick Mayo’s 19 points. The sophomore also had nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The Colonels (3-4) out-scored Berea 48-14 in the paint and out-rebounded the Mountaineers (2-3) by 16. EKU turned 19 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points.
Eastern Kentucky scored the first six points of the game and 11 of the first 14. The Colonels took a 12-point lead, 23-11, when Zach Charles capped a 7-0 run with a lay-up. The Mountaineers cut that deficit in half with a jumper from Austin Glasgow and a three-pointer by Richard Parker with 4:06 left in the first half. That’s as close as the visitors would get.
EKU closed out the half with a 17-5 run to take an 18-point lead into the locker room at the break. Mayo got it started with an old-fashioned three-point play. Jaylen Babb-Harrison and Parker Chitty each hit a three-pointer during the run. Mayo capped it with a pair of free throws to put the home squad on top 47-29. Five different players scored during the spurt.
The Colonels turned 11 offensive rebounds in the first half into a 15-2 advantage in second-chance points. Eastern Kentucky out-rebounded Berea by 14 in the first half and out-scored the Mountaineers 22-8 in the paint.
The halftime break didn’t slow the Colonels. EKU opened the second half with a 15-5 run and never looked back. Mayo and Babb-Harrison teamed up to score 13 of the 15 points. A lay-up by Babb-Harrison ended the run and made it a 28-point game, 62-34.
Eastern took its largest lead of 30 points on a break-away dunk by Marlon Adams with 9:39 left in the game.
Adams recorded his first-career double-double in the win, notching 11 points and 10 rebounds. Charles finished the night with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Dillon Avare scored 11 points. Freshman Parker Chitty had 10 points.
MURRAY STATE 91, ALABAMA A&M 54
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers put five players in double-figure scoring and ran past the Alabama A&M Bulldogs 91-54 Saturday night at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers evened their record at 3-3 as they head out on the road again Tuesday for a game at Southern Illinois.
Jonathan Stark led the Racers with 17 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the 3-point line and MSU got 14 points each from Jachai Taylor and Damarcus Croaker. Bryce Jones and Terrell Miller each added 13 points. Miller scored his first double-double at MSU with 11 rebounds.
Trailing 10-9 in the early going, the Racers hit the Bulldogs with a 9-0 run with four different players scoring. Stark and Croaker scored off of steals and Brion Sanchious and Jalen Dupree scored from the post for an 18-10 lead at the 13:43 mark of the half.
The Racers hit six of their first 12 3-point attempts in the game and when Taylor hit back-to-back threes, MSU enjoyed a 36-21 lead with 4:23 before half.
Jones grabbed a couple of steals and fed easy layups for Taylor and Croaker as the MSU lead ballooned to 42-24 at the 2:22 mark.
The Racers went into the half leading the Bulldogs 47-27 after Croaker dunked on a fast break with 16 seconds left.
The Racers won the rebound battle for the first time in six games this season 33-27.
MSU forced the Bulldogs into 18 turnovers, only one less than the 19 field goals they had total. The Racers shot 59 percent for the game on 26-of-63, including 11-of-24 from the 3-point line.
AUSTIN PEAY 82, SPALDING 63
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men's basketball team equaled its best start in the Dave Loos era after dispatching Spalding 82-63, Saturday, in the Dunn Center.
The victory moves Austin Peay to 4-2, equaling six-game marks set by the 2000-01, 2002-03 and 2008-09 under Loos' direction. Each of those three teams reached at least the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game.
If Spalding was supposed to waltz into the Dunn Center and roll over, nobody told the Golden Eagles early on. Spalding held a lead at the 9:46 mark in the half, with Rylan Rowe hitting three three-pointers early to keep the Golden Eagles ahead.
Austin Peay went on a late first-half run to comfortably reach a 14-point lead by halftime, outscoring the Golden Eagles 27-11 over the final 8:42 of the half. Junior Josh Robinson scored 10 of his team-high 20 points during this stretch and has now reached double figures in 23 straight games.
The lead would swell into the 20-point range early in the second half and remain there for much of the game's remainder. The Governors bench would get in on the act, outscoring Spalding's 19-5 over the final 20 minutes; the Govs put up 30 bench points in this one, led by senior John Murry with 10.
TENNESSEE STATE 96, REINHARDT 64
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team overcame the hot first-half shooting of Reinhardt in a 96-64 victory at the Gentry Center on Saturday night in the Tigers’ home opener. Tahjere McCall secured his second career double-double with 11 points and 11 boards, while Jordan Reed eclipsed 1,000 career points on the night.
TSU, which received a vote in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 Poll, is 6-0 for the first time since moving to Division I prior to the 1977-78 season.
Six TSU players scored in double figures led by a career-high 18 points off the bench for Delano Spencer to go with 14 for Ken’Darrius Hamilton, 11 apiece for McCall and Christian Mekowulu and 10 points for Wayne Martin.
Reinhardt led by as many as five points, hitting eight three-pointers in the opening nine minutes of the game for a 24-19 advantage. TSU stormed back and later used a 9-0 run to take a 42-33 advantage. The Tigers took a 47-45 lead into halftime. The 47 points were the most for TSU in a half this season before scoring 49 in the second half.
Reinhardt shot 13-for-29 (44.8 percent) from three-point range in the first half.
Holding a two-point lead, the Tigers went on an 8-0 run sparked by steals on the defensive end for a 59-49 lead with 16:24 left in the second half.
Reed, who scored 931 points in three seasons for Binghamton, reached 1,000 for his career with two made free throws with 10:49 left in the second half.
The Tigers pulled away as the lead grew to 20 points before reaching 30 in the final three minutes of the contest.
The TSU defense clamped down in the second half, forcing 13 turnovers and holding Reinhardt to 0-for-13 shooting on three-pointers in the closing 20 minutes.
Tennessee State shot 57.1 percent (32-for-56) and outrebounded the Eagles, 36-31. Reinhardt was led by 15 points off the bench for Nehemiah Jones.