THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 87, Central Arkansas 63
@Lipscomb 104,
Tennessee Tech 85
UT Martin 73, @Arkansas-Pine Bluff 68
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 87, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 63
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (4-3) stormed out to a 36-1 run in the first 10 minutes of the second half to blow by Central Arkansas (1-6), 87-63, Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
SEMO, which trailed 37-30 at halftime, caught fire to make 14 of its first 20 field goals to immediately take over the game.
Trey Kellum and Jaylen Benton each went on a rampage after a slow start. Kellum, who had just four points in the first half, exploded for 17 second-half points and Benton added 13 after going scoreless in the game's first 20 minutes.
Clearly a tale of two halves, there was no stopping the Redhawks in the second stanza.
SEMO nailed 10 three-pointers shot 55.6 percent from beyond the arc and put the exclamation point on its fourth win of the season with a blazing 59.5 percent (22-of-37) shooting display in the final 20 minutes alone.
Kellum's layup gave the Redhawks their largest lead at 66-38 with 11:38 remaining before SEMO cruised to victory.
SEMO fell behind early after UCA heated up to score on each of its first four possessions of the game.
Mathieu Kamba and Derreck Brooks drained a 3-pointer, while Jordan Howard and Brooks added jumpers to grab the Bears a quick 10-0 lead just 2:16 in.
The Redhawks chopped UCA's lead to one when Antonius Cleveland knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 23-22 at the 6:14 mark, but the Bears countered with a 12-3 run to regain a double-digit advantage.
Howard, who had 11 first-half points, had five during that surge which was capped by Kamba's jumper that widened UCA's lead to 35-25 with 2:31 left to play.
The Bears shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the field in the first half to propel their strong start. SEMO managed to hit just 37.9 percent (11-of-29) of its shots.
Kellum led all scorers with 21 points and nine rebounds, one of four SEMO starters in double figures. He shot 10-of-14 from the field and fell two points shy of matching his career-high.
Cleveland and Benton followed with 13 points apiece and Denzel Mahoney added 12. Jamaal Calvin had nine assists and four steals in 20 minutes, as well.
As a team, the Redhawks dished out a season-high 28 assists on 33 made baskets. SEMO outscored UCA, 57-26, for a +31 margin in the second half. Additionally, the Redhawks shot a season-high 34 three-pointers.
Howard led UCA with 15 points, as the Bears dropped under 30 percent (27.6, 8-of-29) from the field in the second half.
LIPSCOMB 104, TENNESSEE TECH 85
NASHVILLE (AP) - Josh Williams had 20 points, Garrison Matthews added 19 and Lipscomb pulled away early to dominate Tennessee Tech 104-85 on Thursday night to stop a five-game losing skid.
The Bison, 3-0 at home, had dropped five straight on the road.
Nathan Moran nailed 3 of 4 from beyond the arc for 15 points and Aaron Korn hit all four attempts from distance for 14.
Lipscomb (3-6) was up 54-30 at the break, as Williams had 18 points, and outscored the Golden Eagles 12-3 to open the second period.
The Bisons, who were 16 of 26 (62.5%) from the floor in the first half, hit 30 of 54 for the game. They also made 14 of 29 from beyond the arc.
Aleska Jugovic hit 7 of 11 treys to tie his career-best 30 points, 25 of those coming in the second half, to lead Tennessee Tech (2-6).
UT MARTIN 73, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 68
PINE BLUFF, Ark. - In a back-and-forth affair, the shorthanded University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team dug deep for a 73-68 victory on the road at Arkansas-Pine Bluff this evening.
Playing without its leading scorer and rebounder because of injuries, UT Martin improved to 7-2 on the season after gritting out a win in a game that featured eight ties and 11 lead changes.
Kedar Edwards took over the game in the second half before finishing with career-highs of 25 points and seven steals to go along with three assists and a block in 39 minutes. Fatodd Lewis finished with 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds while Matthew Butler tacked on 13 points, hitting four 3-pointers in the win. Malik Pugh pitched in with a career-best six assists while making his first start of the season for the Skyhawks.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-6) was led by Joe’Randle Toliver’s 19 points while Ghiavonni Robinson provided 14 points for the Golden Lions, who made 12 three-pointers but committed 18 turnovers.
UT Martin fell into a 6-0 hole early but rallied by scoring 12 unanswered points. Lewis provided the first six points before Edwards and Butler canned three-pointers on back-to-back possessions.
Butler added two more three-pointers in the span of 41 seconds to keep the Skyhawks ahead. The Golden Lions briefly took a pair of leads before another Butler trifecta at the 7:55 mark pushed UT Martin back ahead by a 23-22 margin at the third media timeout.
The Skyhawks faced another one-point deficit before unreeling 11 unanswered points. Edwards accounted for seven points while Malik London chipped in four points during the spurt as UT Martin built up a 34-24 lead with 4:43 to go before the halftime break.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff then wrapped up the first half on a 14-3 run to take a 38-37 advantage into the locker room at the half.
UT Martin shot 54.2 percent (13-of-24) in the first half, as it was led by Butler (12 points) and Edwards (10 points). Toliver guided the Golden Lions with 14 points in the opening stanza as each team connected on seven 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
Chandler Rowe began the scoring in the second half, muscling up for a contested layup at the 19:19 mark to tilt the score back in favor of the Skyhawks. Dante Bailey helped UT Martin keep the lead with an old-fashioned three-point play with 16:30 left to play.
Edwards then took over the game, scoring four points in the span of three seconds to break a 46-46 tie. The senior out of Brooklyn, NY accumulated 11 of UT Martin’s 16 points in the span of six minutes, including a pair of thunderous dunks to help the Skyhawks take their biggest lead of the night at 11 points.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Robinson closed the UT Martin advantage to 59-54 but a strong take to the hoop by Rowe gave the Skyhawks a 64-56 lead with four minutes to play.
UT Martin had to weather a ferocious Arkansas-Pine Bluff comeback attempt, as the Golden Lions closed to within a single point twice in the final 2:25. However, the Skyhawk trio of Edwards, Jalen Jackson and Butler combined to make seven of 10 free throws down the stretch.