THURSDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 90, @UT Martin 72
@Southeast Missouri 89, Henderson State 75
@Murray State 99, Brescia 83
JACKSONVILLE STATE 90, UT MARTIN 72
MARTIN, Tenn. - Sophomore Christian Cunningham led the Jacksonville State men's basketball team to a 90-72 victory in season's first Ohio Valley Conference matchup with his second double-double of the year.
Including Cunningham's 12 points and 13 rebounds, all five JSU starters registered double-figure points in the contest. Norbertas Giga led the scoring effort with 17 points, while Erik Durham (16), Malcolm Drumwright (15) and Greg Tucker (12) followed.
The Skyhawks (10-6, 0-1) controlled the tip and jumped out to a four-point lead to begin the contest. A 9-5 run interrupted by an Andre Statam jumper and a Durham three turned into a 14-10 UT Martin lead at the 15:41 mark before the Gamecocks (8-7, 1-0) mounted a quick response.
Drumwright strung together a couple of three-pointers and Statam hit a go-ahead layup to put JSU up, 15-14, for the first time. The spark turned into a 17-6 run that saw Jacksonville State go up by a half-best eight points. The Gamecocks took the lead to the half, carrying the advantage for over 15 minutes.
UT Martin's Jacolby Mobley kept the Skyhawks in the game with an eight-point effort off the bench. UTM's leading scorer personally put up all eight of the team's bench points in the period, pulling within five points of the Gamecocks' lead at the half, 52-47.
The Gamecocks came out of the locker room on fire, hitting a 7-2 run to begin the period. JSU pushed its lead to double-digits for the first time on the night, 59-49, and forced a Martin timeout following a Greg Tucker dish and Cunningham jam.
Before a UT Martin free throw at 12:27, Jacksonville State commanded a 17-2 run that turned the Gamecocks' five-point half edge into a 20-point advantage. JSU led by as much as 23 during the half.
The Skyhawks were able to pull within 15 points in the second period, but that was as close as they would get. The Gamecocks extended the lead back to 21 before a Matthew Butler bucket cut the eventual final to 18 points.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 89, HENDERSON STATE 75
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Jamaal Calvin, Antonius Cleveland and Denzel Mahoney each scored 18 points to lead Southeast Missouri (5-10) to an 89-75 victory over Henderson State (7-2) Thursday at the Show Me Center.
SEMO led wire-to-wire en route to snapping a season-long seven-game losing streak in its final non-conference matchup.
Calvin knocked down his first five 3-pointers of the game to key a strong start for the Redhawks. Three of his makes helped open a 21-9 lead in the first 8:22.
HSU pulled to within seven on two occasions before Calvin's fifth 3-pointer put SEMO ahead by double figures again. The Redhawks went on to outscore the Reddies, 19-9, in the final 7:24 to take a 46-36 halftime lead.
SEMO shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field and knocked down seven 3-pointers in the first half. Calvin led all scorers with 15 points in the opening stanza.
The Redhawks defended well in the second half, holding HSU to 39.4 percent (13-of-33) from the field and just 15.4 percent (2-of-13) from long range.
A jumper by Chris Hawkins sliced SEMO's lead to 66-63 with 8:51 left, but that was as close as the Reddies would get.
The Redhawks countered with a 10-0 run immediately after Hawkins' basket to get back ahead, 76-63. Milos Vranes scored a layup, Calvin drained another three and both Mahoney and Cleveland each scored during that stretch.
Vranes later knocked down two free throws to give SEMO its largest lead at 87-72 before the Redhawks polished off the win.
SEMO picked up its fifth victory of the season, matching its win total from a year ago. The Redhawks also extended their winning streak to 25 games against non-Division I programs.
Calvin shot 6-of-10 from the field as his six treys tied a career-high. He also made his 100th career 3-pointer at the 15:20 mark of the first half.
Cleveland was 8-of-14 from the floor and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. He dished out five assists and had two steals, as well.
Mahoney, after going scoreless in his previous start vs. Cornell (Dec. 23), bounced back to hit 7-of-13 field goals. He also grabbed seven rebounds.
Vranes and Jonathan Dalton rounded out SEMO's five double-digit scorers with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
SEMO's 89 points and 56.9 percent clip from the field marked new season-highs. The Redhawks shot a scorching 58.6 percent (17-of-29) in the second half alone.
Additionally, SEMO outrebounded HSU, 41-26, and had 11 offensive boards.
MURRAY STATE 99, BRESCIA 83
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers scored a 99-83 win over the Brescia Bearcats Thursday at the CFSB Center in Murray Ky.
The Racers end their non-conference portion of the 2016-17 season 6-8 as they head into the 69th season of Ohio Valley Conference Saturday at home against Tennessee State.
Fueled by five players reaching double-figure scoring, the Racers hit 48 percent of their shots from the field and went to the free throw line where they hit 31-of-47. Jonathan Stark paced the Racers with 18 points and seven assists, while Terrell Miller tossed in 16 points. Jerami Grace scored 13 points including 5-of-5 from the line, with Jalen Dupree adding 12 points. Jachai Taylor added 12 points as the Racers had nine of the 11 players that got into the game reach the scoring column. Brion Sanchious added 10 rebounds.
MSU jumped to a 26-11 lead with 7:11 before half and led the game at intermission 45-37. The Racers pushed it to a 72-55 lead with 9:13 left.