WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Northern Kentucky 80,
Eastern Illinois 70
Eastern Kentucky 80, @Jacksonville 76
Missouri State 79,
@Southeast Missouri 71
Stetson 80,
@SIUE 72
NORTHERN KENTUCKY 80, EASTERN ILLINOIS 70
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Northern Kentucky used a late run to break open a two point game in the final three minutes as NKU beat Eastern Illinois, 80-70, on Wednesday night at BB&T Arena.
EIU dropped to 5-4 on the season while NKU improved to 6-3.
EIU closed the NKU lead to 67-65 on a dunk by Muusa Dama with 3:26 remaining as the Panthers came back from a double digit deficit early in the second half.
The Norse answered with Lavone Holland draining back-to-back 3-pointers as EIU missed three shots on the offensive end of the floor. Holland ended the game scoring nine points of his 28 points in the final three minutes. His final three points came at the foul line as NKU was 16-of-22 for the game.
Holland led NKU to a double digit lead early in the second half as his 3-pointer sparked a 12-2 Norse run. Holland dropped in another 3-pointer during the run as he was 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.
EIU answered with a run of its own with Demetrius McReynolds scoring five points during a 9-2 run. McReynolds dribbled into the lane for a lay-up with 7:21 left to play that gave EIU a 63-62 lead. McReynolds was one of three EIU players in double figures finishing with 16 points.
Eastern Illinois jumped out to a 14-8 lead as both teams were hot to the open the half. McReynolds completed a four-point play to put the Panthers up six at the 15:40 mark.
NKU used a 20-12 points in the paint advantage as they pushed their lead to eight points with 7:19 to play in the first on a low post jumper by Drew McDonald. McDonald would give the Norse a 39-37 halftime lead sinking a pair of free throws with two seconds left in the half after Ray Crossland had tied the game with a put-back in the final 22 seconds.
NKU shot 59 percent in the opening half while EIU connected on 54 percent going 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Cornell Johnston hit three first half 3-pointers, scoring 11 of his team high 17 points in the first half. Dama rounded out the EIU double figure scorers with 13 points.
NKU finished the game shooting 49 percent with McDonald scoring 17 points and Carson Williams scoring ten.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 80, JACKSONVILLE 76
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team rallied in the second half to defeat host Jacksonville, 80-76, on Wednesday night at Historic Swisher Gym.
It is the red-hot Colonels’ fourth straight win and fifth win in their last six games.
Freshman guard Asante Gist led the way for EKU (6-4), scoring a career-high 24 points and dishing out a team-best three assists. The rookie from New Jersey rose to the occasion late in the game, scoring Eastern’s final five points to seal the victory.
Senior guard Isaac McGlone also had a big night, as he pumped in a career-high 20 points, while also notching three rebounds and three steals. Junior forward Zach Charles finished with his first double-double as a Colonel, scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Sophomore forward Nick Mayo contributed 13 points, five rebounds and a block
Jacksonville (6-4) ran out to an 11-point lead, 35-24, when Darien Fernandez sank a pair of free throws with 4:28 to play in the first half. EKU closed the half on an 8-2 run, but still went into the locker room at the break down by five, 37-32.
The Colonels slowly began to chip away at the lead in the second half. A three-point play by freshman forward Marlon Adams tied it, 48-48, with 13:40 on the clock. Another three-point play by Mayo knotted it again at 53-53 with 11:30 to play. EKU finally took its first lead since early in the first half when freshman guard Parker Chitty buried a triple from the top of the key to make it 57-56 at the 9:51 mark.
The game went back-and-forth over the next four minutes and was tied, 66-66, when Fernandez got a layup to go with 6:01 on the clock. However, EKU exploded on a 9-1 run and grabbed its largest lead of the night, 75-67, when Charles converted a three-point play with 3:00 showing.
JU, however, was not done. The Dolphins pulled to within two, 78-76, on a jumper by Cody Helgeland with 41 ticks on the clock. On EKU’s ensuing possession, Gist missed a jumper in the lane, but got his own rebound and was fouled with six seconds remaining. He sank both free throws to ice the victory.
Fernandez paced Jacksonville with 19 points and six assists.
EKU shot a season-high 55 percent (27-of-49) from the floor, including 63 percent (15-of-24) from the floor during their 48-point second half. The Colonels have now shot over 50 percent from the field in three straight games.
Eastern also out-rebounded Jacksonville, 31-25. The Colonels have now out-rebounded their opponent in six straight games. They out-rebounded their opponent only seven times all of last season.
MISSOURI STATE 79, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 71
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Antonius Cleveland scored a game-high 20 points as Southeast Missouri (4-5) fell to in-state foe Missouri State (5-2), 79-71, Wednesday night at the Show Me Center.
SEMO, which never led, shot just 38.7 percent from the field and was outrebounded, 42-29, in its second-straight loss.
The Redhawks started slow, missing their first six field goals of the game. As a result, SEMO trailed, 18-7, in the opening 9:44. Alize Johnson and Austin Ruder each had six points to key the surge, which ended on Johnson's jumper.
MSU led by 11 on two more occasions before the Redhawks went on a 12-4 run to cut the Bears lead to 29-26 at the half. Cleveland accounted for five points and split two free throws to make it a one possession game in the final minute of the period.
SEMO shot 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from the field and was 2-of-13 (15.4 pct.) from 3-point range in the first half.
Cleveland knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the Redhawks within a point (33-32) early in the second half, but that was as close as SEMO would get.
MSU quickly countered with an 8-0 run capped by Jarred Dixon's free throw with 14:53 left to play, putting the Bears ahead, 41-32.
Ruder later buried a 3-pointer to widen MSU's lead to 49-39 with a little under 10 minutes remaining.
After that, the Bears led by as many as 14 points four times in the final five minutes to close out the win.
Johnson turned in a double-double 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead MSU. Dequon Miller followed with 17 points, while Ruder chipped in 16 off the bench and Jarrid Rhodes finished with 10.
The Bears shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) for the night and made 16-of-29 shots (55.2 pct.) in the second half alone.
Cleveland shot 8-of-10 from the field and scored nine of his points from 3-point range. He also dished out two assists, grabbed four rebounds and had a steal in 35 minutes. Cleveland ran his double-digit scoring streak to 19-straight games.
Denzel Mahoney and Trey Kellum followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Kellum, who also led the Redhawks with eight boards, went over 200 rebounds in his career (206).
SEMO went 8-of-26 from 3-point range and has now attempted a combined 113 threes in its last four games. The Redhawks averaged 28.3 three-point attempts over and shot 31 percent from beyond the arc over that stretch.
STETSON 80, SIUE 72
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A career night from junior forward Jalen Henry and a strong second half weren't enough to overcome a slow first half and a tough night at the free throw line. SIUE men's basketball fell to Stetson 80-72 at Vadalabene Center Wednesday.
The Cougars slipped to 4-5 for the season. The Hatters, who won their first road game of the year, improved to 5-6.
Henry collected his first career double-double, scoring a career-best and game-high 28 points while hauling in a career-high 11 rebounds. The Springfield, Illinois product was 8 for 12 from the field and knocked down 11 of 14 free throws.
Tre Harris was the only other SIUE player in double figures scoring. He scored 12 points.
SIUE connected on just six of 24 (25 percent) of its shots in the first half while Stetson was 14 for 31 (45.2 percent). The Cougars were just seven for 16 from the free throw line in the half.
The Hatters took advantage of eight Cougar turnovers in the first half to score nine points and carried a 37-20 advantage into the break.
The Cougars turned things around in the second half, shooting 47.2 percent (17-36) from the field and outscoring Stetson 52-43 in the period. The Cougars were 16-25 from the free throw line in the second half.
After scoring only two points in the paint during the first half, SIUE scored 24 of its 52 second-half points from inside the lane.
Divine Myles led the Hatters with a double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds. Derick Newton added 14 points. Luke Doyle (13 points) and Angel Rivera (12) also scored in double figures. Rivera added six assists.