SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 71, @Southeast Missouri 68
@Belmont 95, Tennessee Tech 86
@UT Martin 68, SIUE 51
Murray State 76, @Austin Peay 60
@Tennessee State 61, Jacksonville State 46
EASTERN ILLINOIS 71, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 68
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Eastern Illinois led by sixteen points with 7:18 remaining but the Panthers had to hold on in the final seconds as EIU held off Southeast Missouri for a 71-68 win on Saturday afternoon.
Casey Teson sparked a 13-2 run early in the second half as the Panthers opened the second half extending a 30-29 halftime advantage to double figures. Cornell Johnston started the EIU run at the 15:49 mark with a free throw. Teson scored eight of his 14 points during the run that covered three minutes, four seconds. Marshawn Blackmon added four points in the run.
Teson’s 3-pointer with 7:18 to play gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the second half with a 64-48 advantage.
The Panthers then went cold over the final portion of the game. EIU hit two of its last ten shots as SEMO was able to slowly climb back into the game. Johnston ended EIU’s drought with 38 seconds remaining with a 3-pointer that gave EIU a 69-61 lead. Johnston finished with nine points, seven assists.
Isiah Jones closed the lead to 69-64 with a 3-pointer with 29.6 remaining. Jones had 11 points, one of four SEMO players in double figures.
The Panthers missed the front end of two one-and-ones allowing SEMO to stay alive. Joel Angus III closed the EIU margin to 69-66 with 18 seconds to play. Angus had a double-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds.
Demetrius McReynolds missed a chance to ice the game with 7.8 seconds but could not convert at the foul line. Following a missed 3-pointer by SEMO to tie the game, McReynolds pulled down the rebound and made both free throws to give EIU a five point lead. McReynolds had his second straight double-double for EIU with 19 points, 12 rebounds.
SEMO made a basket as time expired for the final three point difference. Antonius Cleveland had 10 of his 14 points for SEMO in the first half. Trey Kellum added 11 points. SEMO fell to 5-23, 2-13 in the OVC.
Trae Anderson had 12 points for EIU. The Panthers shot 55 percent from the floor in the second half as they improved to 12-16 overall, 8-7 in the OVC.
BELMONT 95, TENNESSEE TECH 86
NASHVILLE - Behind 21 points and 13 rebounds from junior Evan Bradds, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee Tech, 95-86, Saturday night in front of a standing room only crowd at the Curb Event Center.
The victory secures at least a share of an eighth conference regular season championship in the last 11 years for Belmont.
Tennessee Tech scored 11 of the first 13 points, but from there, Belmont (20-9, 12-3 OVC) got sparks off the bench from junior Nick Smith and freshman Dylan Windler to square the game at 12.
With sophomore Austin Luke leading the way, the Bruins buried six consecutive three-point field goals over a breathtaking, three minute span midway through the first half, the last of which from Smith gave Belmont a 32-23 lead.
More strong defense led to early offense opportunities for the Bruins, as back-to-back three-pointers from freshman Kevin McClain pushed the lead to 38-23 with 4:14 left in the half.
It was an electrifying display of shooting in the first half, as the two teams combined to make 19 three-pointers.
Belmont shot 50 percent (17-for-34) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 10-for-19 from three-point distance.
Five more points from Luke extended the margin to 16, 51-35 with 17:45 remaining. More stellar play from Smith and junior Taylor Barnette helped Belmont maintain a double figure lead.
But after a Bradds layin made the score 64-47 with 13:19 to go, the Bruins endured a three minute scoring drought.
Two Hakeem Rogers free throws capped a 13-0 Tennessee Tech run to get the visitors within 64-60 with 10:43 left. Yet again, Luke responded, with two free throws and a second chance three-pointer to push the margin back to nine.
The Golden Eagles would get within six points twice, but Barnette's three-pointer with 1:09 remaining all but secured the victory.
Belmont shot 50 percent (31-for-62) from the field - including 15-for-31 from three-point distance. The Bruins forced 13 turnovers and had six blocked shots, one off a season-high.
Bradds led five Bruins in double figures with 21 points. Smith had a season-high 16 points, while Luke added 16 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Barnette had 15 and Bradshaw 11.
Torrance Rowe led Tennessee Tech (18-9, 10-4 OVC) with 27 points.
UT MARTIN 68, SIUE 51
MARTIN, Tenn. - Redshirt senior Myles Taylor compiled 22 points and a season-high 13 rebounds for the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team as the Skyhawks extended their Ohio Valley Conference winning streak to seven games in a 68-51 home victory over SIU Edwardsville this evening.
A 6-7, 235-pound forward out of Little Rock, Ark., Taylor snared his fifth double-double of the season and the 19th of his illustrious Skyhawk career. He made 10 of his 16 field goal attempts and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe for UT Martin (17-12, 9-5 OVC), who stays atop the OVC West standings alongside co-leader Murray State heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Skyhawks also received 14 points apiece out of Twymond Howard and Jacolby Mobley. Howard chipped in with a game-high six assists while Kedar Edwards grabbed 11 rebounds for UT Martin, who trailed by a 29-27 margin at the halftime break.
Carlos Anderson’s 17 points topped SIU Edwardsville (6-21, 3-12 OVC) in scoring. Jake Newton and Jalen Henry scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench for the Cougars, who were held to 37.3 percent (22-for-59) shooting.
Howard scored the opening basket of the game before SIU Edwardsville answered with the next four points of the contest. Taylor then piled up six straight points for UT Martin before an Edwards pull-up jumper provided the Skyhawks with a 10-6 lead at the 14:29 mark of the first half.
Three-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Mobley resulted in an 18-13 UT Martin advantage. The Cougars then scored 10 unanswered points to go ahead by a 23-18 margin with 6:49 to go before the halftime break.
A bucket inside by Taylor evened the score at 23-all at the 2:42 mark before SIU Edwardsville took a 29-27 halftime lead into the locker room.
The Skyhawks shot an even 50 percent (12-for-24) in the first 20 minutes, led by Taylor’s 10 points. Anderson compiled 13 first-half points for SIU Edwardsville, who committed only four turnovers in the first half.
A right corner trifecta by Alex Anderson capped off a 7-2 run to begin the second half for UT Martin, as the Skyhawks raced out to a 34-31 lead with 18 minutes remaining.
After Henry scored back-to-back baskets that gave the Cougars a 35-34 lead, UT Martin surged ahead thanks to an 11-2 run. Mobley knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing to expand the Skyhawk lead out to 50-41 at the 9:32 mark.
SIU Edwardsville closed its deficit to 52-49 after a Jake Newton three-pointer at the 5:41 mark. The Cougars stayed within five points with three minutes to go but UT Martin sealed the win with 12 unanswered points to close out the game. Mobley splashed a contested three-pointer from the right wing before four different Skyhawks combined to make seven of eight free throws in the span of 46 seconds. A layup by redshirt freshman Nick Detlev put the icing on the victory.
MURRAY STATE 76, AUSTIN PEAY 60
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - The Murray State Racers came away with a 76-60 win over the Austin Peay Governors at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tenn., Saturday.
The Racers won their third straight and pushed to a season-high three games above the break-even mark at 15-12 and they kept a share of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division at 9-5.
The win for MSU was their seventh-straight at the Dunn Center since a loss in 2009.
Jeffery Moss led the way with 22 points (19 in the second half) on 5-of-7 from the 3-point line, while Damarcus Croaker added 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. It was his first double-double as a Racer. Bryce Jones scored 12 points and Gee McGhee added 11.
The win on the road was MSU’s third-straight and the game had to rank high among their most consistent games of the season.
The Racers scored 20 points off of 10 APSU turnovers and won the rebound stat 36-25. The Racers hit 10-of-24 from the 3-point line and were very good from the free throw line at 14-of-17.
After trailing for much of the game MSU got some separation with 10:20 left when Jones hit a 3-pointer and Justin Seymour hit a jumper. When Moss hit a three for a 50-46 lead with 8:14 remaining, the Racers’ run was 10-3. Moss hit another three for a 53-46 lead with 7:30 left. The Racers’ lead went to 58-50 when APSU accidentally tipped in a basket for MSU with 4:20 left. Jones hit a three for a 63-53 lead for the Racers with 2:26 left.
The first half found the Racers down 13-7 six minutes in, until Moss nailed a 3-point basket. It started a 6-0 run that saw MSU regain the lead 14-13 at 11:53. MSU trailed by four at 5:17, but came back to make it a 31-31 game at the half on a free throw by Croaker.
TENNESSEE STATE 61, JACKSONVILLE STATE 46
NASHVILLE - Marcus Roper scored a team-high 15 points to lead the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 61-46 home win over Jacksonville State at the Gentry Center on Saturday night. With 19 wins, TSU is now one win shy of tying the program’s Division I record of 20 wins in a season.
Tennessee State (19-8, 10-4 OVC) put up one of its top defensive efforts of the season, holding Jacksonville State (8-21, 4-10 OVC) to 25.0 percent shooting while finishing with a 49-37 rebounding edge.
On the offensive end, Wayne Martin and Christian Griggs-Williams scored 10 points apiece, while Demontez Loman led the Tigers on the glass with 11 boards.
The Tigers' stifling defense limited the Gamecocks to 24 first-half points, which was the best defensive first-half effort for TSU since holding Austin Peay to 22 in the opening 20 minutes on Jan. 14.
TSU took its largest lead of the first half when Roper grabbed an offensive rebound and finished a layup with 5:03 left for a 24-16 edge. The Tigers were able to carry a 30-24 lead into the locker rooms.
In second half action, TSU extended an eight-point lead into an 18-point edge thanks to a 10-0 run capped with a Loman layup with 7:43 remaining for a 52-34 lead. Jacksonville State would get as close as 12 points the rest of the way as TSU pulled away.
Jacksonville State’s Jared Hamilton scored his team’s first eight points of the night and finished with a game-high 21 points. DelFincko Bogan added 12 off the bench for the visitors.