SATURDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 82, @Jacksonville State 71
@Austin Peay 83, Southeast Missouri 75
@Murray State 79, UT Martin 55
@Tennessee Tech 92, Eastern Kentucky 82
MOREHEAD STATE 82, JACKSONVILLE STATE 71
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Junior guard Xavier Moon scored a career-high 25 points as Morehead State men's basketball capped off the regular season with an 82-71 win over Jacksonville State on Saturday evening at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The win for the Eagles marks a season-high sixth in a row, the longest winning streak since the 2010-11 campaign. They improved their record to 18-11 overall and 11-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. JSU falls to 8-23 on the year and 4-12 in OVC play. The loss marks the eighth in a row for the Gamecocks.
Morehead State led by as much as nine in the first half, but a 17-8 run over the last six minutes by JSU brought the game to a tie at 36-36 entering the half.
The two squads traded buckets early in the second stanza as the Eagles led 47-46 with 13 minutes left to play.
Back-to-back jumpers by Moon, a two-handed slam by junior forward Treshaad Williams, and a jumper by sophomore guard Miguel Dicent led Morehead State on a 12-4 run before the third media timeout.
JSU pulled within five with five minutes left but couldn't overcome the offensive production of Moon and Dicent, as the duo scored a combined 26 points in the second half.
Moon, the Goodwater, Ala. native, reached the 20-point plateau for a team-high fifth time this season. He shot 7-of-10 from the field, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 9-of-9 from the free throw line. He snatched a career-high seven rebounds.
Williams scored a career-high 15 points, while shooting 9-of-9 from the charity stripe, and grabbing six rebounds. Senior forward Lyonell Gaines scored a season-high 15 points for the second straight game and pulled down seven rebounds. Dicent scored all of his points in the deciding second half, finishing with 11 on 4-of-4 shooting in the half.
As a team, Morehead State shot 30-of-33 from the free throw line and they outrebounded the Gamecocks, 44-33. Both teams experienced foul trouble early and the Eagles' bench came through, outscoring JSU, 28-4.
Greg Tucker was the focal point of the Jacksonville State offense as he finished with a career-high 36 points, knocking down 7-of-11 from three-point territory.
AUSTIN PEAY 83, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 75
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Freshman forward Chris Porter-Bunton scored a career-best 14 points, including three straight late-game baskets, as Austin Peay State University rallied to defeat Southeast Missouri, 83-75, Saturday night, in Ohio Valley Conference basketball action in Dave Aaron Arena and helped propel the Governors into next week’s OVC tournament in Nashville.
The victory improved the Govs to 14-17 and 7-9 in the OVC. By virtue of Tennessee Tech defeating Eastern Kentucky, Saturday night, the Governors will be part of the OVC tournament as the No. 8 seed and will play the No. 5 seed, 6 p.m., Wednesday, at Municipal Auditorium. The No. 5 seed won’t be determined until Sunday.
If 10-5 Tennessee State beats Belmont, they will be the No. 4 seed and 11-5 Tennessee Tech will be the No. 5 seed. If Tennessee State loses, they will be the No. 5 seed, owning the tiebreaker over 10-6 Murray State, which would be the No. 6 seed.
With the Governors trailing by five points, 63-58, with 6:26 remaining and SEMO seemingly owning the momentum, Porter-Bunton stepped up. He tipped in a missed layup by Khalil Davis to cut the deficit to three points. After a Davis steal, Porter-Bunton drove in for a contested layup. After Trey Kellum bucket to make it a three-point game again, Porter-Bunton nailed a lane jumper to cut the deficit to one, 65-64.
Cleveland, who had 24 points for the night, missed a jumper and the Govs responded with a Davis three pointer. Kellum tied it up for a final time on two free throws with 3:49 remaining before Chris Horton scored on a traditional three-point play to give APSU the lead for good with 3:34 remaining.
Cleveland made it a one-point game with a SEMO bucket before Porter-Bunton hit a lane jumper to again make it a three-point contest. After Josh Robinson nailed a jumper with 2:18 remaining, the Govs held a 74-69 lead. Then after a SEMO miss, Robinson was fouled on a lean-in three-point attempt as the shot clock was expiring. He connected on all three free throws with 1:20 left and SEMO never got closer than six the game’s remainder.
Robinson led the Govs with 18 points and dished out six assists in his second straight game as starting point guard. Chris Horton finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, again narrowly missing his 22nd double-double this season. Kenny Jones and Davis each had 10 points. Porter-Bunton’s 14 meant it was the second straight game where a freshman played a key role in keeping APSU’s post-season hopes alive. Fellow freshmen Jared Savage and Zach Glotta came up big at the free-throw line in the final minute-plus against SIUE, Thursday.
The way the Redhawks played, Saturday night, was not befitting of a team that lost its final eight contests this season to finish at 5-24 (2-14 in the OVC). After falling behind by as much as six first-half points, SEMO took control as forward Joel Angus III scored 10 points on perfect floor shooting to provide SEMO as much as a nine-point 42-33 lead with 1:16 left in the half. With Chris Horton netting two free throws, Khalil Davis one and Josh Robinson a field with 17 seconds left, allowed the Governors to slice the deficit to four, 42-38 at halftime.
Angus III finished with a career-best 19 points, on 8-of-10 shooting. The juco transfer completed his first SEMO season with four straight double-figure scoring game. After shooting 57 percent (17 of 30) in the first half, the Redhawks slumped to 39 percent (11 of 28) against an improved APSU defense in the second half.
The Governors also held a 35-27 rebound advantage, leading to a 16-10 second-chance points advantage.
MURRAY STATE 79, UT MARTIN 55
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Jeffery Moss scored a career-high 33 points as Murray State rolled to a 79-55 win over UT Martin on Saturday night in the regular season finale for both teams.
Moss was 11 of 16 from the field including eight 3-pointers. Wayne Langston added 18 points with five rebounds for the Racers (16-13, 10-6 Ohio Valley Conference) who finish the regular season in a first-place tie with UT Martin in the OVC.
Murray State took an early lead and led all the way as Moss sank four 3-pointers in the first half to help the Racers to a 36-22 lead at the break.
Three more Moss 3-pointers early in the second half had the Racers up 56-33 with 12:01 to play and they cruised to the win.
Myles Taylor scored 18 points with seven rebounds for the Skyhawks (18-13, 10-6). Jacolby Mobley added 15 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 92, EASTERN KENTUCKY 82
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore Aleksa Jugovic poured in a career-high with 30 points and senior Torrance Rowe scored 20 of his 23 in the second half to help Tennessee Tech (19-10/11-5 OVC) close out the regular season with a 92-82 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Eastern Kentucky (15-16/6-10 OVC) Saturday night in Eblen Center.
Tech finished the regular season with a 14-1 record on its home floor.
The Golden Eagles will head to Nashville next week for the 2016 OVC Tournament at Municipal Auditorium. They will find out their seed in the eight-team affair on Sunday afternoon, depending on the outcome of the Belmont vs. Tennessee State game at TSU. A TSU loss would make Tech the No. 4 seed, while a win by the Tigers would put the Golden Eagles as the No. 5 seed.
Jugovic tied his career-high with seven 3-pointers, going 7-for-12 in the contest. Rowe, who was held to three points in the first half, hit 5-for-12 from long range, all coming after intermission.
The Golden Eagles also got double digit scoring from Mason Ramsey with 13, and both Ryan Martin and Savonte Frazier with 10 each. For Frazier, the 10 points and five rebounds were both career-high numbers.
Martin topped Tech on the boards with eight, helping the Golden Eagles to a 40-35 rebound advantage.
Five Colonels hit double figures with Javontae Hawkins, Nick Mayo and Paul Jackson netting 16 apiece. Jarelle Reischel added 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Ja’Mill Powell chipped in with 10 points and five boards.
Tech trailed 43-39 early in the second half following a 3-pointer by Hawkins, and the Golden Eagle long guns took over. Starting with a trey from Jugovic, followed by three consecutive 3-pointers by Rowe and the Golden Eagles had put together a 14-0 run to build a double-digit lead.
Jugovic’s bomb kicked off a stretch in which seven of Tech’s next eight baskets came from long range.
The Colonels pushed back, creeping all the way back to within three points, 60-57, with 8:48 to play.
A layup from Shirmane Thomas and another Jugovic trey made it an eight-point lead, and the Golden Eagles kept it hat way the rest of the way. The difference went to double figures in the final minute, and reached 13 on Jugovic’s final points, a 3-pointer with 50 seconds to play for the largest Golden Eagle lead of the night.