THURSDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 86, Austin Peay 77
Eastern Kentucky 97, @Tennessee State 81
@Belmont 73, Morehead State 67
Murray State 78, @Southeast Missouri 72
UT MARTIN 86, AUSTIN PEAY 77
MARTIN, Tenn. - For the third time this season, five University of Tennessee at Martin players scored in double-figures to propel the Skyhawk men’s basketball team to an 86-77 triumph over Ohio Valley Conference rival Austin Peay at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Jacolby Mobley led all scorers tonight, tying a career-high with 20 points in only 26 minutes off the bench for UT Martin (12-12, 4-5 OVC). Mobley boasted a perfect shooting night, canning all five of his field goal attempts (including four trifectas) while draining all six of his shots from the charity stripe.
Myles Taylor collected 19 points while Twymond Howard and Alex Anderson each added 17 points for the Skyhawks. Kedar Edwards rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points to go along with a career-best 15 rebounds, three assists and three steals for the third double-double in his last four games.
Austin Peay (10-15, 3-7 OVC) was led by Josh Robinson and Kenny Jones, who both scored 17 points. Chris Horton compiled 15 points and 11 rebounds while Jared Savage tossed in 14 points for the Governors, who held a 35-34 halftime advantage but were outscored 52-42 in the game’s final 20 minutes.
Taylor got things started with a layup at the 19:24 mark to open the game’s scoring. The Governors responded with a 7-0 run, as Horton contributed five points during the spurt that lasted 1:01.
Austin Peay stretched its lead out to 19-10 at the 13:27 mark before Mobley answered with a four-point play to slice the Skyhawk deficit to five points. The Governors led by eight points with nine minutes to go in the first half before UT Martin closed within a single point (26-25) thanks to a Taylor free throw at the 4:19 mark.
The Governors scored on back-to-back possessions to maintain a six-point advantage but a 9-1 Skyhawk run – capped off with an Anderson fast-break three-pointer – resulted in a 34-32 UT Martin lead with 43 seconds to go in the half. However, Robinson canned a three-pointer 30 seconds later to provide Austin Peay with a 35-34 halftime advantage.
Taylor and Mobley shared the team lead with 10 points apiece for the Skyhawks, who shot 67 percent (6-of-9) from three-point land in the first 20 minutes. Austin Peay was led by Jones’ 10 points, as the Governors converted 46.7 percent (14-for-30) of their first-half field goal attempts.
UT Martin came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, using an 8-0 run in less than two minutes to take a 42-35 advantage. Howard scored on a hard take to the hoop to push the Skyhawk lead out to eight points with 16:33 remaining in the contest.
Robinson knocked down three-pointers on two straight trips down the floor to help the Governors get back within two points at the 13:40 mark. Edwards followed with a scoring spree, piling up seven straight Skyhawk points in a span of 1:15 to make the score 57-49 in UT Martin’s favor.
The Governors kept clawing back, eventually trimming the Skyhawk lead to 61-60 after Robinson sank a three-pointer from the left wing with 8:22 to go. Mobley then stepped up and drilled five free throws over a stretch of 34 seconds to extend UT Martin’s lead back out to nine points (74-65) at the 4:11 mark.
After Austin Peay once again threatened to close within a single possession, the Skyhawks turned a four-point lead into an 86-75 advantage thanks to an 8-1 run that essentially closed out the win. Anderson was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 1:18 to seal the victory.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 97, TENNESSEE STATE 81
NASHVILLE - Junior JaVontae Hawkins poured in a career-high 36 points and freshman Nick Mayo notched his second straight double-double as the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team upended Tennessee State, 97-81, on Thursday night at the Gentry Center.
Hawkins’ career night was powered by a 6-of-8 shooting performance from behind the arc. He also grabbed six rebounds, blocked two shots and came up with a steal.
Mayo scored 21 points and matched a career-high with 10 rebounds. Senior Jarelle Reischel contributed 11 points, five steals and three assists, while senior Ja’Mill Powell – making his second consecutive start – added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
EKU (13-12, 4-6 OVC) snapped a three-game losing streak by shooting a season-best 64 percent (14-of-22) from three-point range. The Colonels also shot 64 percent (32-of-50) from the field and 82 percent (19-of-23) from the free throw stripe to secure the key OVC East victory.
EKU held Tennessee State (15-7, 6-3 OVC) to 39 percent (22-of-66) shooting from the field, marking the second straight game the Colonels have limited their opponent to below 40 percent shooting.
Keron DeShields paced five Tigers in double figures with 21 points.
TSU took its only lead of the game, 22-20, when Wayne Martin hit a pair of free of free throws with 9:53 remaining in the first half. Mayo tied it with a jumper on the Colonels’ next possession, and freshman Anthony Pratt gave Eastern the advantage with a put-back dunk less than a minute later.
The Colonels never trailed again.
At one point, Hawkins hit five consecutive three-pointers in the first half, the last of which gave the Colonels their largest lead of the game, 47-25, with 3:48 on the clock.
TSU, however, made a run of its own and pulled to within 13, 50-37, on a layup by DeShields just before halftime.
The Tigers continued to creep back into the game throughout the second half and got to within four of the Colonels, 81-77, when Darreon Reddick sank a pair of free throws with 5:38 remaining in the game.
However, Eastern responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to put the game away. Hawkins, appropriately, was the star of the decisive stretch. He started the run with a pair of free throws and ended it with a layup that made it 91-79 with 2:19 on the clock.
BELMONT 73, MOREHEAD STATE 67
NASHVILLE - Behind 16 points from senior Craig Bradshaw, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Morehead State, 73-67, Thursday night.
Belmont (17-7, 9-1 OVC) shot 67 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes to lead 44-35 at halftime. Lay-ins from junior Taylor Barnette and sophomore Austin Luke extended the lead to 48-35 with 18:14 remaining.
But behind the play of Corban Collins and Brent Arrington, Morehead State closed within 57-56 with 8:43 left. But Barnette answered with a baseline three-pointer as the Bruins never surrendered the lead.
Belmont endured uncharacteristically poor free throw shooting - 15-for-27 for the game - but made four in the final 33 seconds to secure the victory.
Bradshaw led five Bruins in double figures with 16 points.
Collins led Morehead State (12-10, 6-4 OVC) with 20 points.
The Bruins extend their NCAA-best home court win streak in conference games to 35. Belmont has won 76 of its last 80 home games overall.
MURRAY STATE 78, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Murray State Racers outlasted the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks Thursday with a 78-72 victory at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The win pushed MSU to 12-11 overall and it moved them into a first place tie with Eastern Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division at 6-4. The Redhawks fell to 5-18 and 2-8.
Coming off a 22-point effort Saturday at UT Martin, Jeffery Moss poured in 26 against SEMO on 9-of-14 shooting including 7-of-11 from the 3-point line. Moss tied his career-high in 3-point shooting matching the seven he hit at home against Tennessee Tech in 2014. He was two off the MSU record of nine held by Justin Burdine in 2002.
The Racers placed five in double-figures with 12 from Wayne Langston and 10 each from Gee McGhee, Damarcus Croaker and Bryce Jones.
After taking a 40-32 lead at half, the Racers opened the second half with a 14-2 run, with the senior Moss supplying a pair of 3-pointers. The Racers had their largest lead of the game at 54-36.
The lead was chipped away by SEMO and the Redhawks got as close as 75-72 with 40-seconds remaining.
A mini 6-0 run helped the Racers salt the game away. Langston hit Croaker coming down the lane with 2:50 left for a 71-66 lead. After forcing a turnover, MSU’s Jones hit a pair from the line for a seven-point lead with 2:05 left. Jones hit again with a layup at the 1:30 mark to put MSU in front 75-68.
In the first half, MSU started with a 10-2 lead and made it a 10-point advantage with 2:51 left.
The Racers led wire-to-wire and never trailed in the game.