SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 78, Southeast Missouri 69
Tennessee Tech 68, @Jacksonville State 58
Eastern Kentucky 88, @Belmont 78
UT Martin 79, @SIUE 62
Austin Peay 76, @Murray State 73
@Tennessee State 77, Morehead State 76
EASTERN ILLINOIS 78, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 69
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri both lit up the nets in the first half. In the second half EIU had more left in the tank as the Panthers won their fifth straight game, beating SEMO 78-69 Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena.
EIU improved to 11-13 overall, 7-4 in the OVC while SEMO dropped to 5-19, 2-9 in the OVC.
SEMO led 42-40 at the half before EIU opened the second half with a 7-0 run. Luke Piotrowski opened the run with a lay-up followed by a lay-up by Trae Anderson and 3-pointer by Cornell Johnston. Anderson was key for the Panthers all day finishing the day with 27 points. Anderson opened the game hitting his first eight shots from the field, finishing the night 12-of-17 from the floor. His jumper giving EIU a 44-42 lead with 19:20 put EIU for the remainder of the game.
Joel Angus III stopped EIU’s run with a jumper in the lane. EIU countered with a 3-pointer by Anderson and free throws by Piotrowski as EIU pushed its lead to eight points.
Antonius Cleveland’s basket with 14:24 to play cut EIU’s lead to one possession at 54-51. That would be final time in the game SEMO would cut the Panthers lead to one possession. Patrick Muldoon gave EIU a five point lead at 12:29. The Panthers biggest lead of the game came in the final seconds as Luke Norman sank a pair of free throws to close out the game.
Anderson was one of two EIU players that posted a double-double pulling down 12 rebounds to go with his 27 points. Demetrius McReynolds added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Johnston had 11 points and seven assists.
EIU shot 54 percent in the opening half, SEMO connected at 50 percent going 14-of-28. The Redhawks cooled off in the second half shooting 30 percent in the half and 39 percent for the game.
SEMO and EIU had seven ties and four lead changes in the first half. SEMO led by seven points with 3:35 to play in the first half on a jumper by Trey Kellum that gave the Redhawks a 38-31 lead. Anderson and Johnston combined to give EIU a 9-4 run to end the half.
Cleveland led SEMO with 15 points and ten rebounds. Isiah Jones added ten.
TENNESSEE TECH 68, JACKSONVILLE STATE 58
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - he defense certainly stepped up for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Saturday evening, as the Golden Eagles (17-7, 9-2) outlasted Ohio Valley Conference rival Jacksonville State (8-18, 4-7) in a defensive grudge match, 68-58, to take over first place in the East Division race.
Stuck in a back-and-forth, punch-for-punch battle in the first half, the Golden Eagles looked to the defensive side of the ball to make the difference after heading into the locker room squared away at 32-32.
The strategy worked. After watching the Gamecocks shoot 8-for-18 from downtown in the first half, the Golden Eagles bunkered down and held the squad to a paltry 1-for-9 beyond the arc after the break. Tech also forced just a 27.3 percent shooting touch from the floor from the home team over the final 20 minutes, limiting JSU to 26 second-half points. Six of Jax State's 11 turnovers in the game occurred in the second stanza as well.
The Golden Eagles turned things around on offense in the second half as well, using a slow, but methodical 25-15 run from the start of the second half to just under the seven-minute mark. That 10-point lead proved to be the difference in the end, thanks to a strong effort from the charity stripe across the board.
Tech sank 20 of 25 attempts from the free throw line in the contest, with senior Ryan Martin leading the way with an 8-for-8 touch. For the year, the team has now converted on just 22 less free throws than its opponents have even attempted, shooting 451-of-604 as compared to 328-for-473.
Another key factor for the grind-it-out victory on the road was the turnover battle. For the second straight contest, Tech limited its turnover total under 10, making just eight in the ball game as opposed to Jax State's 11.
Foul trouble in the pain played a role for the Golden Eagles, who lost both Anthony Morse (with over five minutes to play) and Mason Ramsey (just under two minutes) with five whistles apiece. True freshman Courtney Alexander played some big minutes down the stretch and Martin, who was limited to 25 minutes due to his own foul concerns, played smart and safe in the closing minutes, making a huge layup with just under three minutes to play to put the Tech lead back up to nine points.
Once again, Torrance Rowe played all 40 minutes of action, the sixth time in OVC play he never saw the pine. The senior tied with teammate Aleksa Jugovic, who put together a very solid bounce-back performance, for a game-high 16 points. Rowe added five rebounds and two assists. As for "Serbian Sugar," the sophomore notched his point total on 6-of-10 shooting, including two monster trifectas and four rebounds for good measure.
Martin added 10 points and narrowly missed out on another double-double, leading the Golden Eagles with nine boards. Rogers posted nine big points off the bench, hitting 6-of-8 free throw attempts. Shirmane Thomas posted another strong offensive effort, shooting 3-of-4 from the field for seven points. He also led all players with three steals on the night.
Morse made Golden Eagle history in the third minute of the game, recording his 100th career block. After throwing down a nasty dunk over a Jax State big man, the senior sprinted to the other end and rejected a layup attempt by Jeremy Watson, becoming just the fourth player in program history to record at least 100 blocks in a career. He finished the game with three total no-nos, as well as four points and two rebounds in just 14 minutes.
Ramsey was key on the boards, picking up six rebounds and adding five points while playing a career-high 31 minutes.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 88, BELMONT 78
NASHVILLE - The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team handed Belmont its first home Ohio Valley Conference loss since it joined the league in 2012-13, upending the first-place Bruins, 88-78, on Saturday night at the Curb Event Center.
Belmont (17-8, 9-2 OVC) was 29-0 in OVC home games over the last four years, and the Bruins had won 35 consecutive home conference games dating back to their days in the Atlantic Sun. That streak was the longest of its type in the country.
Two nights after scoring a career-high 36 points, junior JaVontae Hawkins poured in a game high 24 points, while senior Jarelle Reischel contributed 20 points to lead the Colonels to a near-wire-to-wire victory.
EKU trailed only once, 3-2, at the 18:34 mark of the first half.
A three-pointer by Hawkins erased that deficit and sparked a 12-3 Colonel run that ended when sophomore Paul Jackson converted a layup to make it 14-6 with 13:46 on the clock.
The Colonels took their largest lead of the game, 25-12, when Reischel completed a three-point play at the 9:36 mark of the first half.
Belmont rallied and pulled to within three following a three-pointer by Craig Bradshaw, but the Colonels outscored the Bruins, 10-5, over the final four minutes of the first half. A layup at the buzzer by Hawkins gave EKU a 40-32 lead at the beak.
Belmont rallied again early in the second half and got to within one point twice, the last of which came when Evan Bradds converted a layup to make it 49-48 with 12:14 remaining.
However, the Colonels kept responding to every Belmont run. Junior Jaylen Babb-Harrison buried a three-pointer on EKU’s next possession, sparking a 9-1 spurt by the Colonels that culminated with a triple by Jackson that made it 58-50 with 9:43 left.
The Bruins never got closer than four points the rest of the way. Reischel, Jackson and freshman Anthony Pratt combined to knock down six free throws in the final minute to seal the key OVC East road victory.
Freshman Nick Mayo nearly had his third straight double-double, scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds. He also blocked three shots.
Bradshaw led Belmont with 20 points. Bradds – the OVC’s third-leading scorer (18.0 points-per-game) – was held to only eight points.
EKU shot 54 percent (31-of-57) from the field and 46 percent (10-of-22) from three-point range. The Colonels outscored the Bruins, 38-26, in the paint.
The Colonel defense stifled Belmont to 42 percent (27-of-65) shooting from the field and 33 percent (14-of-42) shooting from deep.
UT MARTIN 79, SIUE 62
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Twymond Howard equaled a career-high in scoring as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team posted a 79-62 win over SIUE at the Vadalabene Center this evening.
Howard amassed 23 points for the third time in his two-year Skyhawk career, converting nine of his 13 field goal attempts tonight. The senior out of Pearl, Miss. added six rebounds, two assists and a steal in 33 minutes of play for UT Martin, who won its third straight league game to improve to 13-12 overall (5-5 Ohio Valley Conference).
Myles Taylor shot 5-of-6 from the floor on his way to 17 points while the Skyhawks also received another double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) out of Kedar Edwards – his fourth in the last five games. Overall, UT Martin shot a season-high 60.8 percent (31-for-51) from the floor, jumping out to an 11-0 lead and never looking back.
SIU Edwardsville (4-19, 1-10 OVC) was led by Jake Newton’s 15 points – all of which came in the first half. Burak Eslik (13 points) and Keenan Simmons (10) also cracked double-figures in the scoring column for the Cougars, who were limited to 20 percent (2-for-10) shooting from three-point range in the second half.
The Skyhawks began the game on an 11-0 run, as Anderson sank a three-pointer from each wing to help UT Martin open up a double-digit lead early.
Eslic scored five straight points for the Cougars to cut the Skyhawk lead to six points before UT Martin went on a 9-2 run to go ahead by a 22-9 margin at the 10:46 mark. Howard (five) and Javier Martinez (four) combined for all nine Skyhawk points during the surge.
SIU Edwardsville then got within one possession thanks in large part to the hot shooting of Newton, who made four trifectas in the span of four minutes to help the Cougars creep within two points (29-27).
Taylor followed with seven of UT Martin’s next 13 points down the stretch to help provide the Skyhawks with a 41-38 halftime advantage.
Howard had a team-high 10 points for a UT Martin squad that shot 62.5 percent (15-for-24) from the field in the first 20 minutes. SIU Edwardsville was paced by Newton’s 15 points in 11 minutes off the bench.
Layups by Edwards and Anderson began the second half scoring and resulted in a 45-38 Skyhawk lead. Howard then pumped in six straight points for UT Martin to push the Skyhawk advantage back out to double-figures (51-41) with 15:59 left to play.
Taylor accumulated UT Martin’s following six points to expand the Skyhawk lead out to 57-46 at the 12:29 mark. An old-fashioned three-point play by Howard and a right wing three-pointer from Jacolby Mobley opened up a 15-point lead for UT Martin with 9:49 remaining in the contest.
The Cougars would not get any closer than 13 points the rest of the way. A Mobley three-pointer from the right wing with 5:24 to go gave the Skyhawks their biggest lead of the night at 71-52 on the way to the win.
AUSTIN PEAY 76, MURRAY STATE 73
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Chris Horton scored 29 points with 10 rebounds and Austin Peay completed a late comeback to beat Murray State 76-73 on Saturday.
Murray State led by seven with 2:50 left after a layup by Gee McGhee. Horton completed a 3-point play on the next possession, and then hit a jumper on the next. Zach Glotta's 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining capped a 10-4 run to draw the Governors within one.
Horton made a steal next time down, forcing the Racers to foul. Josh Robinson made a pair, and then Tre Ivory did the same moments later -- his only points of the game -- to seal the comeback win. Murray State turned it over three times in the last 40 seconds without getting off a shot.
Robinson finished with 21 points for Austin Peay (11-15, 4-7 Ohio Valley). Glotta ended with 11 points.
Murray State (12-12, 6-5) was led by Jeffery Moss with 27 points.
TENNESSEE STATE 77, MOREHEAD STATE 76
NASHVILLE - Tahjere McCall scored 23 points and Armani Chaney added a career-high 17 to carry the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 77-76 home victory over Morehead State on Saturday night at the Gentry Center.
The Tigers (16-7, 7-3 OVC) earned their first home victory over Morehead State (12-11, 6-5 OVC) since Jan. 11, 2012. Marcus Roper also finished in double figures with 11 points for TSU, which shot 54.5 percent (22-for-44) from the field.
For Morehead State, Xavier Moon posted a team-high 20 points to lead four Eagles in double figures.
Early on in the game, Demontez Loman picked up steals on back-to-back plays leading to his breakaway dunk followed by a McCall layup as the two sides were tied at 14-14 mid-way through the first half.
Later in the half when the Eagles had taken the lead, Chaney drove the lane and fed Loman for another dunk for a 24-23 lead to jumpstart a 9-0 run. The stretch gave the Tigers a 31-23 edge with just over a minute until halftime. The Tigers were able to take a 33-26 advantage going into the locker rooms.
The Eagles scored the first five points of the second half to cut the TSU edge down to 33-31. The Tigers bounced back later in the half when Roper banked in a three then swished another one next time down the floor for a 51-39 lead with just under 12 minutes left. The 12-point advantage was the largest for either side on the night.
After Morehead State was able to battle back, Chaney’s three from straight away extended TSU’s cushion back up to 63-55 with five minutes left.
In the final minute, Morehead State cut the lead down to two at 75-73 with 4.3 seconds left on Moon’s three-pointer. McCall knocked down two clutch free throws for a 77-73 lead before Miguel Dicent’s desperation three went in to put the final score at 77-76.
The Tigers forced the Eagles into 17 turnovers on the night with the Eagles holding a 33-31 rebounding advantage.