TUESDAY'S SCORES
Ball State 78,
@Tennessee State 73 (2OT) (CIT)
Morehead State 84, @Siena 80 (CBI)
BALL STATE 78, TENNESSEE STATE 73 (2OT)
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team’s historic season came to a close with a 78-73 loss to Ball State at the Gentry Center in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament on Monday night.
The Tigers (20-11) tied the school’s Division I record with 20 wins, marking the third 20-win season in the program's D-1 history. TSU also finished tied with the school record for home wins at the Gentry Center with 11.
Playing in postseason play for the fifth time at the Division I level and in the CIT for the third time, the Tigers were led by 25 points from Keron DeShields to go with 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals by Tahjere McCall.
TSU held a 27-14 halftime edge, but Ball State (20-13) outscored the Tigers by a 38-25 margin in the second half to force overtime. In the first overtime, both teams scored 12 points before the Cardinals earned the win by outscoring the Tigers, 14-9, in the second overtime.
TSU sprinted out to a 20-3 lead as the Tigers held Ball State to 1-for-16 shooting in the first 11 minutes.
The Tigers held the Cardinals to single digits until the 3:46 mark of the first half when a Jeremie Tyler three cut the TSU lead down to 22-10.
Tennessee State’s stifling defense limited Ball State to 5-for-29 (17.2 percent) shooting in the first half as the Tigers took a 27-14 lead into the locker rooms. The 14 points are the fewest allowed by TSU in a half this season.
Ball State continued to climb back into the game and took its first lead on Trey Moses’ three pointer for a 45-44 advantage with 5:57 left in regulation.
The game went back-and-forth until DeShields’ free throw level the score at 52-52 with 17.7 seconds left. On Ball State’s last possession of regulation, the Cardinals’ layup attempt was off the mark, forcing overtime.
In the first overtime session, Ball State took a 62-58 lead with 1:06 left before the Tigers were able to close the period with a 6-2 run capped by DeShields’ three with 5.7 seconds to send the game to double overtime.
During the second overtime, the Cardinals quickly jumped out to a five-point lead at 69-64 with 3:26 left. TSU was never able to recover, getting as close as two points the rest of the way.
The Tigers, which forced 31 turnovers on the night, were led on the glass by Wayne Martin with 11 boards. Ball State was paced by 25 points from Tyler and 20 points from Ryan Weber.
MOREHEAD STATE 84, SIENA 80
ALBANY, N.Y. - Senior Lyonell Gaines had a career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Xavier Moon chipped in 17 points, as Morehead State won at Siena, 84-80, in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational.
With the win, the Eagles move to 20-12 on the season, marking their seventh 20-win season in program history. Five of those 20-win campaigns have come in the last eight years and head coach Sean Woods has led MSU to 20-plus wins twice in four years.
The win marks Morehead State's first postseason victory since 2011 when they beat Louisville in the NCAA Tournament.
Siena finishes the season at 21-13.
The Eagles went to the locker room at half with a 44-43 lead after jumping out to a 12-2 lead to start the game. Eleven different Eagles scored in the first stanza.
In the second half, MSU built a 65-57 lead with 11:23 to go, but Siena responded with six straight points to get it back to 65-63. Morehead State then built the lead right back to six, but the Saints immediately responded again with five straight points and the Eagles led 69-68 with 7:25 to go.
After a jumper by Siena's Ryan Oliver trimmed the Eagles lead to 73-70, Gaines delivered back-to-back buckets to give Morehead State a 77-70 lead they held until Nico Clareth hit his third three-pointer of the game with 1:11 to go.
In the closing minute, Morehead State hit 7-of-8 free throw attempts to seal the 84-80 victory.
The Eagles finished the game shooting 20-of-24 from the charity stripe.
With 20 points and 11 rebounds, Gaines finished with his second career double-double, and his second in his last three games. He finished 10-of-16 from the floor and also had four steals.
The senior from Louisville, Ky. has now scored in double digits in six straight games.
Moon added 17 points on 4-of-9 shooting, he was 8-of-8 from the free throw line, including 4-of-4 in the final minute. Senior Anthony Elechi was the third Eagle to finish in double figures as he had 10 points and six rebounds. Senior Corban Collins started for the first time since Feb. 13 versus Belmont and added nine points in 20 gutsy minutes.
Morehead State outrebounded Siena, 35-26, and pulled down 12 offensive rebounds, led by Gaines' four. They outscored the Saints 48-32 in the paint.
The Eagles also recorded a season-high 16 steals and forced 19 turnovers.
The loss is just Siena's fourth home loss of the season. Five players scored in double figures for the Saints, led by Oliver's 18, Marquis Wright's 15, and Clareth's 14.