TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 83, Tennessee Tech 78
@Jacksonville State 81, Fort Valley State 69
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 83, TENNESSEE TECH 78
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Antonius Cleveland scored a game-high 24 points and Southeast Missouri (7-12, 2-2) fought off a big run late to beat Tennessee Tech (7-12, 3-1), 83-78, Tuesday night at the Show Me Center.
SEMO, which handed TTU its first Ohio Valley Conference loss of the season, beat the Golden Eagles for the fourth time in five meetings.
The Redhawks led, 71-55, with 6:26 remaining before TTU went on an 18-4 run and pulled to within two on a 3-pointer by Kajon Mack with 1:54 to go. SEMO committed four of its 12 second-half turnovers during that stretch.
SEMO, however, made six free throws in the final 1:38 to hang on.
Daniel Simmons sunk two free throws to put the Redhawks ahead, 77-73, following Mack's trifecta.
After Simmons later missed a 3-pointer, Jaylen Benton came down with a huge offensive rebound and Cleveland went to the line. Cleveland buried two more free throws to give the Redhawks a 79-74 lead with 35 seconds.
Mack made a jumper to cut SEMO's lead to three twice in the last 30 seconds, but a jumper by Simmons and two free throws by Tahj Eaddy put the win on ice.
Cleveland did not miss a field goal and the Redhawks shot a season-high 60.5 percent (26-of-43) from the field.
SEMO led, 25-23, with 8:23 remaining and used a 13-3 run to open a double-digit lead. Benton, Jamaal Calvin, Trey Kellum and Simmons all scored before Cleveland's jumper gave the Redhawks a 38-26 advantage.
Cleveland scored 17 points on 7-of-7 field goals in the first half as SEMO took a
46-34 lead at intermission, its largest halftime lead this season.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Cleveland scored 20 or more points for the eighth time this year. He also added seven rebounds, one assist, a block and one steal in 34 minutes.
Eaddy and Simmons followed with 13 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench. Mahoney scored 10 for the Redhawks, as well.
SEMO shot 83.3 percent at the free throw line with its 25-of-30 marking a season-high. The Redhawks outrebounded TTU, 32-28, and had 29 defensive boards.
Mason Ramsey led the Golden Eagles with 19 points and six rebounds.
In all, a combined 54 fouls were called between the two teams. Kellum, Mahoney and Ramsey each fouled out.
SEMO won its third-straight game at home and improved to 6-2 at the Show Me Center.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 81, FORT VALLEY STATE 69
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Three Gamecocks recorded double-doubles Tuesday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum en route to an 81-69 non-conference win over Fort Valley State.
Senior Erik Durham, junior Malcolm Drumwright and sophomore Christian Cunningham became the first three JSU ballers to all snag double-doubles in a game since February 2009. Durham had 12 points and 14 rebounds, Drumwright picked up 14 points and 12 assists, and Cunningham went off for 17 points and 12 boards. Drumwright set his career high for assists also became the first Gamecock to dish out 10-or-more assists in a game since January 2010.
Including the three mentioned above, senior Greg Tucker (11) and junior Norbertas Giga (12), they became the second group of five to score 10-or-more points in a single game this season.
Durham nearly picked up his double-double in the first half, helping the Gamecocks (11-8, 3-1 OVC) to an eight-point lead, 35-27, at the break. One of the nation's top three-point shooters, Durham was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and reeled in eight rebounds.
Tucker hit JSU's other two three-pointers in the first period and was 1-for-3 from inside the arc for eight first-half points. He bucketed the first three-ball of the game to give the Gamecocks a permanent lead after two minutes.
Jacksonville State's advantage swelled to 9-4 at the first media timeout. After a scoring drought that saw both teams combine for just four points over a five-minute span, JSU pushed its lead to a night-high 13 points, 25-12, at the 7:13 mark.
The Wildcats (6-9, 4-1 SIAC) nearly doubled their score from the first half with 42 second-half points, but JSU put up 46 to cement the lead. Drumwright and Cunningham registered 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the closing period.