SATURDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 92, @Eastern Illinois 84
Belmont 72, @Eastern Kentucky 59
@UT Martin 79, Southeast Missouri 69
@Morehead State 87, Tennessee State 85
Murray State 67, @SIUE 59
Jacksonville State 74, @Tennessee Tech 59
AUSTIN PEAY 92, EASTERN ILLINOIS 84
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Make it two in a row for Austin Peay State University men's basketball team after the Govs polished off Eastern Illinois in a 92-84 contest at Lantz Arena, Saturday.
The Austin Peay attack, which featured four players in double figures, was paced by a season-high 36 points from junior Josh Robinson, including 15 in the first half. Senior John Murry had one of his patented scoring barrages to aid Robinson's efforts, with the Indianapolis native scoring 10 points over 3:42 (12:33-8:51), bookending the explosion with three-pointers. It marked the fourth time this season that Murry has needed less than five minutes to score 10 points.
The Governors led by as many as eight with 3:21 to go in the half before a late Panther run cut Austin Peay's lead to a single point, 44-43, at halftime.
The game tightened up in the second half, with Demetrius McReynolds (32 points, 13 in the second half) striving to keep pace with Robinson. Tied at 70 at the 7:36 mark, the Govs reeled off a 9-0 run over the next 4:14, with Robinson and senior Kenny Jones combining for all nine game-turning points; the Panthers would not get within six points for the game's remainder.
As good as Robinson was in the first half, he took it to another level in the second half, scoring 21 points on 6-for-7 from the floor (2-for-3 from beyond the arc) and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line; it was the first time a Gov scored 20 points in a half since Robinson and Murry each had 20 in the second half against Fort Wayne (Nov. 30). Jones had all 12 of his points in the second half.
BELMONT 72, EASTERN KENTUCKY 59
RICHMOND, Ky. - Behind a game-high 22 points from senior All-America candidate Evan Bradds, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Eastern Kentucky, 72-59, Saturday night.
Bradds went 9-for-13 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line as Belmont won for the 10th time in its last 11 games.
The Bruins (11-4, 5-0 OVC) forced 13 first half turnovers, but could only convert those into seven points in leading 36-29 at halftime.
The game largely materialized into a post showdown between Bradds - the reigning OVC Player of the Year - and Eastern Kentucky's Nick Mayo - the reigning OVC Freshman of the Year.
A Bradds basket gave Belmont its largest lead, 63-50, with 8:39 remaining, and the Colonels would get no closer than eight points.
Belmont forced 17 turnovers and held Eastern Kentucky to 38 percent shooting.
Austin Luke had 15 points and Kevin McClain added 11.
Mayo led Eastern Kentucky (8-12, 1-4 OVC) with 17 points.
UT MARTIN 79, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 69
MARTIN, Tenn. - Jacolby Mobley pumped in 25 points as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team overcame a halftime deficit to capture a 79-69 win over Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Mobley’s 25 points tied a career-best scoring effort, equaling his output from the Duquesne game on Nov. 23, 2016. The senior out of Starkville, Miss. canned eight of his 14 shot attempts (including a 5-of-9 effort from three-point land) while adding a 4-for-4 performance from the charity stripe.
Kedar Edwards tallied 17 points, six rebounds and a game-high five assists while Matthew Butler (13 points, game-high six assists, five rebounds) and Javier Martinez (12 points on 6-of-7 shooting) also pitched in double-digit scoring efforts for UT Martin (12-8, 2-3 OVC), who shot 60.4 percent from the floor.
Southeast Missouri (7-13, 2-3 OVC) was led by Denzel Mahoney’s 23 points while Antonius Cleveland tossed in 16 points. The Redhawks held a narrow 39-38 lead at the halftime break before the Skyhawk defense limited them to just 29.2 percent (7-of-24) shooting over the final 20 minutes.
An 18-foot Mobley jumper just 26 seconds into the contest opened the game’s scoring. Southeast Missouri came back to take a brief lead before Butler was responsible for five straight points to tilt the score back in favor of the Skyhawks at 9-6.
The Redhawks managed to take a five-point lead at the 14:34 mark but Mobley answered with six consecutive points. A layup by Martinez evened the score at 19-all with a little over 11 minutes to play in the first half.
However, Southeast Missouri went back on a run and claimed a 32-26 advantage with 5:51 remaining before halftime. Edwards then accounted for five points and an assist in the final 2:27 to help pull UT Martin within a single point at the break.
Mobley’s 11 points led all scorers at the half while Mahoney secured 10 points to guide the Redhawks.
Mobley supplied the Skyhawks’ first nine points of the second half, converting an old-fashioned three-point play and back-to-back trifectas to give UT Martin a 47-43 lead.
Three ties followed over the span of 3:05 before the Skyhawks went on a game-changing run. Four different UT Martin players scored during a 9-0 surge that concluded when Martinez sank a layup to make the score 62-53 with 9:33 left to play.
A Mobley layup at the 8:09 mark increased the Skyhawk lead to double-digits at 66-55. Edwards knocked down a pair of free throws to give UT Martin a 10-point edge with four minutes to go but Southeast Missouri collected five quick points to make the score 74-69 at the 2:56 mark.
The Skyhawks did not concede another point the rest of the way as Butler and Kahari Beaufort combined to sink five of six free throw attempts in the final 54 seconds to seal the win.
MOREHEAD STATE 87, TENNESSEE STATE 85
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State men's basketball (7-11, 3-2 Ohio Valley Conference) picked up an 87-85 win over Tennessee State (12-6, 3-2 OVC) in a down-to-the-wire thriller on Saturday night.
Tied at 85 with the game's final 10 seconds ticking away, DeJuan Marrero received the ball on the high post and began backing his man down to the basket. The Tennessee State defense collapsed, allowing Marrero to find senior forward Treshaad Williams with a window of open space underneath the basket.
Williams laid the ball in through traffic with a shade over six seconds remaining, keeping his streak of 26 made field goals at Johnson Arena intact. Tigers guard Tahjere McCall missed a potential game-winning three-point attempt at the buzzer, icing the Eagles' third win in four outings.
Marrero led the way for Morehead State, notching a career high 22 points on 10-for-12 (.833) shooting from the free throw line, and tying a career-best 16 rebounds.
Junior guard Miguel Dicent scored a season-high 19 points, adding to his five assists on the night. Lamontray Harris, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, dropped 15 points in 20 minutes off the bench.
MURRAY STATE 67, SIUE 59
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Murray State Racers used some lock-down defense to get a 67-59 road victory Thursday over the SIUE Cougars at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill.
The Racers (10-9) improved to 4-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference and pushed to a two-game lead in the OVC West Division. MSU scored back-to-back road wins for the first time this season.
Terrell Miller was a rebound shy of his fourth-straight double-double as he also scored 18 points. Jonathan Stark added 16 points and five assists, while Damarcus Croaker scored 11 points and Bryce Jones added 10 points.
The Racers had a tenuous 30-28 halftime lead and saw the Cougars make it a one-point game with 15:14 left.
MSU answered with an 8-0 run that included back-to-back threes from Stark and Jones for a 49-39 lead with 10:35 left.
The Racers put the game away by making 10-of-14 from the free throw line in the final 34 seconds.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 74, TENNESSEE TECH 59
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Junior Norbertas Giga led the Jacksonville State men's basketball team to a physical 74-59 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday. The seven-foot Lithuanian scored a career-high 20 points en route to his fifth double-double of the year.
The Gamecocks (12-8, 4-1 OVC) now own their best conference record since the 2004-05 season and find themselves in possession of second place in the OVC East standings behind Belmont (11-4, 5-0 OVC).
The eventual 15-point victory didn't come without some second-half dramatics, however, as the Golden Eagles (7-13, 3-2 OVC) battled back from an 11-point deficit. Tennessee Tech tied the contest 52-52 at the 7:57 mark after finding a 15-11 run. Up until that point, the game had not been even since the opening tip.
Despite seeing the game knotted at 52, the Gamecocks never surrendered the lead. Following the close call, JSU went on a 10-1 run to help put the game out of reach. Giga, Christian Cunningham and Malcolm Drumwright combined to score 26 points in the final eight minutes to ensure Jacksonville State its largest marginal win over an OVC opponent since defeating UT Martin 77-46 on Feb. 25, 2012.
Jacksonville State out-rebounded Tennessee Tech 48-28 to tie its season-high, and its 18 offensive rebounds are the most against a Division I this year.
The Gamecocks led by as many as 10 points in the first half and took a 33-27 lead into the break. Jacara Cross was responsible for 10 first-half points and scored seven during an eight-minute clip. The freshman accounted for two-thirds of the JSU bench's points in the half.
JSU also out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 27-14 in the first period. Eleven were offensive rebounds, leading to 10 second-chance points for the Gamecocks.