WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 77, @Eastern Illinois 64
Tennessee State 76, @SIUE 56
BELMONT 77, EASTERN ILLINOIS 64
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Behind a game-high 23 points from senior All-America candidate Evan Bradds, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Eastern Illinois, 77-64, Wednesday night.
The Bruins trailed 18-10 midway through the first half before methodically taking control. Bradds scored 12 first half points as Belmont led 32-28 at halftime.
Pinpoint passing from junior Austin Luke sparked the Bruins to four consecutive 3-pointers in the first 2:48 of the second half as the lead grew to 44-32 with 17:12 left. Senior Taylor Barnette capped an 11-2 run as Belmont led 64-46 with 9:55 remaining.
Eastern Illinois closed within 64-57 on one free throw from Demetrius McReynolds, but four straight points from Luke pushed the Bruin lead back to double figures.
Bradds led three Bruins in double figures with 23 points. Barnette had 15 and junior Amanze Egekeze added 13.
McReynolds led Eastern Illinois (9-12, 1-7 OVC) with 20 points.
Belmont (14-4, 8-0 OVC) has won 10 consecutive games and 13 of its last 14.
TENNESSEE STATE 76, SIUE 56
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Balanced scoring with five players reaching double figures carried the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a convincing 76-56 road win at SIUE on Wednesday night at the Vadalabene Center. TSU improved to 13-8 overall and 4-4 in the OVC, snapping a three-game slide for the Tigers.
Darreon Reddick, who grew up down the road from Edwardsville in Belleville, tied for the team lead with 14 points. Wayne Martin and Delano Spencer also scored 14 points apiece with Christian Mekowulu adding 12. Tahjere McCall facilitated the offense with 11 points and a career-high 12 assists on the night.
The Tigers held a 32-18 halftime edge over SIUE (5-17, 0-8 OVC) and led by as many as 24 points in the second half.
With TSU clinging to a two-point edge with just over eight minutes left in the first half, Spencer drilled a deep three and McCall turned a steal into a breakaway dunk for a 21-14 advantage.
Back-to-back layups by Martin stretched TSU’s lead to double-digits at 25-14 with just over five minutes to go before halftime.
McCall’s jumper with 1:29 left in the half helped TSU take a 32-18 lead into the locker room.
An 8-2 run by SIUE to open the second half trimmed the TSU advantage down to eight points at 34-26.
Reddick answered with a three on the next possession to stop the run as TSU would lead by double figures the rest of the game. With 8:30 left in the game, the advantage for the Tigers grew to 20 for the first time on McCall’s layup.
The Tigers led by 14 or more points the rest of the way to pick up their eighth win away from home this season.
Carlos Anderson led the Cougars with 15 points on the night.
TSU, which shot 57.1 percent, dominated on the glass with 33 rebounds to 20 for SIUE.