SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 74, @Eastern Kentucky 60
@Morehead State 73, SIUE 65
@Jacksonville State 71, Austin Peay 68
@Belmont 87, Southeast Missouri 75
@Tennessee Tech 71, Murray State 67
@Tennessee State 76, UT Martin 65
EASTERN ILLINOIS 74, EASTERN KENTUCKY 60
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Illinois had five players score in double figures and finished with a rebound advantage as the Panthers picked up a 74-60 road win at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon.
EIU improved to 9-7 overall, 1-2 in the OVC. EKU dropped to 8-10 overall, 1-2 in the OVC.
EIU opened the second half with a 10-0 run as the Panthers pushed their second half lead to 14 points before EKU scored its first basket of the half. The basket was credited to DeAndre Dishman after a Muusa Dama goaltending call 5:41 into the second half.
Dama would help the Panthers win the battle on the glass pulling down 12 rebounds as EIU finished with a 42-36 rebound margin.
After EKU cut the Panthers lead to seven points with 11:57 to play on an Asante Gist lay-up, EIU answered with a 9-0 run. During the run EIU had six straight points at the free throw line by Montell Goodwin. Goodwin finished with a team high 17 points and six assists.
Eastern Illinois was solid on the glass in the first half holding a 24-16 rebounding margin. Ray Crossland pulled down eight first half rebounds finishing with nine. EIU converted that rebounding margin into an advantage in second chance points. Crossland just missed a double-double with 11 points.
The two teams had ten lead changes in the first half and four ties. EIU led 31-27 at the half as the Panthers closed the half with a 5-0 run as Demetrius McReynolds drained a 3-pointer from the corner and jumper at the elbow. McReynolds had 12 points.
Cornell Johnston and Casey Teson rounded out the double figure scorers for EIU. Johnston had 14 points, Teson finished with 10.
Gist led all players with 20 points. Nick Mayo added 17 points but was limited to just 5-of-16 shooting from the field.
MOREHEAD STATE 73, SIUE 65
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State men's basketball picked up its second straight Ohio Valley Conference win Saturday evening via a 73-65 decision over SIU Edwardsville at Johnson Arena. With the victory, the Eagles improve to 6-10 (2-1 OVC) on the season.
A second-half turnaround ignited a Morehead State offense that entered halftime facing a 36-31 deficit. 2016-17 leading scorer Xavier Moon ended the first 20-minute period without a single point, clanking 0-for-6 from the field. The 6-foot-2 Preseason All-OVC performer was not deterred, however, as Moon completed the second half with a game-high 16 points, eight assists, and five rebounds.
Freshman guard Jordan Walker poured in 16 points of his own on 5-of-7 (.714) shooting from the floor - as well as 4-for-4 shooting from the foul line - in just 16 minutes off the bench. Senior Ronnye Beamon recorded 10 points and three steals, anchoring an Eagles defense that forced 22 turnovers from the Cougars.
Morehead State outscored SIUE 30-22 in the paint, 19-14 off turnovers, and 32-13 off the bench. Though SIU Edwardsville won the rebounding battle by a 39-27 margin, the Eagles defense proved all but impenetrable in the contest's final stretch. MSU held the Cougars to 8-of-26 (.308) shooting in the second half, including just a 1-of-8 (.125) performance from three-point range.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 71, AUSTIN PEAY 68
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team claimed its third Ohio Valley Conference win of the season Saturday night with a nail-biting 71-68 win over Austin Peay at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Gamecocks (10-8, 3-1 OVC) scored three points in the final 57 seconds to break a 68-68 knot. Senior Erik Durham put JSU ahead with a layup, and junior Norbertas Giga hit both chances of a one-and-one to make it a three-point game.
Junior Malcolm Drumwright recorded a season-high 25 points, while Greg Tucker and Erik Durham scored 13 and 11 points, respectively. JSU was an outstanding 20-for-22 (90.0%) from the free throw line.
Improving to 3-1 in the conference, Jacksonville State is 3-1 to begin OVC play for the first time since the 2005-06 season under then-head coach Mike LaPlante.
Austin Peay (4-13, 0-3 OVC) opened the game on a 9-2 run, putting the Gamecocks in a quick seven-point hole. JSU found a 4-0 run to shorten the Govs' lead to three, 9-6, before the first media timeout.
The Governors led for more than 15 minutes in the first period, and Jacksonville State would not come within two points of the AP lead until the 4:25 mark. Erik Durham hit a couple of free throws to tie the game 24-24, and Christian Cunningham hit two more to put the Gamecocks ahead 26-24.
The lead exchanged hands once more before the half as Austin Peay went to the locker room with a 31-30 advantage. Tied 30-30 with 19 seconds to go in the half, AP guard Josh Robinson knocked down the front end of a one-and-one to put his team up by one.
The Gamecocks outscored the Govs 41-37 in the second half. It's Jacksonville State's third win when trailing at the half, improving to 3-6 in the situation.
BELMONT 87, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 75
NASHVILLE - Behind 24 points from senior All-America candidate Evan Bradds (Jamestown Ohio) and a career-high 23 points from sophomore Dylan Windler (Indianapolis, Ind.), Belmont University men's basketball defeated Southeast Missouri, 87-75, Saturday night.
Windler went 9-for-10 from the field - including 5-for-6 from 3-point distance - and added four rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
Belmont claimed its fifth consecutive win over the Redhawks in as many tries, but the visitors provided a stern challenge.
A William Tchiengang layin gave Southeast Missouri a 25-15 lead with 7:27 left in the first half, but Belmont responded with a 12-0 run - capped by a Bradds' conventional 3-point play.
12 points in the first 5:43 of the second half from junior Amanze Egekeze (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) increased Belmont's lead to 56-48 with 14:17 left.
Southeast Missouri tied the score at 61 on two Trey Kellum free throws, but six straight Bruins points - highlighted by a Windler steal and coast to coast score - put Belmont ahead to stay.
Belmont shot 59 percent (30-for-51) from the field - including 13-for-28 from 3-point distance.
Antonius Cleveland led Southeast Missouri (6-12, 1-2 OVC) with 24 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 71, MURRAY STATE 67
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Mason Ramsey scored a career-high 19 points, Kajon Mack scored 17 points and added six rebounds and four assists, and Tennessee Tech remained unbeaten in conference with a 71-67 win over Murray State on Saturday night.
Tennessee Tech (7-11, 3-0 Ohio Valley) led 21-6 with 8:56 left in the first half, but the Racers finished the half on a 22-8 run and took a five-point lead with 11:15 remaining, 53-48.
Hakeem Rogers and Aleksa Jugovic converted layups for the Golden Eagles, and Rogers hit a pair of free throws to give Tennessee Tech a 54-53 lead. A 3 from Murray State's Bryce Jones momentarily stole back the edge, but Rogers answered with a 3 and a layup, Ramsey hit a jumper and Mack hit two free throws to put Tennessee Tech up 63-56 with 4:30 left. Tech led the rest of the way.
Jonathan Stark led Murray State (8-9, 2-1) with 21 points on 8-of-23 shooting and added seven assists. Terrell Miller Jr. totaled 12 points and 13 boards.
TENNESSEE STATE 76, UT MARTIN 65
NASHVILLE - Balanced scoring carried the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 76-65 win over UT Martin at the Gentry Center on Saturday night in Ohio Valley Conference action.
Delano Spencer led TSU (11-5, 2-1 OVC) with a career-high 19 points as Tahjere McCall and Wayne Martin added 17 points apiece.
UT Martin (11-8, 1-3 OVC) led by as many as 12 points in the first half and had a 30-26 halftime edge before the Tigers outscored the Skyhawks by a 50-35 margin in the second half.
McCall, who played his first two collegiate seasons at Niagara, scored his 1,000th career Division I point on the night. The redshirt senior scored 330 points at Niagara and now has 683 for TSU for a total of 1,013 points. McCall had another all-around strong game with 17 points and seven rebounds while tying a career high with eight assists.
The Tigers dug themselves a 12-point hole just over 11 minutes into the game with the Skyhawks holding a 21-9 advantage. TSU clawed back into the game, cutting the deficit to single digits on a layup from Jordan Reed.
Tennessee State continued to battle, closing the half on a 7-0 run to trim UT Martin’s lead down to 30-26 at halftime.
Out of the break, TSU was able to take the lead less than two minutes into the half thanks to a pair of jumpers from Darreon Reddick. A 14-3 run gave the Tigers a double-digit advantage at 49-38 with 12:13 showing on the second half clock.
TSU would go on to lead by as many as 12 points on two occasions later in the half.
UT Martin closed the gap to five points with 6:34 remaining, but the Tigers regained their footing and stretched the advantage up to 11 in the last four minutes.
TSU forced 15 turnovers on the night and shot 48.3 percent (28-for-58) on the offensive end.
Fatodd Lewis paced the UT Martin offense with 11 points on the night.