WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Montana State 88,
Southeast Missouri 82 (Cancun, Mexico)
Eastern Washington 83,
Eastern Kentucky 62 (Las Vegas, Nev.)
@Austin Peay 90, Bethel (Tenn.) 58 (Fort Campbell, Tenn.)
@Providence 66,
Belmont 65
Western Illinois 69,
@SIUE 67
@Southern 69,
UT Martin 66
MONTANA STATE 88, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 82
CANCUN, Mexico - Southeast Missouri (2-3) shot a season-best 56.9 percent from the field and received a season-high 27 points from Denzel Mahoney in an 88-82 loss to Montana State (4-2) Wednesday in the Mayan Division title game of the Cancun Challenge.
Mahoney made 10-of-14 field goals and 6-of-8 free throws en route to his third 20-plus point game in five starts this year.
However, it wasn't enough, as MSU got even a bigger performance from Tyler Hall. Hall finished with a game-high 34 points and dropped in all eight his team's 3-pointers. MSU also made eight-straight free throws down the stretch and 16 of its final 17 of the game.
SEMO trailed for all but 1:38 of the game. The Redhawks did not take their first lead until the 9:55 mark of the second half when Milos Vranes' layup gave them a slight 58-57 edge.
A Mahoney jumper put SEMO ahead, 60-59, less than a minute later, but that was the last lead for the Redhawks.
In the final eight minutes, SEMO managed to make it a one-possession game a total of five times. But, MSU buried free throws to pull away.
Both teams shot at least 50 percent from the field and MSU led the entire first half behind Hall's 21 points. Hall set the tone early for the Bobcats knocking down five 3-pointers and hitting 8-of-12 from the floor.
Hall buried a 3-pointer to extend MSU's lead to double figures and Keljin Blevins followed with a layup giving the Bobcats a 29-17 advantage with 7:21 left to play.
The Redhawks answered with an 11-3 run and freshman Justin Carpenter scored five of those points to key the surge. Carpenter's free throw made it a 32-28 game at the 2:29 mark.
MSU later pulled ahead, 41-34, at halftime. Mahoney and Carpenter led SEMO with 10 and seven points, respectively, in the first half.
Jonathan Dalton and Daniel Simmons joined Mahoney in double figures for the Redhawks. Dalton and Simmons followed with 12 points apiece. Carpenter added nine points and eight boards, while Dalton finished with six assists, as well.
Hall shot 11-of-19 from the field, 8-of-15 from 3-point range and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line to lead MSU. He also had four rebounds and one block in 36 minutes.
SEMO and MSU combined for 50 fouls and shot a combined 60 free throws. The Redhawks outscored the Bobcats, 48-47, in the second half and scored more than 80 points for the second time this year. Additionally, SEMO scored 44 points in the paint.
Mahoney and freshman Ledarrius Brewer were named to the Mayan Division Cancun Challenge All-Tournament Team.
EASTERN WASHINGTON 83, EASTERN KENTUCKY 62
LAS VEGAS - The Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team fell to Eastern Washington, 83-62, in the MGM Resorts Main Event's Middleweight Bracket consolation game on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.
EKU (2-3) outscored Eastern Washington (3-3), 46-44, in the second half; however, it was not enough to recover from a tough shooting performance in the first half.
The Colonels ran out to an early 11-9 lead when junior Nick Mayo converted a pair of free throws with 15:12 remaining in the first half. However, Mayo and EKU's other top scorer, Dedric Boyd, then went to the bench with foul trouble and EWU took advantage, rolling off a 21-0 run and grabbing a 19 point-lead, 30-11, with 2:20 on the clock. A layup at the buzzer by Sir Washington sent the Eagles into the locker room at the half up by 23, 39-16.
EKU shot just 24 percent (6-of-25) from the field in the first half.
Mayo got back out on the court in the second half and finished with a game-high 17 points to go along with six rebounds and a block. Boyd also got in the rhythm in the second half, finishing with 14 points, four rebounds and one assist. Sophomore DeAndre Dishman contributed 11 points and six boards for the Colonels.
Junior Jackson Davis led all players in the game with nine rebounds.
EKU shot 43.3 percent (13-of-30) from the floor in the second stanza, but still finished with a season-low 34.5 percent (19-of-55) mark for the game.
The Colonels out-rebounded the Eagles, 42-36, but for the second straight game struggled with turnovers. Missing its top three point guards from the preseason due to injury, EKU turned the ball over 18 times on Wednesday.
Benas Griciunas led a balanced EWU scoring effort with 16 points.
AUSTIN PEAY 90, BETHEL 58
FT. CAMPBELL, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men's basketball used a huge second-half surge to post a 90-58 win against Bethel in the first-ever college basketball game hosted on the Fort Campbell military installation at Shaw Physical Fitness Center.
It was close—too close for comfort—in the first half. A pesky Bethel defense hounded the ball for much of the half, making life difficult for Tre Ivory and company in the backcourt. However, the Govs would control the interior—senior Averyl Ugba, junior Deyshawn Martin and freshman Richard Henderson combined for five blocks in the first half, limiting Bethel to 37.1 percent shooting over the opening 20 minutes.
The second half was more of the same on the defensive end—Bethel committed 20 second-half turnovers and shot just 31.3 percent in the half—but the Governors started working down low on the offensive end over the final 20 minutes. The Govs got 28 points in the paint during the second half, hitting 14 of their 19 field goals from inside and shooting nearly 60 percent (59.4) in the half.
Still, Bethel hung around early in the second half, even taking a tie game into the first media timeout. But the Govs closed the game on a 40-12 run over the final 13:58 of regulation, led by Martin (eight points), Henderson (seven) and Ugba (six).
Ugba led all scorers with 18 points and was one four Govs with seven or more rebounds. Martin had his finest game as a Gov, going a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor for 14 points, while Henderson (10 points, eight rebounds), junior Chris Porter-Bunton (nine points, team-high 10 rebounds) and freshman Terry Taylor (eight points, seven boards) each narrowly missed double-double performances.
PROVIDENCE 66, BELMONT 65
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Belmont University men's basketball had another signature victory ripped from its grasp, as Kyron Cartwright sank an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Providence a 66-65 victory Wednesday night.
In a game that featured 10 ties and 20 lead changes, Belmont (4-2) took a 65-63 lead with 3.8 seconds left on a basket from junior Dylan Windler.
Providence then found its All-America candidate Cartwright, who sped into the frontcourt and made a leaning 3-pointer just before the horn sounded.
Belmont shot 64 percent from the field in the second half, while holding the host Friars to 39 percent shooting for the game.
Windler led Belmont with 17 points and 10 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season.
Senior Amanze Egekeze had 16 and freshman Nick Hopkins added 11.
Cartwright led Providence with 17.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 69, SIUE 67
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Western Illinois senior Dalan Ancrum scored a game-high 34 points including the game-winning three-pointer with 2.1 seconds to play as the Leathernecks downed the Cougars 69-67 Wednesday at Vadalabene Center.
SIUE had a chance at the buzzer, but Daniel Kinchen's three-point attempt from the left wing just rimmed out.
Western Illinois improved to 4-0 with the win. The Cougars dropped to 1-3.
SIUE had taken a 67-66 lead when Bill Awet tipped in a rebound with 18 seconds left.
Kinchen led SIUE with a career-high 24 points. He connected on 6 of 14 three-point attempts, drilling six triples for the second consecutive game. Kinchen added three assists and a steal and did not commit a turnover.
Jalen Henry added 18 points and a team-best eight rebounds for the Cougars.
Brandon Gilbeck added a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Leathernecks. Kobe Webster scored 13.
SIUE led 35-30 at halftime in the game which included nine lead changes and three ties.
WIU hit 47.8 percent of its shots and was 9-19 from three-point range for the game. The Leathernecks became the first team to win a rebounding battle from the Cougars, outrebounding SIUE 36-33.
Western Illinois also scored 16 points (16-24) at the free throw line. The Cougars were 9-14 at the stripe.
The Cougars were a combined 24-64 (37.5 percent) from the field and knocked down 10 of 28 (25.7 percent) three-pointers.
SOUTHERN 69, UT MARTIN 66
BATON ROUGE, La. - Redshirt junior forward Fatodd Lewis posted a career-best 25 points for the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team but a late drought led to a 69-66 loss at Southern this evening.
Lewis’ scoring performance was six points better than his previous career-high of 19 points set against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 29, 2016. The Memphis, Tenn. native also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, leading the Skyhawks in that category for the fourth consecutive game.
Matthew Butler added 16 points with four assists and three steals for UT Martin (1-4). Terrence Parker collected 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting to go along with six rebounds in 17 minutes but the Skyhawks went the final 8:08 without a field goal, seeing a six-point advantage evaporate down the stretch.
Southern (1-5) was carried by Jared Sam’s game-high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting and a 9-for-11 performance from the free throw line. He was the only Jaguar to score in double-figures as Southern attempted 33 free throws against UT Martin’s 12.
UT Martin came out blazing, scoring the first 10 points of the contest in just two-plus minutes. A Lewis three-pointer from the left wing provided the Skyhawks with a 10-0 advantage with 17:53 to go in the first half.
Southern’s first bucket of the game came at the 17:30 mark as the Jaguars stormed back to take their first lead of the contest at 15-14. A pair of Lewis free throws at the 12:01 mark tilted the score back in UT Martin’s favor but Southern scored nine of the next 11 points to go ahead by a 24-18 margin just under the midway point of the first half.
The Skyhawks trailed by double-figures (30-20) at the 6:24 mark but Butler answered with a step-in three-pointer. Lewis scored on back-to-back trips down the floor while Parker notched an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:06 left before the halftime break to pull UT Martin within four points (35-31).
The Jaguars answered with the final four points of the half to claim a 39-31 advantage at the break.
Lewis’ 13 points paced the Skyhawks in the first half as UT Martin outrebounded Southern by a 17-14 margin. Sam had 15 points for a Southern squad that held a 20-5 advantage from the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes.
Parker piled up the first five Skyhawk points of the second half, helping UT Martin trim its deficit to 41-36 less than a minute in to the stanza. The Jaguars followed with the next five points of the contest to once ahead go on top by double-digits at 46-36.
The Butler and Lewis duo then accounted for two baskets apiece during a 10-0 Skyhawk run. The upperclassmen tandem each dialed up a layup and three-pointer to even the score at 46-all with a little over 15 minutes left to play.
A pull-up trifecta by Delfincko Bogan resulted in UT Martin’s first lead in over 19 minutes of clock time, nudging the Skyhawks ahead by a 49-48 margin. Sam soon tied the contest at 51-51 with a bucket inside but a Jailen Gill alley-oop dunk and Lewis straightaway three-pointer provided UT Martin with a five-point advantage with 11 minutes to go.
Butler (contested three-pointer) and Gill (hook shot in the lane) helped extend the Skyhawk lead out to six points with 8:08 remaining.
However, the Jaguars came right back with a 10-0 run, taking a 65-61 lead with 3:52 left to play in the process. Lewis, Gill and Kahari Beaufort combined to make five free over the final 3:36 but ultimately it wasn’t enough for UT Martin.