SUNDAY'S SCORES
N.C. Central 77,
@Southeast Missouri 70
@Austin Peay 86, Miami (Ohio) 61
@Mississippi State 59,
Jacksonville State 56
UMKC 65,
@UT Martin 55
N.C. CENTRAL 77, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 70
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (2-4) nearly overcame a 16-point deficit in a 77-70 loss to North Carolina Central (3-5) Sunday afternoon at the Show Me Center.
SEMO trailed, 54-38, with a little over 15 minutes left in the game and later used a 13-2 run to pull to within a point.
After Reggie Garner Jr. made a free throw to put NCCU ahead, 57-45, at the 12:10 mark the Redhawks scored 13 of the next 15 points. SEMO forced four turnovers and scored eight of its points at the free throw line during that stretch. Ledarrius Brewer's two free throws closed the Eagles lead to 59-58 with 8:44 remaining.
Brewer missed a shot for the lead 40 seconds later and Denzel Mahoney turned the ball over before Pablo Rivas buried a 3-pointer at the 7:30 mark. Rasean Davis converted a 3-point play and followed that up with a layup to push NCCU's lead to 67-59.
Daniel Simmons, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, scored a layup to make it, 73-70, with 38 seconds on the clock. The Eagles then made four free throws to finish off the 77-70 win.
NCCU led for the final 31:18 of the game and shot a blazing 72 percent on two-point baskets in the first half alone.
Tied, 18-18, with 11:35 to go in the first half, the Eagles went on a 10-2 run. SEMO missed five field goals and turned the ball over twice in a 3:56 scoreless stretch. Donnie Lewis' first career point, a free throw, ended the drought with 7:39 remaining.
The Redhawks fell behind, 41-32, at the half.
In his first career start, freshman Justin Carpenter recorded a double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead SEMO. Carpenter shot 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 at the free throw line. He also had four offensive boards.
Mahoney and Simmons added 15 points apiece. All of Mahoney's points came in the first half as he went 0-of-8 from the field in the game's final 20 minutes.
Simmons played 26 minutes off the bench, making 4-of-9 field goals and 6-of-8 free throws.
SEMO outrebounded NCCU, 42-34, and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds. The Redhawks shot just 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the floor.
Davis led the Eagles with a double-double 20 points and 10 boards. Jordan Perkins followed with 13 points, C.J. Wiggins contributed 11 and Gardner chipped in 10.
NCCU shot 55.2 percent from the field in the first half and 51.9 percent (28-of-54) for the game.
AUSTIN PEAY 86, MIAMI (OHIO) 61
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team saw a balanced scoring effort spearheaded by freshman Dayton Gumm in a dominant 86-61 win against Miami University, Sunday, in the Dunn Center.
In his first career start, Gumm led all scorers with 23 points, while fellow Bowling Green freshman Terry Taylor chipped in with 12. Senior Averyl Ugba (13 points) made it back-to-back forays into double-digits, while juniors Zach Glotta (13) and Steve Harris (11) came up with big contributions off the bench.
An early three-point barrage jump started the offense. After a combined 3-of-28 showing from distance the previous two games, the Govs hit five threes over the course 4:05 in the first half, taking a slim 9-7 advantage and nearly doubling up Miami (27-14). That opened things up on the interior, where Harris, Gumm and others found more space to operate thanks to efficient long-range shooting. When Glotta’s jumper in the lane swished through at the buzzer, the Govs carried a 51-29 lead into halftime.
By the 6:40 mark in the second half, the lead for the Govs had swelled to nearly 40 points. Austin Peay opened the second period on a 26-11 run featuring 10 of Gumm’s 23 points and eight from Ugba, who was near-unstoppable down low (5-of-7 shooting). A late Miami run cut the deficit, but the Governors first Division I win of the Matt Figger era remained an emphatic statement.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 59, JACKSONVILLE STATE 56
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team was not able to survive a late Mississippi State rally Sunday afternoon, falling 59-56 to the SEC foe on a last-second three-pointer at Humphrey Coliseum.
Senior Norbertas Giga picked up his first double-double of the season, totaling 15 points and 10 rebounds despite the loss. The seven-footer was six-for-11 from the floor and threw in three assists.
Jacksonville State held the lead for nearly 25 minutes, beginning about halfway through the first half when the Gamecocks began a nine-point run. With 12:47 remaining in the opening period, Jason Burnell hit a layup to pull the Bulldogs within two, 8-6, and a couple a Tyrik Edwards free throws tied the game shortly after.
The momentum swung 100% in the Gamecocks' favor just 30 seconds later. Burnell rejected Holman at the basket dunked it on the other end of the court to put JSU up by two. Marlon Hunter followed up with a three-pointer from the corner to put the Gamecocks up 13-8 and force a Mississippi State timeout.
The Gamecocks took a 29-25 lead into the break and jumped out to an eight-point advantage to begin the second half via a four three-point buckets, but the Bulldogs would not go away. Mississippi State reclaimed the lead, 50-49, at the 6:35 mark on a Quinndary Weatherspoon layup.
The two teams exchanged baskets the remainder of the game and saw the score tied until the final seconds of the contest. With 0.4 seconds left on the clock, Weatherspoon stepped back and sunk the game-winning three-pointer. Jacksonville State had the opportunity to inbound, but only to have it touched up fall to the floor to kill the clock.
UMKC 65, UT MARTIN 55
MARTIN, Tenn. - UMKC hit nine of its 14 three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team could not recover in a 65-55 loss at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (1-5) were led in scoring by senior guard Kahari Beaufort, who tied a career-high with 15 points in 30 minutes off the bench. He was the only UT Martin player to reach double-figures in the scoring column although Darius Thompson (nine points, four rebounds, four assists), Fatodd Lewis (eight points, career-high 13 rebounds), Lorenzen Wright, Jr. (eight points) and Matthew Butler (seven points) provided the Skyhawks with a balanced scoring attack.
Isaiah Ross accounted for seven of the Kangaroos’ treys on his way to a game-high 27 points for UMKC (3-5), who came into the contest ranked eighth nationally in three-point field goals made. Xavier Bishop added nine points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals and a block for the Kangaroos, who connected on an even 50 percent (14-of-28) of their attempts from three-point range.
A three-ball from Butler got the Skyhawks on the scoreboard on the team’s first possession of the game. After a pair of Parrish Hewitt free throws pulled UT Martin within a single point at 6-5, UMKC went on a 10-0 run to take its first double-digit advantage of the contest.
Thompson scored the first five points of an 8-0 Skyhawk run that closed UT Martin’s gap down to just four points (19-15) at the 10:46 mark of the first half.
A little over five minutes later, the Kangaroos were able to go back ahead by double-figures. UMKC led by as many 18 points in the first half before Thompson laid in a reverse layup to beat the halftime buzzer and make the score 43-27.
Beaufort’s eight points guided the Skyhawks as UT Martin grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Ross tallied 16 points for a Kangaroo squad who shot 64.3 percent (9-for-14) from beyond the three-point arc.
Ross opened the second half with a three-pointer but the Skyhawks answered with a 7-0 surge as Butler (layup), Lewis (three-pointer) and Beaufort (layup) helped UT Martin whittle its deficit to 12 points with 16:31 to go.
UMKC answered with a 10-2 run to go on top by a 56-36 margin with 11 minutes to play. The Skyhawks concluded the game on a 15-3 run over the final 4:38 but it wasn’t enough to make a comeback.