TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 83, Hannibal-LaGrange 59
@Murray State 85, Harris-Stowe 56
@Tennessee State 67, Fisk 53
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 83, HANNIBAL-LaGRANGE 59
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Denzel Mahoney matched a season-high 27 points and Southeast Missouri (3-4) put together a big second half in a 83-59 win over Hannibal-LaGrange Tuesday night at the Show Me Center.
SEMO and HLG were tied at the half before the Redhawks blew by the Spartans, 50-26, in the second stanza.
The Redhawks trailed, 35-33, just 17 seconds into the second half before Mahoney made three free throws after he was fouled on a 3-pointer. SEMO never relinquished the lead from that point on.
Freshman Isaiah Gable's layup gave the Redhawks their first double-digit lead at 56-46 with just under 11 minutes left.
Ahead, 63-50, SEMO then strung together a 12-0 run with freshman Ledarrius Brewer draining a pair of threes to key the stretch. Brewer's second 3-pointer ran the Redhawks lead to 75-50 at the 6:31 mark.
SEMO outscored the Spartans 18-9 in the final 8:24 of the game to nail down its third win of the season.
The Redhawks turned up the pressure defensively in the second half collecting eight of their 10 steals.
SEMO fell behind early in the game when HLG took a 4-0 advantage 1:12 in. That was the largest lead for the Spartans.
The Redhawks ended a two-game losing streak and picked up their 27th-straight win against non-Division I opponents.
Mahoney shot 9-of-16 from the field, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and a near-perfect 6-of-7 at the free throw line to lead four Redhawks in double figures.
Brewer followed with 15 points, while Daniel Simmons added 12 and Mark Laros pitched in 10 points and had five rebounds. Gable pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds, as well.
SEMO shot 51.5 percent (17-of-33) from the field in the second half and just under 50 percent (49.2) for the game. The Redhawks also outrebounded HLG, 37-33. Additionally, SEMO forced 18 turnovers and had its bench outscore the Spartan reserves, 32-6.
Brady Smith led the Spartans with 21 points.
MURRAY STATE 85, HARRIS-STOWE 56
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers posted an 85-56 victory Tuesday over the Harris-Stowe State Hornets at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers improved to 4-1 and take a three-game winning streak into their Saturday home game with Florida A&M.
Ten different Murray State players scored and the same number grabbed at least two rebounds to help the Racers continue their winning ways early in the season. Terrell Miller, Jr. led the Racers with 18 points, while Jonathan Stark and Ja Morant each added 15 points.
Leading 39-27 with 4:05 remaining in the first half, the Racers ended the first twenty minutes of action on a 14-0 run that was sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from Stark. MSU went into the locker room ahead 53-27 at the intermission. The second half was more of the same as the Racers eventually built their largest lead of 36 points when it was 85-49 with 2:37 left in the game.
The Racers won the rebound battle 38-27 and held HSSU to six offensive boards, while they racked up 12 of their own. MSU was good again from the free throw line in hitting 82 percent (19-of-23) with Ja Morant (5-of-5), Miller (4-of-4) and Byron Hawkins (2-of-2) being perfect. The Racers have been very good at the start of the season in their 3-point defense and tonight held the Hornets to 7-of-22 for 32 percent.
TENNESSEE STATE 67, FISK 53
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team led start to finish in a 67-53 victory over crosstown opponent Fisk on Tuesday night at the Gentry Center. TSU picked up its third win in a row and improved to 4-2 on the season, while Fisk falls to 7-4 overall.
The Tigers led by as many as 16 points, but the Bulldogs refused to go away in the second half- trailing TSU lead to just two with 8:05 left in the second half. TSU pulled away by finishing the game on a 21-9 run down the stretch.
Christian Mekowulu pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds and completed his third career double-double with 16 points. Delano Spencer added 12 points for the Tigers with Kamar McKnight chipping in with 11 off the bench.
TSU finished with a 52-34 rebounding edge and had six blocks in the game.