SATURDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 87, @Eastern Illinois 68
Jacksonville State 72, @SIUE 61
Morehead State 89, @Southeast Missouri 81
@UT Martin 85, Eastern Kentucky 68
Tennessee State 70, @Austin Peay 66
TENNESSEE TECH 87, EASTERN ILLINOIS 68
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The offense was flowing for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles (10-16, 6-5) put forth one of their best efforts, top-to-bottom, for an 87-68 Ohio Valley Conference victory at Eastern Illinois (11-13, 3-8).
The two sides traded blows early, working to an 8-8 tie in the opening four minutes. From that point on, however, it was all Tennessee Tech. The visitors ran off eight straight points over the next three minutes, never allowing the Panthers within five the rest of the contest.
Tech took a decisive, 45-30 advantage into the halftime break, collecting outstanding efforts over the first 20 minutes of action from three members of the squad.
Junior sharpshooter Aleksa Jugovic lived up to his reputation early, hitting all five of his field goal attempts, including 2-for-2 from downtown, for a team-high 12 points. He also hauled in four boards and dished out five assists.
Senior Kajon Mack also drilled two triples early, tallying 11 points and four boards on 4-for-6 shooting in the first half. Redshirt freshman Micaiah Henry sank all four of his attempts from the field in the first period, posting eight points.
As a team, the first half saw a 7-for-10 showing from 3-point range, part of an 11-of-20 performance for the game. In addition to shooting 55.0 percent from deep, Tech shot 55.0 percent from the field and 76.9 percent from the charity stripe. The Golden Eagles also dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Panthers 37-26.
Jugovic finished the day with a game-high 24 points, leading the way with six assists and three steals. He also corralled six rebounds while shooting lights out, finishing 9-for-12 from the field and 4-for-7 from deep.
A transfer from Tulane, Mack completed play with 17 points and seven rebounds, connecting on seven out of 12 attempts from the field. Fellow transfer, from Campbell, forward Curtis Phillips Jr. posted a season-high 15 points while hitting 3-of-4 attempts from beyond the arc and snagging five boards.
For the second time in his career, Livingston, Tenn. native Mason Ramsey posted a double-double, hauling in a season-high 10 rebounds while also totaling 14 points. He played a career-high 36 minutes and finished 5-for-8 from the field.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 72, SIUE 61
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A career performance from freshman Tyrik Edrwards led the Jacksonville State men's basketball team to a 72-61 victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Saturday.
Edwards bucketed a career-high 19 points against the Cougars, leading the Gamecocks (15-11, 7-4 OVC) to their seventh Ohio Valley Conference win. Junior Norbertas Giga and sophomore Christian Cunning each pitched in a double-double to go along with Edwards' strong showing.
After leading most of the first period, SIUE (5-20, 0-11 OVC) could not catch the Gamecocks in the second half. The closest the Cougars came to a lead in the latter half was by a one-point deficit, 34-33, with 14:13 remaining in the game.
Despite seeing a 10-point lead diminish, Edwards came through in the second to carry the Gamecocks to the win. Sixteen of the freshman's 19 points came in the second, while senior Greg Tucker scored all nine of his points in the period.
The Gamecocks battled back from a seven-point deficit in the first half to take a 29-21 lead into the break. SIUE's Burak Eslik owned the floor in the game's opening minutes, scoring seven points in five minutes. He helped put JSU down 15-8 halfway through the period.
Following the under-eight media timeout at the 7:26 mark, the Gamecocks mounted a tremendous 19-6 run that led to their eight-point lead at the intermission. Senior Erik Durham scored all seven of his first-half points during the stretch, and Jacksonville native Des Curry tied his career-high of three points within two minutes of stepping onto the court.
MOREHEAD STATE 89, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 81
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - In a back-and-forth contest in which the lead changed 15 different times, Morehead State men's basketball (11-12, 7-3 Ohio Valley Conference) defeated Southeast Missouri (11-15, 6-5 OVC) 89-81 on Saturday evening at the Show Me Center.
With the Eagles trailing 73-69 at the 7:23 mark of the second half, junior guard Miguel Dicent nailed his first jumper of the ballgame. Despite going scoreless on 0-for-1 shooting in the first half, Dicent would go on to score 14 consecutive points for Morehead State, part of a 20-8 run that surged the Eagles to victory.
Redshirt-senior DeJuan Marrero poured in a career-high 24 points to go along with 12 rebounds and five assists. The Gary, Ind. native's performance was good for his 12th double-double of the season, and the 19th of his career.
Both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor, and over 40 percent from three-point range. The Eagles finished 35-of-59 (.593) as a unit, firing 10-for-15 (.667) from downtown. MSU outscored the Redhawks 36-22 in the paint, and won the rebounding battle by a 32-24 margin.
Senior Xavier Moon added 17 points without missing a minute of action, while Ronnye Beamon logged a career-high 14 points and six boards. Treshaad Williams tallied 12 points and five rebounds.
UT MARTIN 85, EASTERN KENTUCKY 68
MARTIN, Tenn. - For the first time this season, all five University of Tennessee at Martin starters scored in double-figures as the Skyhawk men’s basketball team rolled to an 85-68 victory at home against Eastern Kentucky.
With the win, UT Martin (17-9, 7-4 Ohio Valley Conference) moves into sole possession of first place in the OVC West division standings.
Jacolby Mobley scored a team-high 21 points and tied a career-high with five assists tonight for the Skyhawks, who also received double-doubles from the frontcourt duo of Javier Martinez (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Chandler Rowe (10 points, 10 rebounds). Kedar Edwards compiled 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals while Matthew Butler tossed in 11 points with zero turnovers in 38 minutes for a UT Martin squad that overcame a six-point halftime deficit by shooting 62.1 percent (18-of-29) in the final 20 minutes.
Eastern Kentucky (10-16, 3-8 OVC) received 21 points by Dillon Avare off the bench. Nick Mayo (17 points) and Asante Gist (13 points) also scored in double-figures but the Skyhawks began the second half on a 16-0 run and never looked back.
The first half was wild from the start, as the lead changed hands 15 times in the opening 20 minutes. Butler knocked in a three-pointer to open the game’s scoring but Rowe accounted for eight of the Skyhawks’ next 13 points. A Martinez layup with just under nine minutes to play in the first half pushed UT Martin ahead by an 18-16 margin.
Three-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Mobley and Dante Bailey provided the Skyhawks with a 28-26 lead with 5:27 remaining before the halftime break. However, the Colonels managed a 7-0 run in the final 90 seconds to take a 39-33 advantage into the locker room at the half.
Rowe supplied eight points and eight rebounds in the first half but Avare’s 15 points were enough to lead all scorers at the break.
A determined UT Martin squad took the floor in the second half, as the Skyhawks poured in the first 16 points on their way to claiming a 20-7 rebounding edge in the last 20 minutes.
Edwards ramped up the UT Martin intensity, scoring eight of the Skyhawks’ first 10 points during the run. Rowe (layup) and Mobley (fast break three-pointer) capped off the surge with buckets that gave UT Martin a 49-39 lead with 15:35 left to play.
Eastern Kentucky scored its first points of the second stanza at the 15:06 mark but a Martinez layup and Mobley triple pushed the Skyhawk advantage back out to 13 points.
The Colonels got within 11 points with 9:30 to go but Martinez scored the final four points of a brief 6-0 UT Martin run to make the score 66-49 with a little under eight minutes on the clock.
A backdoor layup by Mobley at the 5:44 mark extended the Skyhawk advantage to 72-52 as UT Martin would lead by as many as 22 points down the stretch.
TENNESSEE STATE 70, AUSTIN PEAY 66
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - In a game of runs, the Tennessee State men’s basketball team used a gritty defensive effort to grind out a 70-66 road win at Austin Peay at the Dunn Center on Saturday in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Darreon Reddick scored a season-high 19 points, including two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to give the Tigers (14-10, 5-6 OVC) a three-point edge. Ken’Darrius Hamilton picked up his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-best 11 boards, the last coming with 1.5 seconds left to help seal the victory. Christian Mekowulu added 12 points for the visitors.
The Tigers led Austin Peay (8-17, 4-7 OVC) by 12 points in the first half before the Governors answered back with a 12-point lead of their own in the second half.
TSU stepped up its defensive intensity to get back into the game. The Tigers held Austin Peay without a field goal in the second half from the 11:53 mark until the 2:19 mark, turning an 11-point deficit into an eight-point lead during the stretch.