SATURDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 75, @Eastern Illinois 66
Eastern Kentucky 91, @Southeast Missouri 86
Austin Peay 87, @Jacksonville State 67
Morehead State 71, @UT Martin 67
@SIUE 82, Tennessee State 79
Murray State 71, @Tennessee Tech 45
BELMONT 75, EASTERN ILLINOIS 66
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Behind a career-high 25 points from junior Dylan Windler, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Eastern Illinois, 75-66, Saturday.
Despite early foul trouble, Windler went 9-for-13 from the field and 5-for-8 from 3-point distance in leading Belmont to its fourth consecutive conference road victory.
Consecutive 3-pointers from senior Austin Luke in the final 1:23 of the first half gave Belmont a 36-29 halftime lead.
After a baseline 3-pointer from senior Amanze Egekeze made the score 52-43 with 10:52 remaining, Eastern Illinois got within 52-50 on a Muusa Dama layin. But five Windler points during an 11-2 Belmont run pushed the lead to 11, 63-52, with 5:37 left.
Kevin McClain added 20 points and eight rebounds, while Egekeze had 13. Luke had a season-high 12 assists.
Montell Goodwin led Eastern Illinois (6-11, 2-4 OVC) with 26 points.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 91, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 86
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Junior Jackson Davis scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team to a wild 91-86 win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday evening at the Show Me Center.
With the win, EKU sweeps the western OVC road trip and improves to 8-11 (2-4 OVC).
Sparked by a pair of three-pointers by freshman JacQuess Hobbs, the Colonels ran out to an early lead. A layup by Davis with 6:45 remaining in the first half made it a 15-point advantage, 31-16. However, SEMO (8-11, 2-4 OVC) rallied, as a three-pointer by Jonathan Dalton pulled the Redhawks back to within eight, 44-36, at halftime.
EKU opened the second half on an 11-3 run and went back up by 16, 55-39, when sophomore Dujuanta Weaver knocked down a three-pointer with 16:46 on the clock.
After a pair of foul shots by Weaver put Eastern up by 12, 67-55, with 10:29 left, SEMO exploded on a 15-2 run and grabbed its first lead of the game, 70-69, when Ledarrius Brewer knocked down a three-pointer from the corner with 7:25 on the clock.
The next five minutes of play featured eight lead changes. With EKU trailing, 78-76, junior Nick Mayo drained a clutch three-pointer from the wing with 2:14 left to give the Colonels the lead for good.
EKU shot a season-high 95.5 percent (21-of-22) from the free throw line and went 8-of-8 from the stripe in the final two minutes to seal the victory.
Sophomore DeAndre Dishman scored 11 of his 17 points in the final seven minutes of play, willing the Colonels through the back-and-forth stretch run. Weaver finished with a career-high 15 points, while Mayo tallied 11 points, five rebounds and a team-best five assists. EKU connected on a season-high 12 three-pointers in the win. The Colonels have now made 23 three-pointers in their last two games.
Denzel Mahoney paced Southeast Missouri with a game-high 25 points.
SEMO out-rebounded EKU, 37-29, but the Colonels won the turnover battle, 16-10. It is the ninth consecutive game in which EKU has won the turnover battle.
AUSTIN PEAY 87, JACKSONVILLE STATE 67
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Austin Peay State University had a simple mission Saturday: snap a six-game road losing streak and remain among the Ohio Valley Conference’s elite.
The Govs dominated every facet of the game against host Jacksonville State, cruising to an 87-67 win against the defending OVC Tournament champion on its home court, led by 35 points and 12 rebounds from senior Averyl Ugba.
Head coach Matt Figger voiced his frustration with sluggish starts after Thursday’s game at Tennessee Tech; the Govs must’ve gotten the message, as they matched Jacksonville State bucket for bucket to start the first half before ripping off a massive 27-3 run to put the game out of reach, presenting a balanced attack featuring eight points from Ugba, seven from junior Zach Glotta and seven from freshman Terry Taylor. That allowed the Govs to take a 23-point lead, 48-25, into the locker room at halftime.
Ugba was at it again early in the second half, scoring nine of the Governors first 15 points as the lead swelled to 30 points. Although the Gamecocks would actually outscore the Govs in the second half (42-39), nearly every Jacksonville State bucket was matched on the other end by Austin Peay and the Gamecocks would not cut the deficit below 20 points for the rest of the contest.
Austin Peay’s 61.1 percent shooting night was a season-best, and highest against a Division I foe since equaling that mark against Western Kentucky (Dec. 28, 2016), while Jacksonville State’s 32.4 percent mark was worst by an Austin Peay opponent in 2017-18 and worst by a Division I foe since the Govs held these same Gamecocks to a 29.9 percent mark in the Jan. 7, 2016 meeting.
MOREHEAD STATE 71, UT MARTIN 67
MARTIN, Tenn. - Led by a pair of double-doubles from the frontcourt duo of Lamontray Harris and Londell King, the Morehead State men's basketball team collected its first Ohio Valley Conference victory Saturday night, winning 71-67 at UT Martin.
The Eagles improved to 5-12 overall and 1-5 in the league.
Harris poured in season-highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds and scored the game's go-ahead bucket with 35 seconds left to break a 67-all tie. He also scored the final points on a fast break layup. King, who now has four OVC games with double-digit rebounds, scored 10 and grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Eagles out-rebounded the Skyhawks 41-28.
In a game that featured 11 lead changes and eight ties, there were four ties in the final five minutes. King made a layup with 1:09 left to make it a 67-65 Eagle lead before UTM tied it with 54 seconds left. Harris hit a free-throw line jumper for the lead, and Matthew Butler missed a three-pointer at the 15-second mark.
Junior guard A.J. Hicks also had a solid game with a career-high eight assists.
Morehead State shot 48 percent (25-of-52) for the game, including 60 percent (15-of-25) in the opening half.
SIUE 82, TENNESSEE STATE 79
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Brandon Jackson and Justin Benton supplied career-high scoring performances in guiding the SIUE Cougars to a gratifying win Saturday.
Jackson poured in 19 points and Benton scored 17 more as the Cougars outlasted Tennessee State 82-79 in Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball at the Vadalabene Center.
SIUE improved to 7-10 overall and won for the third time in its last four games. The Cougars lifted their record to 3-3 in the OVC. Tennessee State fell to 7-10 and 2-4.
Benton didn't miss a shot in going 6-for-6 from the field, including 4-for-4 on 3-pointers.
Jackson proved equally effective by making 6 of 7 shots – three of them dunks -- and sinking 7 of 8 free throws. He also snared seven rebounds.
Teammate Daniel Kinchen also pitched in 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting and fueled a second-half surge in a see-saw game that was tied seven times and featured 14 lead changes. Jalen Henry chipped in with 12 points and Christian Ellis provided a career-best nine assists.
Benton's 3-point play with 1:03 remaining pushed the Cougars in front 79-77 and they never relinquished the lead. Henry converted one of two free throws with 21.3 seconds left to make it 80-77 and following Darreon Reddick's basket for Tennessee State, the Cougars' Jackson made two foul shots with 11.6 seconds to go.
The Cougars' shooting had something to do with it. They made 28 of 47 shots, including 9 of 19 on 3-pointers. SIUE also sank 17 of 22 free throws, outrebounded the Tigers 32-24 and withstood 24 turnovers. The Cougars finished with a season-high 19 assists.
Jackson's 10 first-half points, including back-to-back breakaway dunks, helped the Cougars gain a 38-37 lead at intermission. Thanks to Jackson's six points and a Keenan Simmons dunk, SIUE went on a 12-0 binge to turn a 20-17 deficit into a 29-20 advantage. Yet Tennessee State countered with a 10-0 run late in the half to make it a one-point difference.
The Cougars made 15 of 25 first-half shots, including 9 of 19 from 3-point land. Tennessee State his 14 of 25, with 5 of 11 from 3-point range.
MURRAY STATE 71, TENNESSEE TECH 45
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Murray State Racers came away with a 71-45 win Saturday over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at the Eblen Center in Cookeville.
The Racers improved to 13-4 overall and 5-1 to keep a share of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. MSU stays on the road next week with games at Belmont on Thursday and at Tennessee State on Saturday (Jan. 20).
Jonathan Stark led the Racers in scoring for the seventh-straight game with a game high 18 points, while Terrell Miller, Jr., added 15 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Ja Morant scored 13 points.
In handing Tech its first home loss of the season, the Racers started fast in hitting 9-of-14 shots to build a 22-6 lead, their largest of the half. Morant helped kick-start the Racers with 11 points in the first seven minutes of the game. The Racers blistered the nets for 57 percent from the field (15-of-26) in the half and dominated the boards 23-7.
Leading 37-23 at the intermission, the Racers saw TTU get as close as 10 with 15:12 left when it was 41-31. Miller and Stark hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to 16 (48-32) at the 13:13 mark. MSU put the game away with a brilliant showing on both ends of the floor. After a Byron Hawkins 3-pointer, Jalen Dupree blocked a shot which led to an alley oop dunk by Morant for a 64-45 lead with 2:11 left.
The stat sheet showed a dominant night for Murray State. They held TTU to 40 percent from the field (21-of-52) and won the rebound stat 38-21. On offense, the Racers hit 58 percent (27-of-50) including (8-of-22) from the 3-point line. Tech was 1-of-16 from long range.
The 71-45 final pushed the Racers to 4-2 on the road this season and it sealed a split of their first OVC road trip, which started with a 76-71 loss Thursday at Jacksonville State.