Photo by Patrick Clark, Athlete's Eye Photography
THURSDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 58, @Morehead State 57
@Belmont 79, Murray State 72
Southeast Missouri 86, @SIUE 74
Tennessee Tech 70, @Eastern Kentucky 67
@Eastern Illinois 80, UT Martin 60
@Tennessee State 70, Austin Peay 56
JACKSONVILLE STATE 58, MOREHEAD STATE 57
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Sophomore Ashton Spears scored a season-high 13 points and knocked down the final two free throws of the game to lead Jacksonville State to a 58-57 victory over Morehead State Thursday at Ellis T. Johnson Arena.
Trailing 57-56 with three seconds remaining, Spears drove to the basket and was fouled. The sophomore went to the line and hit both free throws, putting the Gamecocks by one. Morehead State's Jordan Walker fired up a last-second 3-pointer, but the shot was errant to give JSU its third win in Morehead in as many years.
The nationally-televised game was a whirlwind of lead changes and runs. Both the Gamecocks (14-6, 5-2 OVC) and Eagles (5-13, 1-6 OVC) held leads of nine points, and the lead exchanged hands 15 times.
Junior Jason Burnell set a career-high with 20 points, topping his previous record of 16 scored against Morehead State Dec. 30 in Jacksonville. The DeLand, Fla., native was 8-for-11 and 3-for-6 from long range. Along with Malcolm Drumwright's back-to-back 20-point performances against Murray State and Austin Peay last week, Burnell extends the Gamecocks' streak of at least one player scoring 20 points in a game to three.
Fifteen of Burnell's 20 points came in the first half. The Gamecocks led the Eagles 26-25 at the break with most numbers nearing even between the two squads. JSU outscored MSU 8-6 in the paint and 9-7 off turnovers, but Jacksonville State was out-rebounded 19-14 and out-scored 7-4 on second-chance points.
Jacksonville State jumped out to a 9-point lead to begin the second half, claiming its largest lead of the night at the 16:59 mark. Despite the 34-25 advantage, Morehead State stormed back with a 10-point run to reclaim the lead. The Eagles would then go up by nine, 48-39, with 8:24 remaining in the game.
The Gamecocks chipped away at the Morehead lead, whittling the Eagles' advantage back to one with a 9-1 run. MSU retained the lead up until the final three seconds when a foul by Lamontray Harris sent Spears to the line for the final two foul shots of the game.
BELMONT 79, MURRAY STATE 72
NASHVILLE - Dylan Windler and Austin Luke each scored 21 points as Belmont University men's basketball defeated Murray State, 79-72, Thursday night.
Murray State got 10 first half points from Byron Hawkins to lead 32-28 at halftime.
But five quick Windler points and a 3-pointer from Kevin McClain gave Belmont a 38-37 lead with 17:17 left. After Ja Morant gave Murray State a 51-50 lead, McClain capped a 9-0 Belmont run to give the hosts a 59-51 lead with 9:07 remaining. Five points from Mack Mercer and consecutive 3-pointers from Luke and Windler pushed the Bruin lead to 72-59 with 2:47 left.
Belmont shot 58 percent in the second half.
Jonathan Stark led Murray State (13-5, 5-2 OVC) with 19 points.
Belmont (14-6, 6-1 OVC) has won nine of its last 10 games, and four straight vs. Murray State.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 86, SIUE 74
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Denzel Mahoney celebrated his 20th birthday by scoring a career-high 36 points to lead Southeast Missouri (9-11, 3-4) to an 86-74 win over SIU Edwardsville (7-11, 3-4) Thursday night at the Vadalabene Center.
Mahoney's 36 points tied Murray State's Jonathan Stark for the Ohio Valley Conference single-game high this season and the Redhawks picked up their first road win in league play.
SEMO led for all but 2:17 of the game and put together a big second half to tame the Cougars.
The Redhawks shot 50 percent from the field and heated up to knock down 7-of-13 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes.
SEMO made five 3-pointers in the first 8:39 of the second half en route to building its largest lead of the night. Jonathan Dalton and Mahoney drained 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to put the Redhawks ahead, 64-46, with 11:21 remaining. Mahoney accounted for three of the five treys during that stretch.
SIUE managed to trim SEMO's lead to 68-61 on a layup by Brandon Jackson at the 6:47 mark, but that was as close as the Cougars would get.
Mahoney dropped in 15 of his points to help SEMO grab a 35-28 advantage at the half.
Both teams started slow combining for just 7-of-25 (28 percent) from 3-point range during the opening stanza.
After Justin Benton made a 3-pointer to cut the Redhawks lead to 21-18 with 4:54 left to play, SEMO went on a 10-4 run to build its biggest lead of the half. Ray Kowalski, who missed the last two games due to illness, knocked down a 3-pointer. Mahoney added five points and Mark Laros made an easy layup off a nice pass by Jonathan Dalton as SEMO pulled ahead, 31-22, with under two minutes to play.
Mahoney shot 9-of-14 from the field, 5-of-7 from 3-point range and 13-of-15 at the free throw line. It was the second 30-point performance of his career and his five treys were a new career-best. Mahoney has now scored double figures in 17-straight games. In addition, he led the Redhawks with seven rebounds.
Freshman Ledarrius Brewer followed with 11 points and six boards and Dalton added a game-high seven assists. Ray Kowalski, who missed SEMO's last two games due to illness scored eight points in 15 minutes off the bench.
David McFarland led SIUE with 22 points and nine rebounds. McFarland knocked down a career-high five 3-pointers. Jalen Henry and Benton followed with 11 and and 10 points, respectively.
SEMO held SIUE under 40 percent (39.7) from the field.
TENNESSEE TECH 70, EASTERN KENTUCKY 67
RICHMOND, Ky. - A late, 6-0 run over the final minute of regulation helped lead the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to a 70-67 victory at Eastern Kentucky Thursday evening, a contest not short of a thrilling finish.
The Golden Eagles (13-7, 5-2) forced three huge turnovers over that final stretch, including two five-second calls on inbounds plays. While unable to convert on any field goal attempts over that span, Tech did knock down six free-throw attempts to earn its second victory over the Colonels (8-12, 2-5) this season.
Trailing 67-64 with just under 90 seconds to play, the Colonels forced a Tech turnover and took a timeout on their side of the court. On the ensuing inbounds play, the Tech defense smothered the Colonel offense, forcing a team turnover on the home squad and taking over with 1:14 on the clock.
Graduate guard Kajon Mack drove to the rack on the following play, drawing a foul and heading to the line for a couple of freebies. The veteran sank both tries, cutting the EKU lead to 67-66 with 53 seconds to play.
Eastern Kentucky inbounded the ball to perennial All-OVC honoree Nick Mayo, who tried to pass the ball up court to one of his guards. Graduate transfer Shaq Calhoun made an incredible defensive play, spearing the two-handed pass right in Mayo's face, knocking the ball straight into the air. He then out-fought the 6-foot-9 forward on a pseudo jump ball to complete the huge steal.
Driving into the paint, Mack missed a short jumper that would have given Tech the lead, but sophomore Micaiah Henry was there to clean up the miss and maintain the possession. He was then fouled on a dunk attempt with 24 seconds to go, heading to the line for two tries.
Henry would watch as both attempts rattled out of the rim and the Colonels gained possession with a defensive rebound with 21 seconds to play. Calhoun nearly came up with another steal, knocking the ball loose, but unfortunately out of bounds. An official review resulted in the ball staying in possession of EKU.
Once again, the Tech defense stepped up, blanketing the Colonel offense for a second time in the past minute to force another five-second count and EKU turnover. With 18 seconds to play, Mack once again attacked the rim; and once again, he drew a foul.
The point guard sank both attempts again, providing the Golden Eagles a 68-67 advantage. The Colonels brought the ball up the court and worked it into a corner for 3-point specialist Dillon Avare. The try bounced off the rim and into a mess of big men fighting for the ball. EKU forward DeAndre Dishman snagged it and drew a foul in the process.
As it was just Tech's ninth foul of the half, Dishman would head to the line for the 1-and-1 opportunity trailing by one and with just two seconds left on the clock. The big man's attempt careened off the back iron and into the hands of Mack, who then bear-hugged the ball and held on as he was fouled with four tenths of a second to play.
The Golden Eagle vet sank both attempts and watched with his teammates as the EKU "Hail Mary" try missed. In the end, the scoreboard indicated a 70-67 victory for the visitors, a massive road win in the first half of Tech's annual "Death Valley" road trip.
Mack led Tech with 17 points in the game, converting on all 11 of his free throws. He also led the team with four assists and two steals while adding four boards. Senior forward Curtis Phillips Jr. tallied 13 points while connecting on three of his six tries from deep.
Limited to just 22 minutes because of early and late foul trouble, senior forward Mason Ramsey still scored 10 points and hauled in a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore transfer Corey Tillery posted a season-high 10 points off the bench while also snagging five boards. Calhoun finished with seven points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and the huge steal.
Dishman led EKU with 18 points while Dujuanta Weaver and A.J. Youngman each posted 14. Mayo added 12 points for the home team.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 80, UT MARTIN 60
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Double-doubles by freshman Mack Smith and senior Muusa Dama carried Eastern Illinois to an 80-60 Ohio Valley Conference win over UT Martin on Thursday night in Lantz Arena.
EIU improved to 7-11 overall, 3-4 in the OVC. UTM fell to 6-14 overall, 1-6 in the OVC.
Mack Smith flirted with his double-double in the first half on both ends of the floor scoring eight points while pulling down seven rebounds. He would finish the game with a career high 22 points and 11 rebounds. Dama finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds as the Panthers won the battle on the glass by a 43-39 margin.
EIU lead 10-9 with 12:43 to play in the first half after Delfincko Bogan hit a driving lay-up for the Skyhawks. The Panthers went on a 13-2 run over the next six minutes capped by back-to-back baskets by Ray Crossland. His second basket put the Panthers in front 23-11 with 6:34 to play in the first.
EIU would hold the halftime lead at 33-21 after Crossland again hit a jumper to score all eight of his points in the first half.
The Panthers would connect for 48 percent from the field in the second half as they finished the game shooting 41.8 percent, marking the first time in seven OVC games this season that EIU has shot over 40 percent from the floor.
Jajuan Starks scored the first wo EIU baskets of the second half and Logan Koch drained a 3-pointer with 13:43 to play putting the Panthers up 50-30. Montell Goodwin followed with a 3-pointer on the next Panthers possession as he scored 18 points, his 11th straight double figure scoring game this season.
UT Martin trimmed into the lead with a 7-0 run as Matthew Butler hit a 3-pointer with 8:14 to play making it 60-46. Smith stopped the Skyhawks run with a 3-pointer at 7:51 before Parker Hewitt had back-to-back lay-ups for UTM to make it 63-50 with 6:53 to play. Hewitt had a team high 16 points for UTM.
Goodwin countered with a 3-pointer for EIU and Dama helped the Panthers make a defensive stand on the other end of the floor with a blocked shot, one of five for EIU on the night. Goodwin was fouled and converted both free throws as the Panthers held the Skyhawks at a distance for the final five minutes.
Starks was the fourth EIU player in double figures finishing with 14 points.
Butler had 11 points for UTM with Dominique Williams scoring ten off the bench. Terrence Parker pulled down 13 rebounds.
TENNESSEE STATE 70, AUSTIN PEAY 56
NASHVILLE - Hot shooting and smothering defense carried the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 70-56 win over Austin Peay at the Gentry Center on Thursday night.
The Tigers (8-10, 3-4 OVC) shot 20-of-40 (50 percent) from the floor while limiting first-place Austin Peay (10-9, 5-2 OVC) to just 30.6 percent (19-of-62) on field goals.
With the score tied at 28-28 at the half, the Tigers ran away from the Governors in the closing 20 minutes by outscoring APSU by a 42-28 margin in the second half.
Four Tigers scored in double figures led by a team-high 13 points from Kamar McKnight, while Darreon Reddick tallied 12. Delano Spencer, who missed the first half due to feeling under the weather, provided a lift off the bench in the second half with 11 points.