THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 87, Morehead State 81
@Belmont 81, Eastern Illinois 59
UT Martin 67, @Jacksonville State 63
@Tennessee State 85, SIUE 57
@Tennessee Tech 76, Southeast Missouri 65
@Austin Peay 90, Eastern Kentucky 84
MURRAY STATE 87, MOREHEAD STATE 81
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers turned in a gutsy performance in an 87-81 victory over the Morehead State Eagles at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The win moved the Racers (15-5) to 7-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference and kept them in second place, one game off the lead, as Murray State welcomes Eastern Kentucky to the CFSB Center Saturday.
Jonathan Stark overcame a slow shooting night with a 12-of-12 effort from the free throw line to score a game-high 23 points as part of five MSU players in double-figure scoring. Terrell Miller added a double-double on 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Ja Morant tossed in 17 points with Shaq Buchanan adding 14 and Jalen Dupree 10.
The Racers got out of the gate in good fashion in taking a 19-9 lead at the 10:25 mark on a bucket by Morant and they led again by 10 points when it was 25-15 on a basket by Miller with 5:20 before half. When Morant tipped in a shot with 2:19 left, the lead had grown to 33-18 for the Racers, but the Eagles dug in and cut it to 36-26 at the intermission.
Once Morehead State battled back to get the game close with 10:45 left when the Racers lead was 60-58, the game had the feeling that the Eagles were in it until the end. They in fact took a brief lead when the score was 68-67 with 6:08 remaining. The Racers hit some big shots down the stretch including Morant’s 3-pointer to make it a 77-72 MSU lead with 2:47 left. Stark scored the Racers’ final six points from the free throw line to seal it.
BELMONT 81, EASTERN ILLINOIS 59
NASHVILLE - Behind 28 points from junior Dylan Windler, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Eastern Illinois, 81-59, Thursday night.
Windler continued his All-America level play, going 10-for-18 from the field, adding seven rebounds and three assists, while holding Panther leading scorer Montell Goodwin to seven points on 2-for-10 shooting.
It was a wire-to-wire victory, as Windler and senior Tyler Hadden each scored five points in the first six minutes as Belmont led 15-4.
Senior Amanze Egekeze capped a 10-0 run as the lead grew to 25-9 11 minutes in. Belmont shot 58 percent in the first half in leading 51-28 at halftime. Windler had 19 first half points.
The Bruins maintained high-level defensive intensity and rebounding – and when freshman Nick Hopkins and senior Austin Luke hit consecutive 3-pointers midway through the second half – Belmont led 74-45.
Windler has scored 105 points in his last four games. Hadden added a career-high 17 points and eight rebounds.
Mack Smith led Eastern Illinois (7-13, 3-6 OVC) with 16 points.
Belmont (16-6, 8-1 OVC) has won 11 of its last 12 games.
UT MARTIN 67, JACKSONVILLE STATE 63
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team led for over 34 minutes of clock time and made all the winning plays down the stretch in a 67-63 Ohio Valley Conference road victory at Jacksonville State.
The Skyhawks (8-14, 3-6 OVC) won their second straight road game behind an inspired defensive effort, limiting the Gamecocks to 31.8 percent shooting (21-of-66). As a direct result, UT Martin snapped a three-game losing skid to Jacksonville State (15-7, 6-3 OVC).
Delfincko Bogan, who began his collegiate career with the Gamecocks in 2015-16, had his second consecutive impact game with 21 points, four assists and five steals. Matthew Butler pitched in 14 points while Fatodd Lewis compiled 10 points and nine rebounds – knocking down the eventual game-winning shot for the second game in a row for the Skyhawks.
Malcolm Drumwright posted a game-high 22 points but he was the only Gamecock to record double-figures in the scoring column. Norbertas Giga and Jason Burnell pulled down 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively, for Jacksonville State.
Six different Skyhawks scored in the first 5:40 of the game. After the Gamecocks scored the first four points of the game, an old-fashioned three-point play by Dominique Williams and a pair of free throws by Parker gave UT Martin its first lead of the contest at 5-4.
Jacksonville State briefly claimed an 8-7 lead but three-pointers by Darius Thompson and Bogan – sandwiched around a putback by Butler – resulted in a 15-10 Skyhawk advantage at the 14:20 mark.
Four minutes later, a right corner trifecta by Williams and a fast break layup by Thompson stretched UT Martin’s lead out to 22-13.
The Gamecocks followed with seven unanswered points to pull within one point but the Skyhawks accumulated a 9-0 run over the final 4:29 of the half. Williams canned a 15-foot jumper from the left side to extend UT Martin’s lead out to double-digits (33-23) at the break.
The Skyhawks forced Jacksonville State into 21.9 percent shooting (7-of-32) and seven turnovers in the opening half. Williams was responsible for a game-high eight points for UT Martin at the intermission as Bogan added seven points for the Skyhawks.
A Bogan layup a little over three minutes in to the second half kept UT Martin’s advantage at double-figures (35-25). Butler received the shooter’s roll on a three-pointer off a curl screen from the left wing to make the score 42-32 in favor of the Skyhawks with 13:04 to play.
Jacksonville State made a run, tossing in eight straight points to creep within a single possession (42-40) at the 9:54 mark. Bogan (15-foot jumper from the left baseline) and Butler (three-pointer from the right wing) quickly pushed UT Martin’s advantage back out to seven points with eight minutes to go.
The Gamecocks rallied with 11 of the next 13 points to take their first lead since 16:01 of the opening half. After Jacksonville State took its 51-49 advantage, Butler quickly answered with a 15-foot jumper to even the score with 4:36 remaining.
Bogan then came up clutch, swishing a pair of three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push the Skyhawks ahead by a 57-55 margin. After Drumwright hit two treys in the span of 38 seconds to give the Gamecocks a 63-61 advantage with 36 seconds left to play.
UT Martin then wrapped up the game with the final six points, starting with Lewis’ go-ahead three-pointer. Thompson made one of two free throws to make the score 65-63 with 14 seconds left and following a Skyhawk defensive stand, Parker calmly sank a pair of free throw attempts to seal the victory with five seconds to go.
TENNESSEE STATE 85, SIUE 57
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team put on a dominating performance, leading start-to-finish, in a convincing 85-57 Ohio Valley Conference victory over visiting SIUE at the Gentry Center on Thursday night.
Christian Mekowulu proved to be a force in the paint with a game-high 25 points to go with nine rebounds.
TSU (9-11, 4-5 OVC) held the Cougars (7-12, 3-6 OVC) to just 19 points in the first half and carried a 42-19 lead into halftime. The Tigers led by 15 or more points throughout to second half to cruise to victory.
In addition to Mekowulu, three other Tigers scored in double digits on the night with Ken’Darrius Hamilton (15), Delano Spencer (14) and Darreon Reddick (11) also putting up strong offensive performances.
On the defensive end, TSU limited the Cougars to 38.8 percent from the floor, including 23.8 percent from three-point range. On the other end, the Tigers finished 28-of-52 (53.8 percent) on field goals and made 9-of-19 from beyond the arc.
TENNESSEE TECH 76, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 65
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A sizzling second-half scoring effort and strong defensive play throughout the night lifted the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to a 76-65 victory over Southeast Missouri in the Eblen Center Thursday.
The Golden Eagles (14-8, 6-3) scored 47 second-half points while holding the Ohio Valley Conference's second-best scoring offense to just 65 points on the night. The Redhawks (10-12, 4-5) did outscore Tech in the first half, 33-29. The defense carried the home squad early, however, despite a tough first 20 minutes on the offensive end.
After not attempting a free throw in the entire first half, the Golden Eagles sank 10-of-11 the remainder of the game, including an 8-for-8 showing from senior forward Curtis Phillips Jr. Tech also fired at a 57 percent clip from the floor in the second half, sinking five triples in the offensive explosion.
Kajon Mack led all scorers on the night with 22 points on an efficient 50 percent shooting from the floor and resurgent 4-for-7 effort from beyond the arc. He also hauled in eight rebounds, dished out four assists, snagged two steals and blocked a shot, all while playing every minute of the contest.
Phillips stuffed the stat sheet as well, posting his second double-double of the season thanks to 19 points and 10 rebounds. He added six assists and two steals to the mix as well. Graduate transfer Shaq Calhoun was key in the Tech victory as well, tallying 14 points, six boards and three helpers.
Senior forward Mason Ramsey joined the double-figure club with 10 points on 50 percent shooting. Courtney Alexander II corralled seven rebounds with six points and local Sparta native Cade Croslandrecorded four assists with zero turnovers off the bench.
Held to just seven assists in its last contest, Tech worked the ball around with ease on Thursday, racking up 18 assists as a team. The Golden Eagles also out-muscled the Redhawks on the glass to the tune of a 43-23 advantage, including a staggering 16-4 edge in offensive rebounds.
AUSTIN PEAY 90, EASTERN KENTUCKY 84
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Six Austin Peay State University men’s basketball players scored in double figures as a total team effort helped the Governors fend off Eastern Kentucky, 90-84, Thursday, in the Dunn Center.
The Govs (11-10, 6-3 OVC) got out to a hot start, hitting nine of their first 13 shots to double up the Colonels, 24-12, nearly halfway through the opening period. Eastern Kentucky (8-14, 2-7 OVC) roared back on a 20-8 run to briefly take the lead inside the three-minute mark in the first half before the Govs closed six unanswered points to take a 40-35 advantage into the break.
Austin Peay led for nearly the entirety of the second half, but that doesn’t mean the path to victory against the Colonels was an easy one. After a jumper from junior Zach Glotta pushed the lead to 10 with 11:24 to go, the Colonels slowly chipped away at the Austin Peay advantage and tied the game at 82 with 1:38 remaining on two Dedric Boyd free-throws.
As they often do, the Govs turned to freshman Terry Taylor in crunch time, and as he often does, Taylor did not disappoint. First came an old-fashioned three-point play with 29 seconds remaining to break the tie, then a pair of free-throws with 12 seconds left to push the advantage to seven points—the Colonels would get no closer than five the rest of the night.