SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 83, SIUE 72
@Murray State 88, Eastern Kentucky 73
@Jacksonville State 78, Southeast Missouri 60
@Austin Peay 92, Morehead State 76
@Tennessee State 50, Eastern Illinois 47
@Tennessee Tech 63, UT Martin 55
BELMONT 83, SIUE 72
NASHVILLE - Behind a game-high 25 points from senior Austin Luke, Belmont University men's basketball defeated SIU Edwardsville, 83-72, Saturday.
Belmont closed the game on a 21-9 run. The game featured nine ties and 11 lead changes, as the visiting Cougars led 32-30 at halftime.
A Kevin McClain 3-pointer capped a 12-2 Belmont run and gave the Bruins a 52-45 lead with 11:36 left. But the visiting Cougars replied, taking a 63-62 lead with 3:58 left on a David McFarland 3-pointer.
Luke would answer with a 3-pointer of his own, and Belmont would not trail again. Luke supplied two key assists late – one to Nick Hopkins for a baseline 3-pointer and one to Dylan Windlerfor an alley oop slam – as the Bruins went 9-for-11 from the free throw line in the final 1:01 to secure the outcome.
McClain scored 21. Amanze Egekeze had 13 and Hopkins 11.
Jalen Henry led SIU Edwardsville (7-14, 3-7 OVC) with 17 points.
Belmont (17-6, 9-1 OVC) has won 12 of its last 13 games.
With the victory, Belmont head coach Rick Byrd passed Rick Pitino for 15th all-time in career victories (771).
MURRAY STATE 88, EASTERN KENTUCKY 73
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers rolled to their sixth-straight home win Saturday with an 88-73 victory over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers (16-5) won their third-straight game to move to 8-2 and stay one game off the pace of Belmont (9-1) for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference.
In another great offensive night, the Racers got 22 points from Jonathan Stark on six 3-point baskets, while Ja Morant and Byron Hawkins each added 16 points. Terrell Miller, Jr., had his eighth double-double this season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Half way through the first half, the Racers held EKU scoreless for a stretch of 3:30. During this period, the Racers got 3-pointers from Hawkins and Stark and hit six-straight shots for a 14-0 run to lead 20-13 with 9:56 before half. The Racer run went to 19-2 on another Stark 3-pointer for a 28-15 lead at 7:35.
EKU had a 6-0 run in the final minutes to cut MSU's halftime lead to 39-33.
Back to back 3-pointers by Stark & Miller, followed by a fast break finish by Brion Sanchious made it 56-39 Racers with 14:23 remaining.
MSU's largest lead of 21 points came with 11:20 remaining when it was 64-43 on a basket by Morant.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 78, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 60
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Marlon Hunter scored a career-high 22 points and Christian Cunningham recorded his team-leading sixth double-double of the season en route to a 78-60 win over Southeast Missouri at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Saturday.
Hunter's 22 points eclipsed his previous high of 21, scored Jan. 11 against Murray State at home. For the sixth consecutive game, at least one Gamecock has scored 20 or more points in a contest. Meanwhile, Cunningham tallied 10 points and 15 rebounds for his team-best 13th double-double of his career.
Along with Hunter's 22 points and Cunningham's 10, a total of five Gamecocks scored in double-digits. Jamall Gregory bucketed 12, and Jason Burnell and Malcolm Drumwright each posted 11. It's the first time since Dec. 16 that five JSU scorers tallied double-figures against USC Upstate, bringing an end to an 11-game drought.
The Jacksonville State defense held the Redhawks (10-13, 4-6 OVC) to nearly 15 points below their scoring average (75.8), keeping SEMO to a 38.3 shooting percentage for the game. JSU forced 17 turnovers and out-rebounded the visitors from Cape Girardeau, Mo., 39-26.
The Gamecocks (16-7, 7-3 OVC) totaled 39 points in each of the game's two halves. Cunningham nearly claimed his double-double in one half, tallying nine points and nine rebounds in the first half alone. His nine points led JSU scorers in the period, followed by eight points each from Gregory and Hunter.
Cunningham entered the game with 527 career boards. His 15 rebounds, pulling his career mark to 542, passed Amadou Mbodji (528) for third on the school's Division I career rebounding list. Second place is Rusty Brand (543) and first is Nick Murphy (679).
Southeast Missouri held an advantage for just over three minutes the entire game, leading by as much as three points at the 12:29 mark in the opening half. That lead quickly fizzled as JSU jumped ahead two minutes later on a 7-0 run to take a permanent lead. The Gamecocks led by as much as 14 with 30 seconds to go in the half before a couple of SEMO free throws cut it to 12.
Despite allowing five more points in the second half than the first, the Gamecocks outscored the Redhawks 39-33 to keep the game out of reach. Jacksonville State was 14-for-29 shooting in the second half and kept SEMO to 10-for-24 in the period.
AUSTIN PEAY 92, MOREHEAD STATE 76
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Terry Taylor scored 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting, Dayton Gumm scored 21 and Averyl Ugba added his sixth double-double of the season to guide Austin Peay to a 92-76 victory over Morehead State on Saturday night.
Ugba finished with 18 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for the Governors (12-10, 7-3 Ohio Valley Conference), who at 11-2 are off to their best start at home since the 2010-11 season. The win ended a four-game skid against the Eagles (6-15, 2-8). Austin Peay has already topped last season's win total and matched last season's conference victories.
Morehead State led just once at 3-0 on Lamontray Harris' 3-point play 30 seconds into the game. A layup by Taylor and Chris Porter-Bunton's 3-point play gave the Governors the lead and it grew to 49-25 by halftime. Tre' Ivory's 3-pointer 90 seconds into the second half gave the Governors their largest lead of the game 54-26.
Djimon Henson paced the Eagles with 16 points, while A.J. Hicks scored 15.
TENNESSEE STATE 50, EASTERN ILLINOIS 47
NASHVILLE - In a low-scoring Ohio Valley Conference showdown where both teams scored 19 points in the first half, the Tennessee State men’s basketball team earned a hard-fought 50-47 victory over Eastern Illinois at the Gentry Center on Saturday night. Christian Mekowulu secured his seventh career double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
TSU (10-11, 5-5 OVC) held EIU (7-14, 3-7 OVC) to 29.2 percent shooting on the night and outrebounded the Panthers by a 32-27 margin.
Up by one with just under a minute to play, Mekowulu cleaned up an offensive rebound, finished a layup and hit a free throw to give the Tigers a 49-45 lead. After a layup from EIU’s Jajuan Starks cut the Tigers’ lead down to 49-47, Mekowulu was fouled and hit one free throw with 6.7 seconds left for a three-point lead.
TSU again came up with a stop on EIU’s final possession to preserve the win.
TENNESSEE TECH 63, UT MARTIN 55
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A rock solid showing on the defensive end of the floor propelled the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to another victory in the Hooper Eblen Center Saturday evening, as the Golden Eagles (15-8, 7-3) defeated UT Martin (8-15, 3-7), 63-55.
Tech moved to 10-1 at home on the year, using a hot start on offense and defense to control the contest early. The Golden Eagles opened the contest on a 26-9 run, holding the Skyhawks to single digits until the 6:20 mark of the first half.
A small run by the visitors before the break still left Tech with a 31-20 advantage, one that would escalate to 18 points over the first three minutes of the second half thanks to a 7-0 run. UT Martin tightened its defense enough at a time when the Golden Eagles hit a cold spell offensively, and the combination allowed the Skyhawks to climb all the way back to tie the game at 49 apiece with 4:37 to play.
Two of those athletic plays on the defensive end came courtesy of the Special Olympics Player of the Game, Shaq Calhoun. The graduate transfer made a leaping, one-handed steal à la Odell Beckham Jr. with just over two minutes to play and Tech clinging to a two-point lead. He hit fellow graduate guard Kajon Mack in transition, who was fouled and calmly knocked down two free throws to add some breathing room.
Two possessions later, he made a massive rejection on a layup attempt by Dominique Williams, blasting the ball away to preserve a six-point Tech advantage. He also hauled in a key rebound late and sank two free throws after drawing a foul to essentially ice the game with an eight-point lead and under a minute to play.
Calhoun finished with 11 points, three rebounds, two blocks and three steals on the night. Curtis Phillips Jr. led Tech with 17 points while adding five boards and a couple of steals.
Mack just missed a double-double, scoring nine points and dishing out eight assists. Courtney Alexander II also just missed out on a double-double, posting nine points on 3-for-5 shooting and hauling in a game-high 11 boards. Mason Ramsey put forth another double-digit performance, shooting 50 percent from the field on his way to 12 points.
As a team, Tech tallied 14 assists and nine steals, both categories the squad led the OVC in entering the game.