THURSDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 61, @Morehead State 52
@Austin Peay 75, UT Martin 69
@Murray State 89, Southeast Missouri 73
SIUE 85, @Eastern Kentucky 82
@Belmont 80, Tennessee Tech 67
@Tennessee State 67, Jacksonville State 60
EASTERN ILLINOIS 61, MOREHEAD STATE 52
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Eastern Illinois was held below 40 percent shooting on the night but the Panthers knocked down shots when they needed them as EIU won on the road 61-52 at Morehead State on Thursday night.
EIU improved to 5-9 on the year, 1-2 in the OVC while Morehead State fell to 4-10 overall, 0-3 in the OVC.
Leading 54-45 with just under three minutes remaining EIU was in the midst of a 4 minute, 12 second scoreless stretch as Jordan Walker cut the Panthers lead to six with a 3-pointer with 2:34 to play making it 54-48.
The Panthers went down low on the next two possessions with Muusa Dama getting back-to-back buckets to extend the margin back to eight points. Dama’s final bucket was at 1:18 to play putting EIU up 58-50. Dama finished with ten points.
Following free throws by Djimon Henson that made it a six point game with just under a minute to play, EIU closed out the game with free throws by Montell Goodwin and Mack Smith. Goodwin had 20 points to lead the Panthers.
Morehead State scored the first basket of the game before EIU tied the game on a jumper by Jajuan Starks and took the lead on a 3-pointer by Goodwin with 18:13 to play in the first half. The Panthers would lead the remainder of the game.
EIU held a 29-21 lead at the half and pushed the lead out to as high as 13 points on two occasions. The first was on a Goodwin 3-pointer with 17:41 to play it the second. The final 13 point lead for EIU was on a Justice Green free throw with 14:25 to play.
Starks added 15 points for EIU. Ray Crossland and Goodwin both had a team high six rebounds as the Panthers won the battle on the glass, 40-31.
Lamontray Harris was the lone Morehead State player in double figures finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds.
AUSTIN PEAY 75, UT MARTIN 69
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men’s basketball is someplace it hasn’t been since the 2010-11 season. A 3-0 to start Ohio Valley Conference play.
Behind a hot shooting night from outside and its typically stingy defense, the Govs toppled UT Martin, 75-69, before a national audience on CBS Sports Network to remain unbeaten in the league.
The three reigned supreme to start the game, with junior Chris Porter-Bunton opening the contest with two three-pointers and junior Zach Glotta hopping off the pine with one of his own.
As the half progressed, a running theme emerged; the Govs would look ready to break the game open before a couple of quick Skyhawk baskets would tighten the score. That trend ended with a 10-4 APSU run over the final 4:46 of the half, with five points from freshman Terry Taylor, an old-fashioned three-point play for Porter-Bunton and a transition layup from junior Steve Harris fashioning together a 36-25 APSU lead at the break.
Although the Govs would maintain a double-digit lead for much of the second half, a resilient Skyhawk side didn’t go away quietly. After a three from freshman Dayton Gumm put the Govs up 13 with 9:21 remaining, a 15-2 Skyhawk run tied the game at 62 with less than five minutes to go.
UT Martin ended the game hitting five of its last seven attempts, including its last three from the floor. But the Skyhawks couldn’t overcome the late-game heroics of Porter-Bunton, who scored seven of his career-high 16 points over the final 3:22 of regulation, keying a 6-0 run by himself to take the game from one possession to a 70-62 Austin Peay lead; the Skyhawks would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.
MURRAY STATE 89, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 73
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers ran past the Southeast Missouri Redhawks Thursday 89-73 to give them a 3-0 start in the early stage of the race for the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title in a game played at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers (11-3, 3-0 OVC) have won four consecutive games, while the Redhawks (7-9, 1-2 OVC) have lost two-of-three at the start of OVC play.
The star of the night was MSU senior guard Jonathan Stark who poured in a season-high 36 points and broke the MSU 28-year-old free throw streak record. Stark was 14-14 from the line and ended the game with 39 consecutive free throws surpassing the mark of Greg Coble who hit 33-straight in the 1989-90 season. Stark was solid in handling the ball as well with only one turnover in 38 minutes on the floor.
Ja Morant scored 17 points and dished out a game-high seven assists, while Terrell Miller, Jr., scored 11 points to go with seven rebounds. Jalen Dupree added 10 points.
Leading 23-22, Miller hit the first of back-to-back 3-point baskets for a 29-24 lead with 5:03 before half. Morant had a pair of steals and turned them into four points as the Racers’ lead grew to 10 with 1:15 on the clock. MSU finished the half outscoring SEMO 22-12 in the final six minutes to get a 45-34 lead at the intermission.
The Redhawks cut the MSU lead to as close as eight when it was 59-51 with 12:16 left to play, but that’s as close as they would get. Stark went to the line twice in a 30-second span and hit four-straight free throws to break the MSU record and to give MSU a 73-55 lead with 7:09 remaining. MSU’s largest lead was 22 (89-67) with 1:33 left after a jumper by Stark.
SIUE 85, EASTERN KENTUCKY 82
RICHMOND, Ky. - Senior Jalen Henry poured in a career-high 35 points Thursday to lead SIUE to its first Ohio Valley Conference win of the year, an 85-82 triumph on the road at Eastern Kentucky.
Wasting no time, Henry scored the games' first 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers, to stake the Cougars' to a double digit lead. SIUE led wire-to-wire en route to improving to 5-9 overall and 1-2 in the OVC.
Henry opened the game with back-to-back three pointers and finished with a career-best five triples. Overall he was 13-18 from the field and 5-6 from three-point range. Henry's 35 points were the most for an SIUE player since Burak Eslik scored 40 in a win over Morehead State in January of 2016.
Henry scored 13 points in the first half despite being limited to just nine minutes because of foul trouble. Henry was 8-10 from the field in the second half, including 2-2 from three-point range.
For the game, SIUE was 30-53 (56.6 percent) from the field and 9-17 (52.9 percent) from three-point range. The Cougars twice held lead of 12 points.
SIUE led 81-71 with 1:49 to play before EKU (6-10, 0-3) made a furious comeback attempt. The Colonels scored nine straight points over the next 1:02 on two three-pointers by Dillon Avare and another by Nick Mayo. SIUE made four free throws over the final 40 seconds to secure the win.
SIUE was 16-23 from the stripe, while EKU was 16-18. The Cougars outrebounded the Colonels 34-31.
Christian Ellis and Daniel Kinchen each pitched in 12 points for SIUE. Justin Benton added seven points and dished out a team-high five assists. The Cougars finished with 17 assists, their second highest total of the season.
Mayo paced EKU with 25 points. Avare followed with 11 points, including three three-pointers for EKU.
BELMONT 80, TENNESSEE TECH 67
NASHVILLE - Behind a career-high 24 points from junior Dylan Windler, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee Tech, 80-67, Thursday night.
Windler matched his 24-point performance in the Bruins' victory over Vanderbilt earlier this season. He added six rebounds and three steals.
Belmont led 39-33 at halftime, and used layins from seniors Austin Luke and Amanze Egekeze as part of an 8-0 run to lead 64-52 with 7:18 remaining.
Tennessee Tech would not get within single figures thereafter.
Belmont shot 57 percent from the field, including 62 percent in the second half.
Windler led four Bruins in double figures. Kevin McClain had 17, Egekeze 14, and Luke 11 points and nine assists.
Kajon Mack led Tennessee Tech (10-6, 2-1 OVC) with 16 points.
Belmont (11-5, 3-0 OVC) has won six consecutive games.
TENNESSEE STATE 67, JACKSONVILLE STATE 60
NASHVILLE - Delano Spencer scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 67-60 win over defending Ohio Valley Conference Champion Jacksonville State on Thursday night at the Gentry Center.
TSU (6-8, 1-2 OVC), playing its first home game since Dec. 2, forced 16 turnovers and shot 47.9 percent (23-of-48) from the floor on the night.
The score was tied at 25-25 at the half before the Tigers outscored the Gamecocks (11-5, 2-1 OVC) by a 42-35 margin in the second half.
TSU also picked up double-digit scoring efforts from Christian Mekowulu and Armani Chaney with 14 points apiece.
The Tigers built up an early 11-4 advantage powered by a jumper and three-pointer from Armani Chaney. After JSU took a 15-13 edge midway through the first half, TSU’s defense clamped down – holding the Gamecocks without a point for more than six minutes.
Spencer’s three-point play up the Tigers back up 50-47 at the under-eight minute media time. A Mekowulu dunk and a three-point play from Reddick gave the Tigers a 59-54 lead.
The Gamecocks pulled to within three points on three occasions in the final 1:02 of the game, but TSU had the answer down the stretch with a Mekowulu tip-in and four free throws from Delano Spencer in the last 34 seconds.