SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 79, SIUE 74
Eastern Illinois 64, @UT Martin 57
@Murray State 75, Tennessee Tech 65
@Belmont 108, Morehead State 65
@Austin Peay 60, Jacksonville State 57
Eastern Kentucky 72, @Tennessee State 59
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 79, SIUE 74
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Ledarrius Brewer scored a game-high 25 points and Southeast Missouri (14-15, 8-8) made six free throws in the last 21 seconds to secure a 79-75 win over SIU Edwardsville (9-18, 5-11) Saturday at the Show Me Center.
SEMO picked up its fourth-straight victory, matching its longest winning streak of the season.
The Redhawks were up by 14 (71-57) with 3:55 left to play. Following Daniel Simmons' two free throws at the 2:22 mark, SIUE went on a 9-0 run and pulled to within three when Jaylen McCoy made a layup and converted a 3-point play to make it 73-70 with 1:01 on the clock.
SEMO calmly hit six-consecutive free throws in the final seconds, including four by Brewer, to put the Cougars away.
Brewer and fellow freshman Justin Carpenter each scored double figures in the first half to help SEMO grab a 35-28 lead at the intermission.
The Redhawks shot 50 percent from the field on 13-of-26 attempts with Brewer (12) and Carpenter (13) combining for 25 points. Carpenter's dunk off a steal and assist by Jonathan Dalton gave SEMO its first lead at 8-7 at the 16:14 mark of the first half.
Once Brewer knocked down a 3-pointer to regain a 13-12 edge after the Redhawks fell behind by two, SEMO never trailed again.
Brewer added another 3-pointer and the Redhawks later widened their lead to 33-23 on Carpenter's layup with 2:43 remaining.
Brewer shot 5-of-10 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 11-of-13 at the free throw line. His 11 free throws tied a career-high as he scored 25 or more points in his second-straight contest.
Simmons followed with a double-double 13 points and 11 rebounds, the first of his career. Carpenter scored 13 points and grabbed six boards, while Milos Vranes chipped in 10 points off the bench.
As a team, SEMO shot 80 percent at the free throw line making a season best 28-of-35 attempts. The Redhawks also led for over 35 minutes (35:25) and outrebounded SIUE, 36-33.
All five starters finished with double figures in the scoring column for the Cougars. Christian Ellis paved the way with 19 points. SIUE outscored SEMO, 46-44, in the second half and made all of its free throws (17-of-23) in the final 20 minutes.
SEMO completed its third season sweep of an OVC opponent this year.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 64, UT MARTIN 57
MARTIN, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois went without a field goal for just over ten and a half minutes on Saturday night but in the end the Panthers were able to lock up a spot in this year’s Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with a 64-57 win at UT Martin.
EIU improved to 10-17 overall, 6-10 in the OVC. UTM fell to 9-20 overall, 4-12 in the OVC.
The Panthers would lead by 12 points at 42-30 just over midway through the second half extending the lead with a couple of free throws.
UT Martin went on an 11-1 run taking advantage of a Panthers ten minute, forty second stretch where they did not have a field goal. UTM took the lead with 10:12 to play on a Darius Thompson lay-up at 43-42.
The two teams would be tied for the fourth and final time of the game at the 4:11 mark as Matthew Butler made a free throw to even the score at 54-54.
Muusa Dama put the Panthers in front on the next possession with a dunk followed by an Aboubacar Diallo free throw that gave EIU a three point lead with 2:48 to play. Montell Goodwin drained a 3-pointer which put the Panthers in control with 1:51 to play at 60-54. Goodwin finished with 18 points.
Both teams opened with 8-0 runs with Butler knocking down a pair of 3-pointers for the Skyhawks. EIU answered with 3-pointers by Goodwin and Ray Crossland.
Crossland had a big first half for the Panthers scoring 11 of his 12 points. He would score five points for EIU as the Panthers went on a 10-0 run in the latter part of the first half. EIU began the run at the 6:50 mark of the first half holding a 24-22 lead.
The Panthers would hold UTM scoreless for just over five and a half minutes as the Panthers held a 36-26 halftime lead.
Dama rounded out the Panthers double figure scorers with 12 points. D’Angelo Jackson pulled down a game high ten rebounds with five on the offensive glass.
Butler had 18 points for UTM, Fatodd Lewis added 11.
MURRAY STATE 75, TENNESSEE TECH 65
MURRAY, Ky. - Winning for the ninth-straight time, the Murray State Racers punctuated the home portion of the 2017-18 season with an impressive 75-65 victory over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Saturday at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
On a night when the 2018 MSU Hall of Fame class was honored and great Isaiah Canaan's jersey No. 3 was retired, the Racers sent seniors Terrell Miller, Jr., and Jonathan Stark out winners on Senior Day.
The Racers (22-5) won their final nine regular-season home games to finish 14-2 on their home floor. The win also clinched no worse than a No. 2 seed in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. With two road games to finish the regular-season next week at Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay, the Racers are 14-2 in OVC play and still tied with Belmont at the top.
After pouring in 32 points Thursday, Stark scored 30 to lead all scorers in the win over TTU. Freshman Ja Morant scored 14, while Miller added 10.
A 12-3 start for the Racers was just what they wanted. It was helped along by a pair of brilliant blocked shots by Morant and each let easy baskets. MSU pushed to its largest lead of the game when Stark hit a 3-pointer at the 7:59 mark when it was 25-9. MSU had another 16-point lead only 1:49 before the intermission, but Tech whittled it down to 28-27 at halftime.
Tech got as close as they would get when they made it a 65-57 game with 5:42 left, before the Racers put the game away.
Even though the Racers committed a season-high 20 turnovers, they forced TTU into 17 and held them to 3-of-16 from the 3-point line for 19 percent. MSU was excellent from the free throw line and hit 79 percent on 19-of-24, as Stark went perfect in nine attempts.
BELMONT 108, MOREHEAD STATE 65
NASHVILLE - Behind 36 points and 20 rebounds from junior Dylan Windler, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Morehead State, 108-65, Saturday night.
Belmont set a number of program records, including Windler registering the first 30-20 game the Bruins' NCAA Division I era.
Windler simply wowed; posting a double-double midway through the first half, and tallying 26 points – on 11-of-13 shooting - and 14 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
Belmont led 51-28 at halftime.
Windler added a four-point play early in the second half as the Bruins went on a 15-0 run to lead 66-30 with 16:51 left.
The 6-7 swingman established a new Curb Event Center single-game record for rebounds, coming two shy of the arena scoring mark.
Belmont also set a Curb Event Center record with 108 points, the most scored by the team in 17 years (117 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 1/20/01).
Windler led five Bruins in double figures. Amanze Egekeze had 17 points, Kevin McClain had 15, while Mack Mercer and Tyler Hadden each scored 13.
Jordan Walker led Morehead State (6-21, 2-14 OVC) with 21 points.
Belmont (22-7, 14-2 OVC) has won 17 of its last 19 games.
AUSTIN PEAY 60, JACKSONVILLE STATE 57
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - It was a good Saturday night for Austin Peay State University men’s basketball.
Thanks to a thrilling 60-57 win against Jacksonville State (18-11, 9-7 OVC) and some movement around the conference, the Governors (16-12, 11-5 OVC) find themselves all alone in third place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, two games clear of their closest competition after the Gamecocks, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech all suffered losses.
The Gamecocks entered the Military Appreciation Night contest as league-leaders in points allowed per game and 19th nationally in opposing field goal percentage, but it was the Governors who put the clamps down defensively in the early going. Jacksonville State hit just one of its first 15 shots from the floor, allowing Austin Peay to take a 19-8 lead at the 7:31 mark.
Following their early doldrums, the visitors hit three consecutive shots to get on track and finished the half hitting six of their final 10 attempts. Still, the Governors were able to enter the break with a comfortable 10-point lead, with senior Tre’ Ivory drilling a three-pointer moments before the end of the half.
A 14-4 Gamecock run to open the second half completely erased the Austin Peay advantage; as poorly as Jacksonville State shot in the first half, the Gamecocks hit eight of their first 10 attempts in the second. The Govs were able to stem the tide by hitting five straight from the floor, pushing the Austin Peay lead back to eight at the eight-minute mark in the half.
The momentum swung back-and-forth down the stretch, with Jacksonville State narrowing the lead to two points on a Marlon Hunter layup and a Christian Cunningham free-throw with 53 seconds left. Close and late, the game came down to free-throws, and the Govs had Zach Glotta. The O’Fallon, Missouri native scored six of his 11 points at the stripe, including a clutch point with eight seconds left to push the advantage back to three points. A Jason Burnell three-pointer with mere seconds to go hit the iron and the Govs earned their 11th conference win for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 72, TENNESSEE STATE 59
NASHVILLE - A hot shooting night helped the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team to a 72-59 road win over Tennessee State University on Saturday at the Gentry Center.
The Colonels shot 53 percent from the field, 42 percent from three-point range and 78 percent at the free throw line.
Eastern began the second half with a seven-point lead but scored 14 of the first 20 points of the second half to stretch the margin to 14 for the first time. Nick Mayo got it started with a jumper at the 19:39 mark for the 1,515th point of his career, moving past James Tillman (1978-80) into ninth place on EKU’s all-time scoring list.
Two three-pointers by Dujuanta Weaver finished it off and gave the Colonels a 45-31 lead with 15:36 to go.
The margin remained at 14 when Mayo scored six straight points for Eastern Kentucky. His dunk off an alley-oop pass from Zach Charles with 14:36 left in the game was his 11th point of the game, and 1,519th of his career. With that basket the junior moved past Corey Walden’s (2012-15) career total of 1,518 points and into eighth place all-time. A pair of free throws by Mayo with 13:40 on the clock made it 51-37 in favor of the visitors.
The Tigers whittled the lead down to seven on two free throws by Delano Spencer and one from Stokley Chaffee Jr. to make it 59-52 with 5:40 to go.
Tennessee State got within seven again on a dunk by Christian Mekowulu with 4:38 remaining, but the Tigers didn’t score again until just 48 seconds remained. The Colonels rolled off nine unanswered during that time to go in front 72-56. The 16-point advantage was their largest of the night.
Mayo scored a game-best 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Charles had 11 points and a season-high 13 rebounds.
TSU shot just 38 percent from the field and 24 percent from three-point land. EKU hit on 10-of-24 from deep while the Tigers made just 5-of-21. The Colonels held a 32-29 rebounding advantage.
Eastern Kentucky fell behind 7-2 to start the game, but used the three-pointer to fuel a 20-6 run. Dillon Avare hit two of his four first half three-pointers during the run. Charles and Mayo each hit one from long range. Mayo’s triple with 10 minutes left in the first half capped the run and made it a nine-point lead, 22-13.
Three-pointers by Avare and Lachlan Anderson allowed the Colonels to take an 11-point lead, 31-20, with 1:52 before intermission. EKU went to the locker room ahead by seven, 31-24.
Avare finished the night 5-of-9 from three-point range for 15 points.