SATURDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 75, Jacksonville State 67
Belmont 83, @Morehead State 73
@Eastern Illinois 79, Tennessee Tech 71
Austin Peay 96, @Southeast Missouri 81
Tennessee State 73, @Eastern Kentucky 60
Murray State 66, @UT Martin 53
SIUE 75, JACKSONVILLE STATE 67
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The SIUE Cougars led from start to finish and delighted an Alumni Day crowd of 1,507 by toppling Jacksonville State 75-67 on Saturday afternoon at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars snapped a five-game losing streak by improving to 8-15 overall and 4-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Jacksonville State dropped to 17-8 and 8-4.
David McFarland scored a team-high 15 points, Keenan Simmons punched in a season-best 14 points and Jalen Henry contributed 13 points and seven rebounds for SIUE, which saluted its Golden Anniversary team at halftime. Members of the Cougars' first team in 1967-68, coached by the late Harry Gallatin, were honored at halftime.
The Cougars took that to heart, building a 6-0 lead, shooting head 33-16 at one point and owning a 38-30 halftime advantage. Jacksonville State closed to within 43-40 early in the second half, but SIUE wouldn't let the Gamecocks snare the lead.
Then the Cougars closed it out in style with McFarland and Simmons, among others, supplying some key points down the stretch. Simmons sank four free throws in the final 35.8 seconds to put the finishing touches on the victory.
McFarland scored 11 points in the second half and Simmons added 10 more. Henry poured in 10 of his points in the first half. Christian Ellis collected nine points, six rebounds and had five assists.
Harris noted, "These (two) guys have been consistent all season and it's good to see them have success. We have 12 guys who can play and everybody stepped up today for us. We have a lot of resolve and we responded after Jacksonville State came back on us."
SIUE made 24 of 53 shots, including 7 of 21 from 3-point range. They converted 20 of 27 free throws and outrebounded Jacksonville State 34-31. The Gamecocks made 22 of 50 shots, with 4 of 12 coming from 3-point land. They sank 19 of 27 foul shots.
BELMONT 83, MOREHEAD STATE 73
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Behind a game-high 25 points from junior Kevin McClain, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Morehead State, 83-73, Saturday.
Belmont (19-6, 11-1 OVC) has won 14 of its last 15 games, and joins the exclusive company of Duke, Gonzaga, and Michigan State as programs to win 19 or more games 13 consecutive seasons.
The Bruins led virtually wire-to-wire, as junior Dylan Windler helped Belmont close the first half on a 10-3 run and lead 43-30 at halftime.
Consecutive 3-pointers from freshman Nick Hopkins and McClain increased the lead to 17, 53-36, with 16:41 remaining.
A Lamontray Harris basket got Morehead State within 58-51, but a conventional 3-point play from junior Mack Mercer punctuated a 12-2 Belmont response and gave the Bruins a 70-53 lead with 6:52 left.
McClain led five Bruins in double figures with 25 points. Windler recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Londell King led Morehead State (6-17, 2-10 OVC) with 16 points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 79, TENNESSEE TECH 71
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Mack Smith set the Eastern Illinois freshman single game scoring record with 31 points and walk-on guard Shawn Wilson provided key minutes as the Panthers picked up a 79-71 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon.
EIU improved to 8-15 overall, 4-8 in the OVC. TTU fell to 16-9 overall, 8-4 in the OVC.
Shaq Calhoun was explosive for Tennessee Tech in the first half as the Golden Eagles built an early six point lead. The South Alabama transfer had 17 points in the first half as TTU took a 32-29 lead into the locker room. EIU’s defense would hold Calhoun in check in the second half as he finished with 23 points and did not score again until 1:36 remained in the game.
After TTU pushed the second half lead to five points on free throws by Courtney Alexander, EIU answered with an 8-0 run as Montell Goodwin and Ray Crossland hit 3-pointers followed by a Smith jumper in the lane. Another 3-pointer by Goodwin gave EIU a four-point lead with 13:56 to play at 42-38. Goodwin finished with 23 points going 4-of-5 from 3-point range as the senior moved into 10th place on the EIU career 3-pointers made list.
Kajon Mack trimmed EIU’s lead back to one point with 12:39 to play only to see EIU go on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to give the Panthers a comfortable margin. Smith scored the first ten points of the run as he knocked down 12-of-17 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Smith broke the previous EIU freshman game scoring record of 28 points set by Joey Miller during the 2012 season. Wilson capped the run with a drive to the basket as he had five points and six assists in 27 minutes of action.
TTU continued to battle into the final minute with a 3-pointer by Mack cutting EIU’s lead to four points with 31 seconds remaining. Each time TTU scored in the final 30 seconds, Goodwin was fouled on the inbounds for EIU and sank all six free throw attempts. EIU was 14-of-20 from the stripe for the day.
Aboubacar Diallo led EIU with 11 rebounds as the Panthers won the battle on the glass by a 37-29 margin.
Mack had 13 points for TTU as he was one of four Golden Eagles in double figures. Alexander and Mason Ramsey each added ten.
AUSTIN PEAY 96, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 81
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Another spectacular offensive outing combined with lockdown second-half defense to give Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team a second-straight road win, this one a 96-81 triumph at the Show Me Center against Southeast Missouri.
The victory moves the Governors to 14-10 on the season (9-3 OVC), while Southeast Missouri falls to 10-15 (4-8). With Austin Peay’s victory and losses by Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State, the Govs find themselves alone in third place in the OVC standings.
Senior Averyl Ugba got the afternoon off to a solid start, racking up 14 of his 16 first-half points in just the first 3:11 of action, and when he had to hit the bench with foul trouble, his teammates more than picked up the slack. Austin Peay hit eight three-pointers in the opening half en route to a season-best 51 first-half points.
However, Southeast Missouri gave is good as it got in the opening half, hitting 66.7 percent (18-of-27) from the floor. The Redhawks hit seven first-half threes of their own to make it 51-49 Govs at the break.
The Redhawks were unlikely to hit better than 65 percent in back-to-back halves, and with Southeast Missouri’s shooting returning to a pedestrian 44.4 (12-of-27) in the second half, Austin Peay’s offense went from hot to scorching. The Govs upped their shooting to 58.6 percent in the second half, outscoring the Redhawks 45-32 over the final 20 minutes.
The Govs broke the game open midway through the final frame. After a Denzel Mahoney lay-up brought the Redhawks back within a bucket (64-62) with 12:55 remaining, Austin Peay embarked on a 15-2 run thanks to six points from Zach Glotta and four from Ugba. The Austin Peay lead would not dip back into single digits for the remainder of the contest.
TENNESSEE STATE 73, EASTERN KENTUCKY 60
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to four games thanks to a 73-60 road win at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night at McBrayer Arena in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The Tigers (12-11, 7-5 OVC) shot 50 percent (24-of-48) from the floor and finished with a 36-25 rebounding edge. TSU scored the final four points of the first half to take a 32-28 halftime edge. In the second half, the Tigers outscored the Colonels (8-17, 2-10 OVC) by a 41-32 margin to pull away.
Delano Spencer scored a team-high 20 points, tying a career high with six made three-pointers, while Christian Mekowulu added 19 points and five rebounds. Picking up his first double-double of the season and second of his career was Darreon Reddick with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
MURRAY STATE 66, UT MARTIN 53
MARTIN, Tenn. (AP) - Ja Morant scored 18 points, Jonathan Stark had 17 and Murray State used a late run to pull away from UT Martin 66-53 on Saturday night.
Morant grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and had five assists while Stark made five 3-pointers in the first half for the Racers (18-5, 10-2), who remained alone in second place behind Belmont (11-1) in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Morant's 3-pointer with nine minutes left gave the Racers the lead for good but it took a 12-0 run over the final 5:22 to put the game away. Terrell Miller Jr. and Shaq Buchanan scored 10 points each.
Matthew Butler scored 19 points and Fatodd Lewis 12 for the Skyhawks (8-17, 3-9).
The Racers had a 20-5 advantage on points scored off turnovers and were 15 of 24 at the line to 6 of 8 for UTM.
The teams combined for 59 3-point attempts, making 16.