THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 88, Jacksonville State 70 (Berea, Ky.)
@Morehead State 67, Tennessee Tech 61
Eastern Illinois 66, @UT Martin 64
SIUE 87, @Southeast Missouri 86 (3OT)
@Austin Peay 89, Tennessee State 74
Belmont 79, @Murray State 66
EASTERN KENTUCKY 88, JACKSONVILLE STATE 70
BEREA, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team built a 28-point first half lead on its way to an 88-70 victory over Jacksonville State University, a team that entered the game having won seven straight overall and with a perfect 6-0 record in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Nick Mayo led Eastern Kentucky (10-10, 3-4 OVC) with a game-best 22 points. Tre King finished with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Kelvin Robinson totaled 17 points, seven boards and five assists.
Jacksonville State (14-6, 6-1 OVC) scored the first seven points of the game, but once EKU righted the ship, momentum swung the other way and the Colonels raced out to a big first half lead.
Mayo got Eastern on the board with a three-pointer, a free throw and a jumper to make it 9-6. Lachlan Anderson’s three-pointer from the right wing tied the score for the first time, 11-11. Neither team scored for more than two minutes until Jamall Gregory connected on a basket to give the Gamecocks a 13-11 advantage.
From there EKU scored 13 unanswered to fuel a 32-4 run. Robinson nearly single-handedly got the run started, scoring eight of the first 13. His second old-fashioned three-point play made it 24-13. A three-pointer from Mayo made it a 20-point game, 37-17. His baseline jumper with 4:41 left in the first half capped the run and had the Colonels on top by 26, 43-17.
Cameron Carmical’s three-pointer with 35 seconds on the clock in the first half pushed the margin to 28, 53-25.
Eastern Kentucky shot 53 percent from the field in the first half and hit on 7-of-16 (44 percent) of its shots from behind the arc. EKU turned the ball over just six times, while forcing JSU into 15 turnovers. The Colonels had a 16-4 edge in points off turnovers.
Jacksonville State staged a furious rally to start the second half, scoring 21 of the first 25 points, including a run of 15 straight. Jason Burnell capped both runs with a three-pointer to get the Gamecocks within single digits, 57-48, with 14:36 to go in the game.
The Colonels answered. Carmical’s old-fashioned three-point play put an end to the JSU run. Jomaru Brown hit a three-pointer. The six unanswered began a 13-3 run that put the game away. Dujuanta Weaver finished it off with a three-pointer for a 70-51 EKU lead with 10:22 remaining to play.
Jacksonville State never got closer than 13 the rest of the game.
EKU shot 49 percent from the field for the game and 41 percent from long range. Eastern out-rebounded JSU 41-40 and forced 20 turnovers.
Gregory led the Gamecocks with 15 points. Burnell had nine points and 11 rebounds.
MOREHEAD STATE 67, TENNESSEE TECH 61
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball Eagles won their fourth straight contest, defeating Tennessee Tech in a slugfest, 67-61, Thursday night at Johnson Arena. With tonight's win, the Eagles have won four in a row for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.
Morehead State improved to 8-12 on the season, and 4-3 in Ohio Valley Conference action. Tennessee Tech fell back to 6-14 overall, 2-5 on the league slate.
Senior Lamontray Harris logged his eighth double-double of the year, and the 16thtotal for his career, tabbing 12 points and 11 rebounds. Throughout the Eagles' win streak, the Louisville native is shooting 27-for-38 (.711) from the floor.
MSU was led in scoring by junior Jordan Walker, who pitched in 20 points. The Indianapolis product also nailed 4-of-8 from behind the arc. In the last four contests, he is clocking in at 10-for-19 (.526) from downtown.
Rounding out the double-figure performances for the Eagles was sophomore Malek Green, chipping in with 11 points. The second-year player from Cincinnati also contributed on the boards with six, alongside fellow sophomore James Baker, reeling in the same amount of boards.
Tennessee Tech was led by Junior Clay, who poured in 26 points.
The Eagles led by as many as 16 early in the second half, before the neighboring majestic birds shrunk the deficit to three with 4:27 remaining. However, MSU was able to overcome its mid-game slump at the charity stripe, connecting on its attempts down the stretch to close out a victory.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 66, UT MARTIN 64
MARTIN, Tenn. - The late game heroics continued for Eastern Illinois men’s basketball on Thursday night as the Panthers pulled out a 66-64 road win at UT Martin.
EIU improved to 12-8 overall, 5-2 in the OVC. UTM fell to 5-13, 0-7 in the OVC.
Josiah Wallace drained a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in the game to give the Panthers the final lead. Freshman Cam Burrell then blocked a put-back shot attempt under the basket as time expired to seal the victory for the Panthers.
EIU trailed by 12 points at the half and slowly chipped away at the lead. The Panthers opened the second half with six straight points by JaQualis Matlock as he finished with 13 points.
A steal by Matlock that resulted in a dunk by Burrell cut the Skyhawks lead down to one point with 10:31 to play in the half. Burrell would then give EIU a lead with back-to-back baskets as the Panthers led 56-53. Burrell would finish with 11 points.
UT Martin responded to the Panthers run by turning to the 3-point shot. Kevin Little knocked down a 3-pointer followed by a 3-pointer by Delfincko Bogan with 3:48 to play that gave the Skyhawks a five point lead, 63-58. Little had 16 points and Bogan 12 to lead UTM. The Skyhawks were 11-of-28 from 3-point range for the game.
Five straight points by Wallace tied the game before Quintin Dove would convert one of two at the free throw line with 31 seconds left to give UTM a 64-63 lead.
Wallace then capped the Panthers second straight late game win with his 3-pointer as he scored 17 points to lead EIU.
UT Martin pushed out to an 11-point lead with just over 3 minutes to play in the first half taking advantage of a Panthers late shooting slump. Bogan knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 31-20.
EIU would answer Bogan’s 3-pointer with a quick 7-0 run of its own to trim the lead to 31-27 with 1:32 to play. Wallace triggered the run with a 3-pointer followed by back-to-back baskets by Ben Harvey.
The Skyhawks closed the half on an 8-0 run to lead 39-27 at the half. Little scored five of the eight points in the run to finish with ten first half points.
Mack Smith rounded out the Panthers double figure scorers with 14 points as he knocked down four 3-pointers. Smith extended his consecutive games with a 3-pointer made streak to 37 games.
SIUE 87, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 86 (3OT)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - IUE men's basketball outlast Southeast Missouri 87-86 in three overtimes Thursday at the Show Me Center.
The Cougars snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 2-5 in Ohio Valley Conference play. SIUE is 6-13 overall. Southeast Missouri has now lost five straight. The Redhawks fell to 1-6 in the OVC and 6-14 overall.
It is the fourth overtime game this season for SIUE and the first overtime game the Cougars had won since defeating Southeast Missouri in an overtime game at Vadalabene Center in 2014.
Brandon Jackson recorded his second career double-double to lead four SIUE players in double figures. Jackson scored 18 points and hauled in a career-best 15 rebounds. The 15 boards are one shy of SIUE's Division I record.
David McFarland scored a team-high 21 points. Tyresse Williford scored 18 and grabbed nine rebounds. Cameron Williams scored 13 points and added six rebounds. He picked up two blocks, including on Southeast Missouri's Isaiah Gable on the potential game-winning shot as time expired in the third overtime period.
As a team, SIUE pulled down 58 rebounds to set a new Division I-era school record. The Cougars outrebounded Southeast Missouri 58-51 and hauled in 21 offensive rebounds to score 20 second chance points.
Ledarrius Brewer scored a game-high 24 points to lead Southeast Missouri. Gabe McGlothan turned his first career double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Sage Tolbert also scored 18 for the Redhawks.
AUSTIN PEAY 89, TENNESSEE STATE 74
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - With all five starters in double figures, Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team was able to fend off a tough Tennessee State squad in an 89-74 decision in the Dunn Center, Thursday.
The contest had far-reaching implications around the conference; with the win and losses to previously unbeaten Murray State and Jacksonville State, Austin Peay (14-6, 6-1 OVC) finds itself once more in prime position in the Ohio Valley Conference race. Tennessee State (5-14, 2-5) could not slow down the Govs despite a solid night on their end of the court.
Tennessee State averages nearly 25 fouls per night—last in the nation—for a reason, and it showed in the first half. Very few Austin Peay forays into the paint went uncontested; any time a Governor ventured into the paint, the defense converged to alter the shot—or failing at that, the Tigers made their presence felt the old-fashioned way, by bodying up the Govs and turning the contest into an ugly interior battle of wills.
With the post game devolving into a physical slugfest in the paint, Austin Peay relied on the perimeter prowess of Zach Glotta and the midrange game of Chris Porter-Bunton to stake a 10-point lead into the break.
Terry Taylor had a quiet first half, but he more than made up for it in the second. Even though the Bowling Green native didn’t hit his first shot from the floor until 15:11 remained in the second half, his very presence always had to be accounted for. When he wasn’t scoring over the final 20 minutes, he was setting up teammates with passes out of double teams on one end and controlling the glass and protecting the rim on the other.
One of his favored targets in the final frame was Jarrett Givens. The grad transfer helped the Govs extend their lead early in the second thanks to a pair of threes and a pair of old-school three-point plays; by the midway point in the half, the Austin Peay lead was at 14.
Tennessee State wasn’t going away; the Tigers cut the deficit to single digits with 6:45 to go on a Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey three. But immediately following a timeout, Taylor sank a jumper in the paint to put the lead back in double-digits for the remainder of the game; the Govs outscored Tennessee State 19-12 over the final six and a half minutes of play.
MURRAY STATE 79, BELMONT 66
MURRAY, Ky. - Behind balanced offense and unified team defense, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Murray State, 79-66, Thursday night.
Senior Kevin McClain led Belmont with 23 points and four assists while freshman Nick Muszynski had 20 points, six assists, and three blocked shots.
Belmont held Murray State scoreless for a near nine-minute stretch, building an 18-6 lead midway through the first half on a Muszynski score. And though the Racers would score the next eight points, Belmont demonstrated poise and execution to keep the CFSB Center record crowd at bay.
A transition basket from freshman Grayson Murphy and an interior score from freshman Caleb Hollander increased the Belmont lead to 32-21. Belmont led 33-26 at halftime.
The Bruins limited Murray State to 8-for-32 shooting in the first half, and only two field goals from two-point range in one of the program's top defensive halves in recent memory.
Muszynski continued his efficient evening, delivering three baskets and assisting on a fourth in the first three minutes of the second half. Murray State got within four points on seven occasions in the second half, but Belmont had a response every time.
Senior All-America candidate Dylan Windler buried a 3-pointer to push the margin to seven, before consecutive 3-pointers from sophomore Nick Hopkins and McClain gave Belmont a 57-47 lead with 10:01 remaining.
McClain would score 11 points in the final 10 minutes, several strong finishes at the rim as the Bruins managed time and score. Another Hopkins' wing 3-pointer made the score 70-56 with 4:51 left.
All told, Belmont shot 53 percent from the field, including 64 percent in the second half. The Bruins had 20 assists on 33 made field goals.
Belmont limited Murray State to a season-low 32 percent shooting from the field.
Ja Morant led Murray State (15-3, 6-1 OVC) with 20 points on 5-for-19 shooting.