THURSDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 77, @Tennessee Tech 66
@Belmont 97, Southeast Missouri 71
@SIUE 83, Morehead State 76
@Jacksonville State 88, Murray State 68
@Eastern Illinois 67, Eastern Kentucky 66
@Tennessee State 68, UT Martin 67
AUSTIN PEAY 77, TENNESSEE TECH 66
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The first half was a defensive struggle. The second, a lay-up line. But at the end, Austin Peay State University men's basketball team had done more than enough to snap a six-game losing streak in the Eblen Center by virtue of a 77-66 decision before a national audience, Thursday.
The victory put Austin Peay (15-7, 7-2 Ohio Valley Conference) back into the win column ahead of what's shaping up to be a massive league contest against Jacksonville State on Saturday. Tennessee Tech (7-15, 3-6) remains in a heated battle for one of the last OVC Tournament slots as the regular season hits the midway point.
Despite a first half that had its share of struggles from the floor—Austin Peay shot just 37.8 percent in the opening period—the Govs quickly built a double-digit lead on the Golden Eagles thanks to stifling defense. Tennessee Tech hit just two shots from the floor over the first 10 minutes of play, by which point the Govs had already built a 13-point lead.
Two Cade Crossland three-pointers less than a minute apart woke up the home crowd, but Austin Peay quickly recovered and added to their lead, which reached 17 on a Steve Harris jumper with 3:15 to play in the half. Despite Tennessee Tech's Corey Tillery beating the first-half buzzer with a jumper in the lane, Austin Peay possessed a 13-point lead at halftime, built in part by a 15-1 advantage in points off turnover.
Where both teams had long stretches of being unable to create easy buckets in the first half, the second half was a different story. To be fair to both defenses, few were the wide-open chances that weren't created by a turnover on the other end of the floor; both teams hit more than their share of tough shots, either contested with a hand in the face or absorbing contact and finishing at the rim.
Chris Porter-Bunton, Terry Taylor and Zach Glotta took control at various points for the Govs in the half. Porter-Bunton scored Austin Peay's first six points in the half, while Taylor with Austin Peay's next eight points as the lead grew to 20 points with 15:39 to go. Glotta sprinkled in a trio of three-pointers, including two less than a minute apart near the 12-minute mark.
For most of the half, the Austin Peay advantage stayed in the 15-20 point range as the Governors defense continually stymied Tennessee Tech. However, after a Hunter Vick three at the 5:01 mark cut the Austin Peay lead to 18, Tennessee Tech seemed to come alive; the Golden Eagles hit five of their final six shots from the field, cutting the Governor lead to nine with 31 seconds to play, but it was too late to do more than throw a brief bit of concern into the Govs by that point.
BELMONT 97, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 71
NASHVILLE - Behind career nights from its three leading scorers, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Southeast Missouri, 97-71, Thursday night.
Senior Kevin McClain scored a career-high 31 points while freshman Nick Muszynski added a career-high 27 points as the Bruins led wire-to-wire for their fourth consecutive victory.
Senior All-America candidate Dylan Windler added 23 points, 16 rebounds and four assists, recording his 27th career double-double before the end of the first half.
Belmont led 47-29 at halftime.
Muszynski's post presence and relentless drives from McClain and Windler worked the Redhawks into foul trouble; the Bruins went 32-for-34 from the free throw line.
Belmont, which led by as many as 34 points, shot 53 percent (29-for-55) from the field - including 60 percent in the second half.
Ledarrius Brewer led Southeast Missouri (7-15, 2-7 OVC) with 22 points.
Belmont (16-4, 7-2 OVC) has won 114 of its last 123 home games.
SIUE 83, MOREHEAD STATE 76
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE overcame a 16-point deficit to post one of its most meaningful men's basketball wins of the season Thursday night at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars erupted for an explosive 51-point second half to overtake Morehead State 83-76 in Ohio Valley Conference play and improve to 7-14 overall. SIUE lifted its record to 3-6 in the league. Morehead State dropped to 8-15 and 4-5.
Tyresse Williford's 23 points, including 16 in the second half, spurred the Cougars, who recorded their biggest comeback of the season. Williford served as a catalyst in the big second half when SIUE made 17 of 26 shots. He also sank four free throws in the final 18.9 seconds to put the finishing touches on the win.
Morehead State led 34-18 with 6:30 remaining in the first half before the Cougars rolled up their sleeves and went to work. They used an 11-0 run to get back into the game and trailed 40-32 at halftime.
And SIUE was far from finished. Reserve Jaylen McCoy sparked them in the second half with an eight-point flurry in 2.5 minutes and the Cougars caught the Eagles at 53-53 with 12:36 remaining.
David McFarland tallied 18 points, including 13 in the second half, while Brandon Jackson punched in 13 points. The Cougars made 30 of 54 shots, 8 of 21 from three-point range and 15 of 21 foul shots. They also outrebounded Morehead State 37-28 and committed only four second-half turnovers, and 14 in all.
Jordan Walker's 22 points led Morehead State, which made 22 of 55 shots, 9 of 23 treys and converted 23 of 27 free throws. Yet once SIUE forged ahead 64-63 on a McFarland free throw with 7:19 remaining, the Eagles couldn't catch the Cougars. They hiked their lead to 72-63 with 4:26 to play and made their free throws to secure the win.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 88, MURRAY STATE 68
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team claimed the top spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Thursday in front of a sellout-crowd at Pete Mathews Coliseum, downing Murray State 88-68.
Senior Jason Burnell recorded his team-leading 10th double-double of the year on 21 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Fellow senior Marlon Hunter led the offense with 24 points, while junior point guard Ty Hudson pocketed 15 points with five assists.
The Gamecocks (16-6, 8-1 OVC) now sit atop the league standings, breaking the tie for first over the Racers (16-4, 7-2 OVC) in just the program's third win over MSU. Ray Harper now owns two of those three wins as JSU's head coach.
The Gamecocks received a major boost from their 3,718 fans in attendance; a historic gathering that represents Pete Mathews Coliseum's first Division I capacity crowd.
Jacksonville State took a 41-34 to the locker room after shooting better than 53-percent in the first half. Hunter tallied 10 of his 24 points on four-for-four shooting and four free throws.
Murray State led by two on a KJ Williams layup to begin the game, but it would prove to be one of the largest advantage the Racers could muster for the game. MSU's last lead came at 9:08 on a Ja Morant 3-pointer, 23-21. After the trey from the NBA prospect, Jacksonville State went on a 20-11 run to close out the period.
JSU opened its lead up to double digits just three minutes into the second half. Burnell capped off an 8-4 stretch to begin the period with a layup to put Jacksonville State up 11. The lead dipped below 10 just once for the remainder of the game as the Gamecocks outscored the Racers 47-34 through the final 20 minutes.
Burnell totaled 11 points in the second half and out-rebounded his first-half total by eight, and Hunter matched his first-half points total of 12. The two helped a dominating effort in the paint that saw the Gamecocks win 50-24 on the inside game.
The JSU defense forced 11 turnovers and outscored the Racers 16-5 on miscues. The league's best field-goal percentage defense and second-best scoring defense also limited Murray State to 40-percent shooting for nearly 16 points below its scoring average.
Top-prospect Morant scored a Murray State-best 22 points and added 11 helpers.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 67, EASTERN KENTUCKY 66
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois survived two game winning opportunities by Eastern Kentucky in the final six seconds as the Panthers hung on for a 67-66 win over the Colonels at Lantz Arena on Thursday night.
EIU improved to 13-9 overall, 6-3 in the OVC. It was the Panthers eighth win this season in a game decided by five points or less. EKU fell to 10-12 overall, 3-6 in the OVC.
The late game dramatics played out over the final 3:40 of the game as Nick Mayo put the Colonels up three points as he converted at the foul line. Mack Smith would hit a jumper in the lane with 2:41 to play to cut the lead to one point.
Both teams would then have players go 1-of-2 from the foul line on the next two possessions. For EKU it was Tre King going 1-of-2. For EIU it was Josiah Wallace. Wallace would get redemption with 17 seconds remaining as he would make two free throws staking EIU to the 67-66 advantage.
With six seconds left the Colonels dumped the ball down low to Mayo who missed a shot that Cam Burrell cleaned off the glass. Burrell was fouled and missed a pair of free throws with 2.7 seconds left. Kelvin Robinson would miss a long jumper as time expired to hand EIU the win.
Burrell was part of a solid night of play off the bench for the Panthers as he finished with ten points and ten rebounds for his second double-double this season. Ben Harvey added 11 points and Rade Kukobat eight as the Panthers scored 32 points off the bench.
In the first half Eastern Kentucky jumped out to a six point lead with 6:26 to play as Mayo went to the foul line. EIU head coach Jay Spoonhour was called for a technical foul on the next EIU possession resulting in two more free throws for Mayo that pushed the Colonels lead to 25-17 with 6:14 to play.
The technical seemed to light a fire for EIU as the Panthers went on a 10-2 run and would go up by nine at the half, 39-30.
In the second half EIU extended its lead to 11 points on two occasions. The first on a free throws by Mack Smith. The second by a three point by play by Harvey with 14:14 to play.
EKU whittled away at the lead eventually tying the game at 62-62 with 4:55 to play on a Mayo jumper. Mayo free throws at the 4:26 mark gave the Colonels a late lead and set up the exciting finish. Mayo had 15 points and ten rebounds as three Colonels scored in double figures. Dujuanta Weaver had 18 and Jomaru Brown 13.
Smith led EIU in scoring with 17 points as he knocked down four 3-pointers. Smith has now hit at least one 3-pointer in 39 straight games, the longest active streak in the OVC. Wallace added 14.
TENNESSEE STATE 68, UT MARTIN 68
NASHVILLE (AP) - Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey's steal led to his winning basket with 3.3 seconds left in Tennessee State's 68-67 victory over UT Martin on Thursday night.
Fitzpatrick-Dorsey sank a 3-pointer to get the Tigers (6-15, 3-6 Ohio Valley) to within 67-66 with 52 seconds remaining then stole the ball with 20 seconds left before he drove in for a left-handed scoop shot. Preston Park's half-court attempt went off the front of the rim.
Fitzpatrick-Dorsey finished with 23 points with three 3-pointers. Michael Littlejohn also had three treys and scored 13 points with Kamar McKnight adding 11, 10 in the first half when Tennessee State led 35-26.
Craig Randall II, a midyear transfer from Duquesne making his debut after joining the Skyhawks on Jan. 7, scored 17 points. Randall scored 10 points in a 17-2 run to rally the Skyhawks (6-14, 1-8) to a two-point lead with nine minutes left. There were four ties and six lead changes after that.