SUNDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 96, Lindenwood 48
@UT Martin 92, Mount St. Joseph 72
@Ole Miss 80,
Tennessee Tech 63
@Southeast Missouri 74, Missouri Baptist 59
SIUE 96, LINDENWOOD 48
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE closed out the calendar year in style, racing to a 96-48 win over Lindenwood-Belleville Sunday at First Community Arena.
SIUE snapped an eight-game losing skid and improved to 3-10 overall. LU-Belleville fell to 1-11.
The Cougars never trailed against the NAIA opponent, using a 13-0 run down the stretch in the first half to lead 41-17 at the break.
SIUE connected on 65.7 percent (23-35) of its shots in the second half and 61.2 percent (41-67) for the game for its best shooting performance of the year.
The Cougars scored 23 points on the fast break compared to just eight from Lindenwood-Belleville. SIUE also owned the lane, outscoring the Lynx 56-16 inside the paint.
SIUE racked up 27 assists on 41 made baskets, accounting for the team's most assists in a game since recording 30 assists against Robert Morris in a 2007 game.
Three SIUE players scored in double figures, led by Zeke Moore who scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Cam Williams tied his season high with 17 points and added a career-high five assists. Mike Adewunmi scored 13 points and led SIUE with eight rebounds.
In all 12 of SIUE's 14 players scored. Brandon Jackson and Kenyon Duling scored nine points each. Justin Benton turned in a season-best five points while adding two assists. Lamar Wright equaled his career-best with four points. Jackson Best played a career-high 3:39 and scored the first two points of his SIUE career. He also pulled down a rebound and added an assist. Blake Lindenmeyer also played 3:39, pulled in two rebounds and added an assist.
While the offense clicked, SIUE's defense also was on point. The Cougars held the Lynx to just 29 percent (17-58) shooting for the game. LU-Belleville was 6-25 from three-point range after entering the game averaging nine three-pointers a game.
The Cougars forced 25 turnovers and scored 29 points from those turnovers. The game started with a pair of Lindenwood turnovers on shot-clock violations.
Rodarius Mitchell led all scorers with 20 points for Lindenwood-Belleville. He was 6-14 from the field and 4-6 from three-point range. J.C. Moll added nine points for the Lynx.
UT MARTIN 92, MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 72
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin trio of Parker Stewart, Quintin Dove and Derek Hawthorne, Jr. combined for 72 points today as the Skyhawk men's basketball team raced past Mount St. Joseph by a 92-72 margin at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Playing at home for the first time since Nov. 9, UT Martin set a season-high in field goal percentage (.569), leading for 38:31 of clock time. The Skyhawks won the rebounding battle 43-26 and held a 14-2 advantage in fast break points.
Stewart sank six 3-pointers as part of his game-high 28 points, dishing out a career-best six assists in the process. Dove picked up his fifth double-double (22 points on 10-of-13 shooting, game-high 11 rebounds) of his UT Martin career while Hawthorne tallied a season-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Miles Thomas also came up just shy of a double-double (eight points, 10 rebounds) for the Skyhawks, who improve to 4-7 overall going into Ohio Valley Conference play next week.
Mount St. Joseph, a NCAA Division III school located in Cincinnati, Ohio, was led by Devin Young's 25 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Reece Thomson (11 points), Avery Paddock (11 points) and Tanner Clos (10 points) also registered double-digit scoring performances for the Lions.
Dove scored the first four points of the contest for UT Martin as an Eman Sertovic trifecta at the 15:26 mark pushed the Skyhawk lead out to 12-5. Stewart added a pair of three-pointers to help UT Martin stay on top but Mount St. Joseph kept clawing, trimming its deficit to 26-25 with a little under seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Skyhawks closed out the half on a 12-4 surge as a Thomas stickback made the score 38-29 at the break.
UT Martin was guided by Dove (14 points) and Stewart (11 points) in the first half while Young's 13 points paced the Lions.
Hawthorne went off in the second half, tallying 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting over the final 20 minutes. An old-fashioned three-point play by Jalen Riley at the 15:06 mark provided the Skyhawks with their first double-figure lead of the contest at 51-41. A Hawthorne jumper in the paint stretched UT Martin's advantage out to 60-43 with just under 12 minutes to go but Mount St. Joseph unreeled eight unanswered points. The Skyhawks immediately answered with an 11-0 run to put the game away, capped off by a Sertovic fast break jumper at the 7:37 mark. A trey by Stewart with under two minutes remaining gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the day at 20 points – which wound up being the final scoring margin.
OLE MISS 80, TENNESSEE TECH 63
OXFORD, Miss. - For the first half, Tennessee Tech was giving Ole Miss fits. The Golden Eagles took multiple leads, including a six-point advantage with 4:09 remaining in the first set of 20 and held a lead for 11:36 of the contest.
If anything, it was a proof of concept that everything is moving in the right direction, giving a Southeastern Conference team a battle on their home court as Tech took a 32-31 lead into the locker room at the half.
The reality of the situation, however, is that the game still lasts 40 minutes. Ole Miss made adjustments, pulling away for an 80-63 victory on Saturday afternoon as the Rebels outscored the Golden Eagles 49-31.
As Ohio Valley Conference play begins next week, the Golden Eagles have to feel that things are moving forward and are taking the right steps in building the program.
Jr. Clay and Darius Allen led Tech (3-10) in scoring with 13 points each, while Hunter Vick pulled down a team-high five boards. The Rebels (9-3) were led by a pair of 20-point scorers in K.J. Buffen and Devontae Shuler, while Blake Hinson came away with 10 caroms.
In the first half, Ole Miss outshot Tech by a slim margin – 41.4 to 39.3 percent – but the Golden Eagles were 3-of-9 from beyond the arc to Ole Miss' 1-for-12, and Tech was more efficient at the charity stripe, knocking down 7-of-8 to the Rebels' 6-for-11.
But while it was one of the best halves the Golden Eagles played so far this season, it still wasn't perfect.
That was evident as the second half belonged to the Rebels. Tech shot better and made fewer turnovers, but Ole Miss didn't miss often, shooting 69.2 percent from the floor, then outrebounded the Golden Eagles 18-12.
Ten personal fouls to Ole Miss' four also put the Rebels at the line more often as the Golden Eagles knocked down one of their second-half free throws, while Ole Miss was 7-of-10. The Rebels were also able to get more 3-pointers to fall hitting six of their 11 tries.
With the progress made, the Golden Eagles can take that and continue to build. That doesn't mean a good result means a chance to back down as the struggle continues to grow as the season wears on.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74, MISSOURI BAPTIST 59
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Alex Caldwell scored 15 points and Sage Tolbert added a double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Southeast Missouri (4-9) to a 74-59 win over Missouri Baptist (7-5) Sunday at the Show Me Center.
SEMO snapped a five-game losing skid and improved to 3-1 at home this season.
In its first home game in over a month, SEMO led for all but 6:38 of the contest.
After missing eight of its first nine field goals of the game, the Redhawks used a 12-0 run to take a 15-5 lead with 9:52 to play in the opening stanza.
Quatarrius Wilson made a pair of free throws to tie the game before Caldwell scored the next five points. Nygal Russell also threw down a dunk before DQ Nicholas made three free throws after he was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer.
Skyler Hogan's 3-pointer gave SEMO a 30-23 lead at the half.
SEMO built its biggest lead of the game to 26 (67-41) when Jordan Love scored on a dunk after Caldwell recorded one of his game-high three steals with 7:31 on the clock.
The Redhawks didn't let up the rest of the way en route to winning their non-conference finale.
SEMO limited MBU to just 1-of-14 (7.1 pct.) from 3-point range and kept the Spartans under 40 percent (39.7) from the field. The Redhawks also held MBU under 30 points for the first 28:12 of the game.
Caldwell shot 6-of-9 from the field and buried three 3-pointers to lead four Redhawks in double figures. He added five assists and three steals, as well.
Tolbert turned in his second double-double of the season, while Russell and Khalil Cuffee followed with 12 and 10 points off the bench, respectively. Russell tied his career high in points and Cuffee logged a career-best 17 minutes.
SEMO's reserves outscored MBU's bench, 35-4.
The Redhawks outrebounded the Spartans, 40-37, and finished with a 44.6 percent clip from the floor. In addition, SEMO scored over 70 points for the fifth time and posted its largest margin of victory through 13 games.