SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 93, Green Bay 80
@Austin Peay 90, North Florida 83
@ Alabama A&M 67,
Jacksonville State 62 (OT)
@Drake 78,
Southeast Missouri 73
@Illinois State 61,
Morehead State 50
@Murray State 85, Middle Tennessee 52
EASTERN ILLINOIS 93, GREEN BAY 80
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois shot 61 percent from the field and used an 11-0 run midway through the first half to pull away and beat Green Bay, 93-80, on Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.
EIU improved to 5-4 on the season including 3-0 at home. Green Bay fell to 3-6.
George Dixon posted a double-double in the first half helping EIU dominate play on the glass. Dixon had 16 points and ten points in the first half as EIU held a 28-10 rebound edge in the opening half.
Dixon was 7-of-10 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes as EIU shot 62 percent in the first half. Leading 21-15 with 12:17 to play in the first half, EIU went on an 11-0 run to take control of the game. EIU would stretch its lead out to 50-30 with 1:46 remaining in the first half with Green Bay head coach Linc Darner picked up his second technical of the game.
Mack Smith sank both free throws as he scored 17 of his 24 points in the opening half. EIU took a 56-32 lead to the locker room.
Green Bay would use more pressure in the second half as they chipped away at the big Panthers halftime lead. Green Bay would go on a 12-2 run that ended with 7:02 to left in the game. PJ Pipes knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the EIU lead to single digits at 78-69.
Dixon would provide an answer for the Panthers with a lay-up and pair of free throws. Dixon finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds shooting 10-of-14 from the floor. Seven of Dixon’s rebounds were on the offensive glass as EIU finished the evening with a 40-21 rebound margin.
Pipes closed the game at the line for Green Bay as he led the Phoenix with 17 points. Kameron Hankerson had 15 as four Green Bay players scored in double figures.
Deang Deang (12 points) and Josiah Wallace (11 points) rounded out the double figure scorers for EIU.
AUSTIN PEAY 90, NORTH FLORIDA 83
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - In a game that had all the trappings of a March slugfest in Evansville, Austin Peay State University men's basketball team withstood every assault North Florida could provide and prevailed in a dynamic 90-83 win in the Dunn Center, Saturday.
The win moves the Govs back to .500 on the regular season at 4-4, while North Florida falls to 6-5 as it still searches for a road victory.
The defensive focuses were palpable from the outset: the Govs were going to do all they could to chase to the nation's leading three-point shooting time off the perimeter, and the Ospreys were going to make life tough for Terry Taylor. Credit both for sticking to the plan in the first half—North Florida didn't hit a three-pointer until 2:38 remained in the half, while Taylor was held to just two points on four shot attempts as early foul trouble limited his time on the court.
With primary options being stymied, both teams turned to secondary options and found some success. For Austin Peay, both Eli Abaev and Jordyn Adams were the main catalysts for offense in the opening half, Adams on dynamic drives to the hoop and Abaev on lobs allowing his length and athleticism to go up and get the ball. The duo combined for 22 of Austin Peay's 39 first half points, and 18 of 20 to open the game.
After an Abaev bucket with 4:05 to play in the half made it an 11-point Austin Peay lead, the Govs appeared to have things under control. But the Ospreys closed the half on a 13-5 run, with Carter Hendricksen and Ivan Gandia-Rosa combining for all 13 points to make it 39-36 Govs at halftime.
The lead changed hands multiple times over the first 16 minutes of the second half, with neither team able to spread the advantage much more than a possession or two. That's when, following a technical foul call, Taylor decided to take over. First, a steal-and-dunk on the ensuing in-bounds play to make it a two-possession game once again. With under two minutes to play, he took a lob from Carlos Paez over and through two defenders, getting the bucket and then converting the and-one opportunity. The Ospreys would be within a possession of tying the game only once the rest of the way.
ALABAMA A&M 67, JACKSONVILLE STATE 62 (OT)
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team dropped a 67-62 decision at Alabama A&M in overtime on Saturday at Elmore Gymnasium.
The Gamecocks (2-6) lost their second in a row with the Bulldogs (2-5) in the first meeting between the two programs since Nov. 24, 2015.
AAMU outscored JSU 26-19 in the second half and 15-10 in the OT period, led by 18 points from guard Cameron Alford.
Junior Kayne Henry hit a basket to tie the game 52-52 at the end of regulation, sending the Gamecocks into their first overtime game since February of last season. Alford then hit a foul shot to give the home team the early advantage in the final five-minute period.
Jacksonville State managed to go up by as much as four points with less than two minutes to play on De'Torrion Ware's lone basket of overtime, but a 3-pointer by Alabama A&M's Brandon Houston and a jumper from Brandon Miller erased the JSU advantage in less than a minute.
A JSU turnover led to a foul and two good free throws by the Bulldogs, pushing their lead to three with 24 seconds to go. Following a Henry, foul shot, Alford hit three consecutive free throws to put the game out of reach.
Henry ended the night with a team-high 16 points, scoring 12 points in the final 25 minutes. He came up just two rebounds shy of a double-double and was 7-for-13 from the floor.
The first half lasted just 37 minutes with the whistle blowing for just 11 total fouls. Jacksonville State led 33-26 at the break after going ahead by as much as 10.
Junior Elias Harden had the hot hand in the first, scoring a half-best 11 points. The junior knocked down four of seven field-goal attempts, including three 3-pointers.
The second period saw both teams go on a five-minute scoring drought. Of Jacksonville State's sparse 19 points in the second, Henry accounted for nine. Just four Gamecocks hit a bucket in the last half as the team was held to 8-of-29 shooting (27.6 percent) in the period.
DRAKE 78, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 73
DES MOINES, Ill. - Alex Caldwell scored a season-high 18 points and buried a career-best six 3-pointers, and Southeast Missouri (3-6) went wire-to-wire in a close 78-73 loss to Drake (8-2) Saturday at the Knapp Center.
SEMO and Drake, which met for just the second time and first time in 13 years, battled to nine ties and seven lead changes in their tight contest.
The Redhawks held an 11-point lead (52-41) with 17:16 remaining in the game when Drake came back to tie things up at 58-58 with 9:23 left to play.
It was no more than a two-possession game the rest of the way.
SEMO led by two points after Darrious Agnew made a layup at the 8:54 mark and Caldwell nailed a 3-pointer with just under eight minutes to go.
Skyler Hogan then drilled a 3-pointer to regain a 73-72 edge for SEMO with 2:10 left to play.
Drake answered Hogan's shot by scoring the final six points en route to its victory.
SEMO had multiple chances in the last minute, but missed four field goals and three free throws in 54 seconds. Two of those misses came from 3-point range in the final 19 seconds, one of which would have given the Redhawks the lead and the other which would have tied the game.
The Redhawks put together a strong first half and led, 43-37, at the intermission.
Tolbert and Caldwell each had 12 of their points in the opening stanza, which saw SEMO shoot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from the field and 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from downtown.
SEMO entered the game averaging under five 3-pointers made and buried a season-high 10 in 19 attempts against the Missouri Valley Conference's top defense.
Caldwell shot 6-of-11 from the field and 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed three rebounds and had an assist.
Tolbert added a season-high 17 points and six rebounds, while Agnew chipped in 11 during his first career start. Hogan nearly had a double-double with nine points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
SEMO's 73 points were the most scored on the Bulldogs at the Knapp Center this season. Prior to tonight, no opponent had scored more than 59 points in five games on Drakes home floor.
Additionally, the Redhawks outrebounded the Bulldogs, 36-29.
Roman Penn scored 16 points to lead five Drake players in double figures.
ILLINOIS STATE 61, MOREHEAD STATE 50
NORMAL, Ill. - Despite out-rebounding host Illinois State, the Morehead State men's basketball team had a tough night on offense and fell 61-50 to the Redbirds Saturday night.
MSU slipped to 5-5 overall with a nine-day non-competition break ahead for semester final exams. The Eagles will host Marshall on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. ET.
The Eagles had another solid night defensively, holding ISU to just 35 percent shooting. But MSU managed just 34 percent itself while grabbing 44 rebounds to the Redbirds' 40.
MURRAY STATE 85, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 52
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers posted an 85-52 win Saturday over the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders as they ran their home winning streak to 10 at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers (5-4) get back into action at home against Kennesaw State (Dec. 16) after taking next week off for semester final exams.
MSU’s offensive attack produced their highest total score this season against an NCAA D-I team and their 51-point first half was a season-best.
KJ Williams led five Racers in double-figure scoring with a 22-point night on 9-of-11 shooting. Jaiveon Eaves scored his career-high in back-to-back games with 19 points and Tevin Brown and Demond Robinson each added 11 points. Anthony Smith scored 10 points and DaQuan Smith had a game-high nine assists.
Starting the game in front 8-0, the Racers pushed their lead to 20 with 7:04 left and eventually to 30 with a minute to go in the half. MSU shot 61 percent on 17-of-28 in the first half and 4-of-7 from 3-point range on 4-of-7, while MTSU shot 38 percent on 10-of-26 from the field and 2-of-8 for 25 percent.
MSU’s largest lead of the game came with 3:10 left at 82-45.