SATURDAY'S SCORES
UT Martin 73, @SIUE 69
Southeast Missouri 88, @Eastern Illinois 79
Austin Peay 73, @Morehead State 70
Murray State 102, @Eastern Kentucky 70
@Jacksonville State 84, Tennessee State 65
Belmont 93, @Tennessee Tech 65
UT MARTIN 73, SIUE 69
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team saw four players score in double figures today as the Skyhawks reeled off their fourth straight win with a 73-69 triumph at SIUE.
UT Martin led by as many as 17 points in the second half this afternoon but had to weather a Cougar storm late. After SIUE crept within a single possession at 61-59 with 2:32 remaining, the backcourt duo of Delfincko Bogan (eight) and Preston Parks (four) combined to score the final dozen points for the Skyhawks (10-15, 5-9 Ohio Valley Conference).
Bogan tied career-highs with 23 points and seven rebounds today while also adding four steals. The senior from Charleston, Mo. was 6-for-8 from the field (including 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc) and also knocked down seven of his eight free throw attempts.
Jailen Gill secured his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds to go along with career-highs of four assists and three steals. Craig Randall II continued his strong play with 16 points and a career-high seven rebounds while Derek Hawthorne, Jr. recorded 12 points and five rebounds off the bench for UT Martin, who led for the final 22:39 of clock time.
SIUE (8-18, 4-10 OVC) also placed four scorers in double figures this afternoon, paced by David McFarland’s 15 points. Tyresse Williford generated 14 points while Cameron Williams and Daniel Kinchen accumulated 13 and 10 points, respectively.
The Cougars began the game on an 8-1 run before Randall dialed up five consecutive points. After SIUE claimed a 15-6 lead at the 11:24 mark, the Skyhawks used a 12-2 run en route to their first lead of the contest with Hawthorne accounting for eight straight points during the surge. UT Martin would close out the first half on a 13-1 run, taking a 31-25 advantage into the halftime break. Randall and Hawthorne each had 10 points to lead the Skyhawks while Williams’ eight points topped the Cougars in the opening half.
Bogan (eight) and Gill (six points) joined forces to score 14 consecutive points at one point for UT Martin. Quintin Dove was responsible for four straight points to help the Skyhawks stretch their lead out to 17 points – their biggest lead of the day – with 10:54 left to play. SIUE went on a 14-2 run that concluded with the aforementioned 61-59 UT Martin lead. That’s when Bogan and Parks played the role of closer as the tandem sank eight of 10 tries from the charity stripe in the final 1:27.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 88, EASTERN ILLINOIS 79
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Jonathan Dalton scored a career-high 17 points and went over 300 career assists to lead Southeast Missouri (9-18, 4-10) to an 88-79 win over Eastern Illinois (14-13, 7-7) Saturday at Lantz Arena.
SEMO shot a season-high 54 percent (34-of-63) from the field and buried 11 3-pointers to go along with a season-best 23 assists in its first Ohio Valley Conference road victory.
Both teams shot over 55 percent and drained seven 3-pointers in a back-and-forth first half.
Ahead, 33-30, the Redhawks buried three 3-pointers to fuel an 11-2 run over a 3:11 stretch to take a 12-point lead. Oscar Kao, who scored seven first-half points off the bench, capped the run with his trifecta that put SEMO up 44-32 at the 3:18 mark.
Sage Tolbert rebounded a Dalton miss and scored a layup at the buzzer to send SEMO into the locker room with a 46-39 halftime advantage. The halftime lead was the Redhawks eighth of the season.
SEMO shot a red-hot 57.6 percent (19-of-33) from the field in the opening stanza. The Redhawks also had an assist on 16 of those made field goals.
Skyler Hogan gave the Redhawks a strong start to the second half scoring five-straight points in 1:10. Dalton then made a jumper to match the Redhawks largest lead at 53-41 with 17:52 to play.
Over the next six minutes, EIU knocked down five 3-pointers to get within a point and took a 62-61 lead on JaQualis Matlock's layup with 10 minutes on the clock.
EIU was up by one three more times until Dalton was fouled attempting a 3-pointer. Dalton made all three of his free throws to ignite a 14-4 run as SEMO pulled away for good. He also made a layup to cap the surge as the Redhawks widened their lead to 82-72 with 2:31 left.
SEMO's 88 points tied its season-high for most points in a conference game. The Redhawks swept EIU for the second year in a row and beat the Panthers for the fifth time in six meetings.
Dalton shot 4-of-6 from the field and made 8-of-9 free throws to go along with five assists. He finished with eight of the Redhawks nine free throws made for the game.
Gabe McGlothan followed with a double-double 13 points and 10 rebounds. McGlothan scored 11 of his points in the second half. It was McGlothan's third double-double in four games.
Hogan and Gable scored 13 points apiece, as well. Gable drained three of SEMO's 3-pointers and pulled down eight rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Kao gave SEMO an extra boost with nine points and four assists.
Additionally, SEMO outrebounded EIU, 38-25, with 31 of its rebounds coming on the defensive end.
Ben Harvey scored 29 points to lead four EIU players in double figures. The Panthers shot 53.4 percent (31-of-58) on the day.
AUSTIN PEAY 73, MOREHEAD STATE 70
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Sophomore Terry Taylor put up 42 points and 18 boards, and Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team needed every bit of it in a 73-70 win at Morehead State, Saturday, to ensure they will bypass the first round of OVC Tournament play next month in Evansville.
Austin Peay (19-8, 11-3 OVC) got off to a much more sluggish start than they’re accustomed to, hitting just 33 percent from the floor over the first eight-plus minutes of action. Even after the shots began to fall, Morehead State (10-17, 6-8) maintained an early edge, building their lead to double-digits with 5:30 to play in the first half.
Senior Chris Porter-Bunton got the tide turned back in the Governors favor. He nailed a three and added the and-one to kickstart an 18-7 run to close the half. Porter-Bunton and Taylor each had nine during the run to send the Govs into the break with a 33-32 lead.
The Govs then opened the second half on a 17-3 run, including a sky-scraping long-ball from Taylor, to take a 15-point lead and looked to have the game firmly in hand. Although Morehead State finally righted the ship, Austin Peay still led by 13 with just 7:30 to play in the contest.
It took not quite four minutes for the Eagles to tie the game. Six different Eagles scored during the run to tie the game, with a James Baker three putting the Eagles ahead once again.
The final two minutes were a chess match. Senior Steve Harris got into the lane and sank a lay-up but was answered almost immediately by a Jordan Walker three. A second-chance look for the Govs missed, but Taylor drew a crucial charge with 47 seconds to play and Porter-Bunton sank a huge three as the shot clock wound down on the other end to put the Govs up a pair.
Again Morehead State charge the lane looking for a quick bucket and again the Govs moved into perfect position, with Porter-Bunton drawing the charge this time. The teams exchanged fouls and free-throws missed and made in the dying seconds, and Morehead State’s three-quarters court heave as time expired drew iron, allowing the Govs to bring a big league win back to Clarksville.
MURRAY STATE 102, EASTERN KENTUCKY 70
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Murray State Racers rolled to their fifth-straight win Saturday in a 102-70 victory over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at McBrayer Arena in Richmond, Ky.
The Racers (21-4) improved to 12-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference and remained tied with Belmont for first place with four games left in the 2018-19 season.
Murray State’s Ja Morant made it a historic night when he became the 46th member of the MSU 1000-Point Club and surpassed the 32-year single-season assist record in the OVC. Morant surpassed Duane Washington of Middle Tennessee who had 255 assists in the 1986-87 season. The Racers scored their second 100-point game (fourth this season) with a balanced attack that featured five players in double-figure scoring including Morant, with 25 and his 10th consecutive 20-point game. He was only two rebounds from a triple-double as he finished with 14 assists for his 16th double-double in 25 games this season.
MSU got 16 points from Shaq Buchanan and 14 each from Darnell Cowart and Tevin Brown. Devin Gilmore added 12 points.
This one saw the Racers jump on the Colonels 23-9 in the first 7:07 of the game and hold the lead at 46-35 at the halftime intermission.
In the second half, EKU made a run and cut the Racer lead to 63-55 with 11:11 remaining.
The Racers hit the gas pedal and zoomed past EKU with a 12-0 run over the next 2:30 for a 75-55 lead with 8:39 to play. The Racers defense created offense and the Racers had a run of making nine shots in a row and scoring 22 fast-break points in the game. MSU’s lead eventually grew to 32 in the closing minute.
MSU shot 60 percent (37-of-61), their top shooting game this season against an NCAA D-I team.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 84, TENNESSEE STATE 65
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jason Burnell tied his single-game high with 30 points Saturday night as the Jacksonville State men's basketball team downed Tennessee State 84-65 at Pete Mathews Coliseum, sweeping the season series.
Burnell sank a career-best 10 baskets and was 9-for-9 from the free-throw line during the Gamecocks (19-8, 11-3 OVC) 19-point drumming of the Tigers (8-18, 5-9 OVC).
JSU's defense held Tennessee State to just 20 points and forced 13 turnovers through the first 20 minutes. The Gamecocks outscored the Tigers 16-4 off mistakes, and a 37-20 rebounding matchup helped Jacksonville State to a 17-point advantage at halftime.
TSU scored the game's first basket and reclaimed a one-point lead after three minutes of play, but Jacksonville State answered with a Burnell layup and took a double-digit lead by the under-12 media timeout.
Burnell tallied 15 points in the first period, coming up just three points short of his record for points scored in a single half. It was his highest scoring total in a first half for the Deland, Fla., native.
Jacksonville State edged the Tigers with a 47-45 second-half score. The Tigers' Stokley Chaffee scored nine of his team-leading 17 points in the period, but it wasn't enough to out-work Burnell. The JSU senior tacked on 14 more points.
The Gamecocks reached their largest lead just three minutes into the stanza, going ahead by 25.
Senior Jamall Gregory scored 13 points for the game and added another highlight-reel dunk to his already-impressive resume, while junior point guard Ty Hudson tallied 10 on the night. Hudson was 4-for-7 from the field with a 3-pointer.
BELMONT 93, TENNESSEE TECH 65
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Behind 21 points and nine rebounds from senior All-America candidate Dylan Windler, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee Tech, 93-65, Saturday night.
After the first 1:50, Belmont held Tennessee Tech scoreless for a near seven-minute stretch, as freshman Adam Kunkel capped a spirited 21-0 run that gave the Bruins a 24-10 lead.
Belmont (21-4, 12-2 OVC) handled early foul trouble from freshman Grayson Murphy, forcing 11 Tennessee Tech turnovers in the opening 20 minutes which sparked transition offense.
Two free throws from Jr Clay got the hosts within 14 points, but Belmont scored seven of the final eight points of the half.
Windler's conventional 3-point play gave Belmont a 52-32 halftime lead.
From there, Windler and senior Kevin McClain combined to score Belmont's first 12 points of the second half. A 3-pointer from sophomore Nick Hopkins made the score 72-38 with 13:29 remaining.
The Bruins shot 51 percent (29-for-57) from the field - including 15-for-28 from 3-point distance.
10 Belmont players scored, and Belmont handed out 22 assists on 29 made field goals, while committing only seven turnovers.
Clay led Tennessee Tech (7-20, 3-11 OVC) with 20 points.
Belmont head coach Rick Byrd earned career victory No. 799.