THURSDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 84, @Southeast Missouri 59
@Eastern Illinois 70, Jacksonville State 69
Murray State 84, @UT Martin 62
@Tennessee State 64, Morehead State 48
Tennessee Tech 72, @SIUE 69
@Belmont 87, Eastern Kentucky 56
AUSTIN PEAY 84, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 59
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Austin Peay locked down the Redhawks in the first half and ran away in the second, cruising to an 84-59 victory at the Show Me Center to remain unbeaten in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The Govs struggled to start on Saturday at Jacksonville State and needed a comeback for the ages to topple the Gamecocks. No such heroics were required against Southeast Missouri, as Austin Peay raced out to a 24-9 lead and never looked back. Terry Taylor scored 11 points during this run, which spanned much of the first half and allowed head coach Matt Figger to maximize his starters' rest with a comfortable lead.
Neither team hit a shot from the floor in the first half from the 10-minute mark until an Alec Woodard three with less than five minutes to play. This stretched the Austin Peay lead to 20, while the Redhawks didn't reach double figures until just over three minutes remained in the first half. By that point, Austin Peay's dominance in this contest had become apparent. Taylor finished with 20 in the half and Austin Peay led 40-21 at the break.
The first-half dominance made the second period largely perfunctory; short of a reprisal of the great Jacksonville State Drought of 2020, the Govs needed merely to avoid total collapse and were able to do just that, expanding the lead to nearly 30 points before giving the starters an early evening and getting extended playing time for Sita Conteh, Alec Woodard and other reserves—Austin Peay's second unit scored 22 of its 32 points in the second half en route to victory.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 70, JACKSONVILLE STATE 69
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois men’s basketball returned home following a seven-game road trip playing its first game in Lantz Arena in 40 days. Following two one-possession losses in each of its last two games, Thursday’s homecoming again came down to the wire as JaQualis Matlock contested a last second shot by Jacksonville State that missed the rim as EIU held on for a 70-69 win.
EIU improved to 8-9 overall, 1-4 in the OVC. JSU fell to 7-11 overall, 2-3 in the OVC.
The Panthers built an eight point lead in the final four minutes as Mack Smith had a lay-up with 4:07 to play giving EIU a 66-58 lead. De’Torrion Ware would hit a 3-pointer for EIU with 3:54 to play to make it a five-point game.
Shareef Smith answered for the Panthers with a 3-pointer with 3:32 left in the contest in what would be the Panthers final field goal of the game. Smith was 3-for-3 finishing with eight points in his first start of the season.
JSU closed to four points with a dunk and lay-up by Kayne Henry over the next two minutes. Marvin Johnson hit the front end of a one-and-one with 34 seconds for EIU’s final points. JSU closed to one point with eight seconds on a shot by Elias Harden but could not convert its final shot of the game.
EIU led 32-25 at the half with balanced scoring as Josiah Wallace and Mack Smith both had nine points. Wallace would finish with a team-high 20 points. Smith would score 14 including a 3-pointer in the second half as he moved into a tie for third in the NCAA Division I record books with his 66th consecutive game with a made 3-pointer.
George Dixon would be the final EIU player in double figures with 11 points.
Jacara Cross led JSU with 18 points going 8-of-10 from the field. Henry posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
MURRAY STATE 84, UT MARTIN 62
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Murray State Racers ran away with an 84-62 victory Thursday on the road against the UT Martin Skyhawks at the Elam Center in Martin, Tennessee. The win marked the Racers’ 14th consecutive Ohio Valley Conference regular season win as they improved to 5-0 in league play and 12-6 overall.
Tevin Brown led the Racers with 20 points along with a game-high six assists. Jaiveon Eaves and KJ Williams each added 14 points, while Demond Robinson scored eight of his 10 points in the first half. Williams hauled in a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Racers started the game on a 19-7 run when Anthony Smith scored a three-point play at 13:05 and the lead went to 18 points on a Williams 3-pointer with 3:44 before half. Leading 43-24 at the halftime, the Racers stifled the Skyhawks on 9-of-30 shooting for 30 percent. In the second half, MSU pushed the lead to 48-28 when Anthony Smith sank a pair of free throws at 17:33. MSU’s largest lead of the game was the final of 84-62.
MSU shot 48 percent (30-of-62) for the game and 8-of-24 from the 3-point line for 33 percent. They beat UTM on the boards 48-26 and had 21 assists on their 30 field goals, while only suffering 11 turnovers.
TENNESSEE STATE 64, MOREHEAD STATE 48
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State Tigers (12-6) played the most defensively sound game of the year in its win over Morehead State (9-9) Thursday night in front of 4,700 returning students and Tiger fans.
Ben Koné led Big Blue with four blocks in just sixteen minutes of play, adding what seems to be a lucky number for the forward, four points and four rebounds.
Shakem Johnson registered the sixth TSU double-double of the season scoring 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. The junior-college transfer helped the Tigers retake its first place ranking in the OVC in blocked shots adding three, as well as one steal and an assist.
The Tigers led for all but 27 seconds of the game and did so by as much as 24 points, lifting TSU to another Ohio Valley Conference victory and a fourth place spot in the league.
TENNESSEE TECH 72, SIUE 69
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A good, old-fashioned slobber knocker seems the most apt description for Thursday night's Ohio Valley Conference tilt between the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team and SIUE, a contest that saw the Golden Eagles rally back on the road for a huge, 72-69 victory at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill.
The contest featured 10 leads changes and 11 ties, as well as double-digit leads on both sides of the scoreboard. In the end, however, it was Tech (4-14, 1-4) that stood on top, using a fantastic final 20 minutes to collect the first OVC win of the John Pelphrey era.
The shootout looked real early in the game, with neither side able to pull more than four points ahead through the first 16 minutes. The Cougars (4-14, 1-4) finally broke that streak, using a scoreless stretch of nearly seven minutes by the Golden Eagles to build a nine-point advantage at the break.
SIUE made its first basket of the second half to take its largest lead of the game of 11 points. From that point on, Tech seemed to seize control. Over the next four minutes, the purple and gold fought and clawed all the way back to tie things up with just under 16 on the clock.
The defense held true down the stretch, allowing the young Tech squad to build a lead all the way out to 10 points following an old-school, three-point play from junior Larry Kuimi. With under eight minutes to play, the Golden Eagles held a 60-50 edge.
The Cougars quickly answered the Tech run, scoring eight straight points to pull within two. Senior guard Darius Allen, playing with four fouls at that point in the contest, made one of the most important shots of the night, hitting a clutch 3-pointer from the corner to snap the SIUE streak and provide some much needed momentum the other way.
Despite the shot, the Cougars eventually found a way to knot things up at 69-69 with just over a minute to play. Tech freshman Tujautae Williams came up with the dagger for the Golden Eagles, however, nailing a floater in the lane with 52 seconds on the clock. The bucket gave Tech the lead for good, allowing the team to lean on its defense to hold on for the victory.
The Golden Eagles dominated the glass on the night, 42-31, including a strong showing on the offensive boards with a 14-7 advantage. Leading that charge was none other than Allen, who narrowly missed a double-double after hauling in nine rebounds and scoring a team-high 15 points. The veteran also blocked a career-high three shots.
Sophomore forward Amadou Sylla had a resurgent night on offense, scoring eight quick points in the first half and finishing with 13 in the contest. He added six boards to the effort as well. Point guard Jr. Clay continued his hot stretch, notching his 11th consecutive double-digit scoring performance with 14 points. He chipped in four rebounds and four assists for good measure. Williams contributed seven rebounds while Wilkinson and Kuimi each added seven points to the mix.
BELMONT 87, EASTERN KENTUCKY 56
NASHVILLE - Behind an overwhelming first-half run, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Eastern Kentucky, 87-56, Thursday night at the Curb Event Center.
Tied at seven nearly four minutes in, Belmont rode the inspired play of senior Seth Adelsperger on a 15-0 run to seize control midway through the first half. As unified Bruin defense limited Eastern Kentucky to contested perimeter shots, Belmont extended the electrifying run to 31-6 over a 10-minute span.
Consecutive transition scores from senior Michael Benkert and graduate student Tyler Scanlon made the score 38-13 with 5:40 left in the half, sending the Belmont student section into a frenzy.
Offensive spurts from Jomaru Brown helped Eastern Kentucky close within 44-28 at halftime, and 44-34 with 18:44 remaining. But sophomore Nick Muszynski reasserted Belmont's presence in the paint, as his three consecutive scores extended the Belmont lead to 52-34 with 16:52 left.
The all-court game of sophomore Grayson Murphy and quality bench contributions from freshman Ben Sheppard and sophomore Caleb Hollander fortified the Bruin advantage. Belmont limited Eastern Kentucky to 31 percent shooting and outrebounded the Colonels, 56-29.
All told, Belmont shot 47 percent (33-for-70) from the field, handing out 22 assists on 33 made field goals.
Muszynski led three Bruins (13-5, 4-1 OVC) in double figures with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Adelsperger and sophomore Adam Kunkel each scored 12.
Brown led Eastern Kentucky (6-12, 3-2 OVC) with 25 points.