SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 61, Southeast Missouri 59
@Austin Peay 86, Belmont 78
@Jacksonville State 72, Morehead State 51
UT Martin 79, @SIUE 76
@Murray State 76, Tennessee State 64
Eastern Kentucky 80, @Tennessee Tech 74
EASTERN ILLINOIS 61, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 59
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois men’s basketball won its fourth straight game improving to 7-0 at home as the Panthers gutted out a 61-59 win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena.
EIU improved to 11-9 overall, 4-4 in the OVC. SEMO fell to 4-17 overall, 0-8 in the OVC.
Eastern Illinois shot 54 percent from the field but a cold night at the foul line and good offensive rebounding by Southeast Missouri kept the Redhawks in striking distance during the game.
The Panthers raced out to an 8-0 lead in the game only to see SEMO respond with a 12-0 run in what would foreshadow the remainder of the game. EIU held a 34-31 lead at the half closing with a 7-0 run. Josiah Wallace, JaQualis Matlock and George Dixon all scored in the run for the Panthers.
EIU pushed its lead out to ten points with 13:08 to play as Mack Smith hit a lay-up to put the Panthers up 49-39.
Alex Caldwell answered for the Redhawks with a personal 8-0 run as he was the lone SEMO player in double figures on day finishing with 20 points.
SEMO would eventually tie the game at 57-57 with 3:12 left in the game as EIU was 9-of-19 at the foul line in the second half before finishing the game at 13-of-28 for 46 percent.
Smith would break the tie followed by a Wallace jumper that gave EIU a four-point lead with 1:01 left in the game. Jordan Love scored for SEMO with 53 seconds left in the game before both teams failed to score after that. SEMO missed two 3-point attempts in the final 15 seconds while EIU failed on two late free throw attempts to ice the game.
SEMO finished with 15 offensive rebounds leading to 14 second chance points as the Redhawks shot 35 percent for the game. Sage Tolbert had five offensive boards.
Smith led EIU with 19 points while George Dixon posted his seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Wallace added 11 points.
EIU posted 11 blocks in the game with Matlock and Jordan Skipper-Brown each swatting away three shots.
AUSTIN PEAY 86, BELMONT 78
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men's basketball team took another big step forward in fending off Belmont in an 86-78 contest that proved, undeniably, that the Govs are in the discussion among league favorites.
It's not as though the incredible play of Terry Taylor has gone unnoticed; by this point, everyone knows the versatile forward from Bowling Green is one of the men to stop if you want to contain the Govs. Belmont was as literal in its doubling of Taylor as any team Austin Peay has played this season; with Belmont big Nick Muszynski planted near the paint, Taylor was essentially doubled constantly, with or without the ball in his hands, with the clear implication being: find someone else to beat us.
This freed things up for Eli Abaev in the post, who often found himself working with no defender near him. He scored Austin Peay's first seven points and 12 of the Govs first 16, forcing the Bruins to abandon this plan and at least account for the Deerfield Beach native.
The assault on Taylor continued unabated, but Jordyn Adams soon found room to work. The Silsbee, Texas native got going late in the half, scoring 11 points over the final 6:16 of play, including a halfcourt heave that swished home as the buzzer sounded to send the Govs into the locker room down just five, 43-38.
After being shutout–the first time he was held without a point in a half since Dec. 5, 2018 at Alabama A&M–it was likely Taylor would respond with a big second-half. He scored 11 in the first nine minutes of the second half, even as Belmont threw ever more defenders in his direction. Thanks to four from Taylor and an Adams three, the Govs opened the second on a 7-0 run to take the lead.
An unlikely hero emerged early in the second half. Looking for a spark, head coach Matt Figger inserted Pavle Djurisic; on back-to-back possessions, the big man knocked down three-pointers, pushing Austin Peay's lead to seven and sparking an offense that had seen its lead sliced to a point after Belmont clawed back into it.
An Abaev dunk on a breakaway made it an 11-point Austin Peay lead with 7:39 to play but you can never count out a prohibitive league favorite with that much time to play. A quick 8-0 run for the Bruins had the Govs lead down to three with just under six minutes remaining.
At that point, the Austin Peay defense became what Figger has always preached it could become: a unit that destroys its opponent. From the 5:49 mark until a Grayson Murphy three with 1:49 remaining, the Govs held Belmont scoreless, with seven straight missed field goals including a crucial sequence near the three-minute mark that saw Belmont extend possession with a pair of offensive rebounds. Over that same stretch, the Govs embarked on an 8-0 run of their own to push the lead back to double-digits prior to Murphy's three. The Bruins, who needed to foul to extend the game and hope the Govs missed their free-throws, would never make it more than a two-possession game thanks to Carlos Paez and Alec Woodard, who combined to make eight straight at the line over the final 1:06 of the contest.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 72, MOREHEAD STATE 51
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Kayne Henry's third double-double in four games led the Jacksonville State men's basketball team to a 72-51 victory over Morehead State on Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The junior tallied a career-high 23 points with a single-game high 16 rebounds in the Gamecocks (9-12, 4-4 OVC) seventh consecutive win over the Eagles (9-12, 3-5 OVC).
Jacksonville State controlled the game from the start, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes. Morehead State didn't score its first field goal until the 16:33 mark of the half.
Henry scored 15 of his 23 points in the first, going 5-for-7 from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Of his seven boards in the first, three were on the offensive end to help JSU to eight second-chance points.
On the defensive end, Jax State limited the Eagles to 33 percent (8-24) from the field. The Gamecocks nabbed six offensive boards to MSU's 12 defensive, and pressure from the JSU defense forced 12 first-half turnovers.
Jacksonville State's 21-point advantage, 43-22, at the break was the largest against a conference opponent this season, and Morehead State's 22 points were the least scored in a first half against JSU this season.
The Gamecocks' lead never dropped below double-digits in the second half despite a slow start to the new period. The Eagles came within 14 points thanks to a 9-2 stretch out of the locker room, but JSU found its footing and picked up where it left off in the first half just moments later.
Halfway through the second, with Jax State up 18, Henry threw down back-to-back slam dunks to force MSU into a timeout. His first dunk was an up-and-down in the paint to push the lead to 20, but his second was a two-hander that came off a steal that saw the junior take off from just inside the free-throw line.
With three minutes remaining in the game, the Gamecocks had pushed their lead to a game-high 24 points. Senior Jacara Cross padded the cushion with back-to-back free throws. Morehead State scored just one basket the remainder of the contest.
Derek St. Hilaire and De'Torrion Ware each finished in double-figures, as well, scoring 11 and 14, respectively. St. Hilaire was 4-for-9 with a 3-ball, while Ware saw nine of his points come from beyond the arc.
Jordan Walker was the workhorse for the Eagles, scoring 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting. No other MSU baller touched double-digits in any category.
The win snapped a three-game home losing streak, giving Jax State its first OVC win at The Pete this season.
Henry became the first Gamecock to grab 15-or-more rebounds in a game since '19 alum Jason Burnell had 15 against Murray State on Jan. 31, 2019.
UT MARTIN 79, SIUE 76
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball squad answered the challenge today, stepping up for its first road Ohio Valley Conference road victory of the season in a 79-76 triumph at SIUE.
The Skyhawks won their fifth consecutive game in the Vadalabene Center thanks to a balanced scoring offense and clutch defensive play down the stretch. UT Martin overcame a seven-point halftime deficit by shooting 60.9 percent (14-of-23) in the second half, improving to 6-13 overall with a 2-6 OVC mark in the process.
Quintin Dove came off the bench for the first time today, compiling a game-high 18 points for the Skyhawks. Freshman Ja'Darius Harris earned the first start of his career and excelled, posting 16 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting (3-for-3 from three-point range) and a 3-for-3 effort at the free throw line. He also set career-highs in assists (four) and minutes played (36).
Parker Stewart (16 points, career-high seven assists, three steals), Miles Thomas (14 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals) and Derek Hawthorne, Jr. (game-high nine rebounds, four assists) also helped carry UT Martin to the finish line.
SIUE (5-16, 2-6 OVC) received 18 points out of Shamar Wright while Mike Adewunmi (15 points), Brandon Jackson (14) and Cam Williams (10) also reached double-digits in the scoring column. The Cougars led for 29:31 of clock time but the Skyhawks outrebounded the Cougars by a 31-27 margin and set a season-high in assists against a Division I opponent (20).
Stewart (three-pointer) and Hawthorne (pull-up jumper) scored the first five points of the game as the Skyhawks held a lead for the first five-plus minutes. Thomas sank a three-pointer and had a thunderous dunk off an alley-oop on consecutive scoring possessions to help UT Martin build a 17-12 advantage before SIUE unreeled 10 unanswered points. The Cougars used that momentum to take a 40-33 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Skyhawks were led by Stewart's nine points at the half while Jackson's 10 points paced SIUE.
Dove began the second half with eight straight UT Martin points and Harris soon took over. The Trenton, Tenn. native was responsible for nine consecutive points in a span of 1:33, completing an old-fashioned three-point play before canning a pair of trifectas. The Cougars withstood the Skyhawk push and took their biggest lead of the day (64-55) with 10:49 remaining. A swooping left-handed dunk by Thomas capped off a 12-2 run and made the score 67-66 in favor of UT Martin. The lead traded hands eight times and the score was tied twice over the final 6:41 as Thomas (three) and Stewart joined forces to make three free throws with under a minute left to play. On the other hand, the Skyhawk defense held SIUE without a field goal for the last 3:44 of the contest.
MURRAY STATE 76, TENNESSEE STATE 64
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers pushed their home winning streak to 16 Saturday with a 76-64 victory over the Tennessee State Tigers at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers (15-5) pushed their current season win streak to nine in a row as they stayed in a first place in the Ohio Valley Conference with Austin Peay as each team is 8-0. The Racers have also won 17-straight OVC regular season games.
Tevin Brown led all scorers with 22 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the 3-point line and Devin Gilmore came off the bench to get a double-double on 13 points and 10 rebounds. KJ Williams added 12 points and Demond Robinson scored 10 points.
Trailing by as many as eight points with 9:09 left in the first half, the Racers had edged in front of the Tigers by the intermission at 32-29.
In the second half with 18:31 remaining, DaQuan Smith scored a 4-point play when he was fouled taking a 3-pointer. Smith made the three and the free throw for a 36-29 Racer lead. Moments later, a loose ball scramble ensued at the 15:44 mark, Williams scooped the ball at the mid-court line and fed Eaves for a corner three and a 43-35 lead, MSU’s largest of the game. A fast break dunk for Brown at the 12:15 mark, gave the Racers a 19-8 run to start the second half and a 51-37 lead. TSU never got any closer than seven points the rest of the way.
The Racers were 8-of-23 from the 3-point line, but finished hot by hitting 7-of-15 after a 1-of-8 start. MSU also won the rebound battle 29-27 and limited the opponent to less than 10 second-chance points for the 15th time this season. The Racers piled up lots of spots where they shared the ball and had 19 assists on their 25 made field goals.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 80, TENNESSEE TECH 74
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore Jomaru Brown connected on a career-high six three-pointers and finished with 31 points to lead the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team to an 80-74 victory over Tennessee Tech on Saturday night at the Eblen Center.
It is EKU’s (9-12, 6-2 OVC) third consecutive road win and it improves the Colonels to 6-2 in conference play.
Brown was 6-of-9 from deep and 5-fo-5 from the free throw line to finish with 31 points. He has now scored more than 20 points in six consecutive games.
Junior JacQuess Hobbs just missed his career high with nine assists on the night. He coupled that with zero turnovers.
Freshman Michael Moreno tallied 11 points in the win, while senior Ty Taylor chipped in 10.
Eastern led for nearly the entire game. Tennessee Tech (5-16, 2-6 OVC) grabbed an early two-point advantage when Jr. Clay knocked down a jumper to make it 7-5 with 16:03 left in the first half. The Colonels, however, responded with a 17-4 run and went ahead by 11, 22-11, when junior Russhard Cruickshank buried a triple at the 11:49 mark. They never trailed again.
EKU led by 11 two more times in the first half, the final time when Brown converted a layup to make it 30-19 with 7:54 on the clock. However, TTU slowly chipped away, as a turnaround jumper in the paint by Keishawn Davison made it a five-point game at the break, 41-36.
The Colonels exploded out of the gate to open the second half, going on a 15-4 run that ended when senior Lachlan Anderson threw down a dunk to make it 56-40 with 15:44 on the clock.
TTU pulled back to within six, 76-70, with just under two minutes to play; however, Cruickshank buried a jumper on the Colonels’ next possession to make it an eight-point game, and it stayed an eight-point game until seven seconds remained.
Clay led four Golden Eagles in double figures with 14 points.
EKU shot 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from three-point range on the night, while stifling TTU to 28 percent (7-of-25) shooting from deep.
The Colonels also scored a massive victory in the turnover battle, 20-8.