SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 83, Tennessee Tech 72
Jacksonville State 80, @Eastern Kentucky 71
@Belmont 87, Eastern Illinois 55
@Tennessee State 79, SIUE 74
@Austin Peay 82, UT Martin 63
@Murray State 81, Southeast Missouri 59
MOREHEAD STATE 83, TENNESSEE TECH 72
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Senior guard Djimon Henson scored 19 points to lead four players in double figures, and Morehead State hit 11 of its final 13 free throws and shot 86 percent at the line overall in handing Tennessee Tech an 83-72 defeat Saturday at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles, who are now 13-1 in home games versus Tech since 2005-06, improved to 7-8 overall and evened their OVC ledger at 1-1. TTU lost its sixth consecutive battle to slip to 3-12 overall and 0-2 in league play.
Henson, who has now scored double figures in five straight, nailed four triples and also dished out a career-best four assists.
Morehead State did not make a field goal in the final 5:27 but shot better than 20 percent over its season free throw average to fend off the Golden Eagles. Senior guard Jordan Walker added 17 markers, while freshman guard Ta'lon Cooper notched 14 and sophomore guard Malik Riddle cashed in with 13 points.The hosts nailed 52 percent from the floor in pulling away for a 49-27 halftime lead.
Jr. Clay led TTU with 17 points.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 80, EASTERN KENTUCKY 71
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team leaned on a 20-point performance from senior Jacara Cross to earn an 80-71 win over Eastern Kentucky at Alumni Coliseum on Saturday.
Cross scored 14 points in the second half - six in the final five minutes off free throws - to help the Gamecocks (7-8, 2-0 OVC) sweep opening week of Ohio Valley Conference play for a fifth year in a row.
After leading by as much as 11 in the second half, JSU saw the Colonels (4-11, 1-1 OVC) cut into the lead and bring the score to 69-69 with under five minutes to play. EKU only shot 37 percent in the opening half, but stepped up its accuracy to 43 percent in the second on 16 baskets.
Eastern Kentucky guard Jomaru Brown scored 10 of his 18 points in the second half to help lead the offensive charge, but late-game fouls and solid free-throw shooting allowed the Gamecocks to climb back ahead.
Cross hit back-to-back free throws to break the 69-all tie and Derrick Cook added two more to push the lead to five. Three more Cross freebies and a Cook layup was all Jacksonville State needed to put the game out of reach. Elias Harden finished off the contest with a layup to secure a nine-point victory.
Kayne Henry turned in a dominating first-half performance, helping the Gamecocks to a 13-point lead at the intermission. The junior bucketed 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting with a couple from long range. He finished the night with 14.
Henry began the game with a dunk and followed up a Martin Roub 3-pointer with a trey of his own. Jacksonville State built up a 19-9 lead shortly following the first media timeout, but a 9-2 EKU run a few baskets later trimmed the JSU advantage to four, 30-26, with six minutes left in the period.
The Gamecocks answered with a run of their own, going on an 11-2 stretch to push their lead to a game-high 13 points in the final minutes of the half. JSU took a 44-31 lead to the locker room.
Cook, who was the team's third-leading scorer behind Henry, had 13 points, six assists and eight rebounds.
The win over the Colonels at McBrayer Arena was just the second inside the oldest basketball venue in the OVC for the Gamecocks. The first came Jan. 20, 2018 on a Harper-led 68-60 victory.
BELMONT 87, EASTERN ILLINOIS 55
NASHVILLE - Behind a career day from sophomore Nick Muszynski, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Eastern Illinois, 87-55, Saturday from the Curb Event Center.
Muszynski had 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting, a career-high 16 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and zero turnovers in leading Belmont.
To complement Muszynski's inside production, Belmont went 13-for-24 from 3-point distance.
After leading 44-32 at halftime, Belmont opened the second half on a 10-1 run. A Muszynski 3-pointer made the score 54-33 with 16:41 remaining.
Belmont shot 58 percent from the field in the second half and had 25 assists on 33 made field goals.
The Bruins (10-5, 1-1 OVC) limited Eastern Illinois to 32 percent shooting and outrebounded the Panthers, 53-33.
Graduate student Tyler Scanlon added 17 points. Sophomore Adam Kunkel had 13.
Josiah Wallace led Eastern Illinois (7-7, 0-2 OVC) with 17 points.
TENNESSEE STATE 79, SIUE 74
NASHVILLE - Two trips to the charity stripe lifted the Tennessee State men's basketball team to its second Ohio Valley Conference win, 79-74 over SIU-Edwardsville Saturday afternoon in the Gentry Center.
With 2:29 left in the game and the Tigers down one after leading for 24:32 of the afternoon, freshman point guard Mark Freeman, who had served as the floor general dishing six assists to his team, took control of the ball and drove the lane for a three-point play to take the lead, 72-70.
Too close for comfort, Freeman registered his final assist, passing the ball to Jy'lan Washington at the top of the key for a Tennessee State three. SIUE added just four more points, two free-throws and a jumper, falling short of its second OVC victory, 79-74.
Big Blue now leads the conference with a 10-5 overall, 2-0 OVC record.
AUSTIN PEAY 82, UT MARTIN 63
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay moved to 2-0 in OVC play with an 82-63 win that saw the Govs clamp down defensively and play some of their finest ball of the season in the second half.
Both teams play with pace, so it's no surprise the first half was an up-and-down battle in transition. The Govs took a 13-8 lead following a Terry Taylor dunk but the Skyhawks kicked off a 13-2 run on the very next possession, with Quintin Dove putting up eight by himself.
The Govs would tie it up on a Pavle Djurisic free-throw with less than eight minutes to play in the first half, then take the lead a possession later when Djurisic hit a leaning banker from the right side of the lane. During one stretch, the Montenegro big man had five of Austin Peay's seven points and drew a charge on the other end of the floor to breathe some life into the Austin Peay attack. As a coda to the half, he put the ball on the floor and sliced through the lane for a buzzer-beating layup to send Austin Peay into the locker room with a five-point lead.
UT Martin gambled by keeping Quintin Dove in the game with two first-half fouls and Dove rewarded head coach Anthony Stewart with 18 first-half points. But on Austin Peay's first possession of the second half, the preseason All-OVC pick was whistled for his third foul. Stewart bet on the Cleveland native to refrain from picking up No. 4 early in the half, but the side effect was that Dove, one of UT Martin's primary interior defenders, had to play it safe whenever the Govs drove the lane.
And drive they did. Sensing an opening, Carlos Paez drove from the wing time and again, consistently putting teammates in position for an easy finish. If they weren't driving, the Govs were granted easy entry to the high post, where Taylor and Eli Abaev were able to either head to the hoop or kick out to an open man.
This confluence of events helps explain the half-opening 14-1 run to put the Skyhawks at a large deficit. By the 12-minute media timeout, when Jordyn Adams picked up his fourth foul, the Govs were able to withstand not having one of their primary scoring options for a few minutes thanks to an 18-point lead.
The foul situation became untenable for Austin Peay as the second half went on—five Govs played extended time with three or more fouls—but so did UT Martin's shooting ruin any chance the Skyhawks would make the Govs pay. UT Martin did not make a shot from the field until less than 10 minutes remained in the game; while the Skyhawks would rally to post a solid 40.9 percent showing from the floor in the second half, the Govs countered with 56.7 percent and left no chance for a comeback.
The final 10 minutes belonged to Taylor. Beginning with his three-point play at the 9:30 mark, the Bowling Green native scored 15 of his game-high 32 points until his departure to a standing ovation with 2:49 to play. He finished with 12 rebounds as well, his second straight double-double and the 30th of his Austin Peay career.
MURRAY STATE 81, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 59
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - KJ Williams had 18 points off the bench to lead Murray State to an 81-59 win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday night, the Racers' eighth straight home victory.
Anthony Smith had 16 points for Murray State (9-5, 2-0 Ohio Valley Conference). Devin Gilmore added 14 points and seven rebounds. Tevin Brown had 13 points and seven rebounds for the hosts.
Alex Caldwell had 18 points for the Redhawks (4-11, 0-2). Isaiah Gable added 11 points. Quatarrius Wilson had 10 points.