THURSDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 78, @Morehead State 71
@Tennessee Tech 75, Jacksonville State 74
@Belmont 74, Tennessee State 51
@Southeast Missouri 74, UT Martin 72
SIUE 76, @Eastern Illinois 74
@Austin Peay 71, Murray State 68
EASTERN KENTUCKY 78, MOREHEAD STATE 71
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Nursing a three-point lead, the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team scored seven unanswered late in the game to secure a 78-71 victory over in-state rival Morehead State University on Thursday.
Jomaru Brown had a team-high 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field for the Colonels (13-13, 10-3 OVC). Tre King and Ty Taylor contributed 13 points each.
Eastern led 42-37 at the break after shooting 56 percent from the field in the first half. The Colonels trailed by nine, 19-10, before rolling off a 15-5 run to take their first lead of the game. Lachlan Anderson hit three 3-pointers including one to cap the run and put the visitors in front 25-24. EKU led by as many as five points on five occasions through the end of the first half.
Morehead State (12-14, 6-7 OVC) shot 44 percent in the first half, despite missing on all 12 attempts from three-point range.
Eastern stretched its lead to seven three times and nine once through the first 12 minutes of the second half, but the Eagles closed the gap each time. With the Colonels up 61-54, Morehead State scored seven of the next nine to get within two, 63-61, with 5:33 left in the game.
However, Taylor knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing on the other end. After a MSU basket, Brown scored on a lay-up and Taylor connected on three free throws to extend the advantage to 71-63, with 3:11 to play. A jumper by King capped a run of seven unanswered and gave Eastern Kentucky its largest lead of the game, 73-63, with 2:11 on the clock.
MSU cut the 10-point deficit in half before King scored on a break-away dunk and made the ensuing free throw with 36.2 seconds remaining to push the lead back to eight and essentially secure the win.
EKU shot 55 percent for the game. Morehead State made 42 percent of its shots, but finished just 3-of-25 (12 percent) from behind the arc.
The Eagles were led by Tyzhaun Claude with 23 points and six rebounds.
TENNESSEE TECH 75, JACKSONVILLE STATE 74
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Kids dream of the moment from the first time they set foot on the hardwood. In the game of basketball, what could be better than putting up the night of your career and hitting a game-winning 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to play?
Former walk-on and local Sparta native Cade Crosland lived that dream Thursday evening, connecting on a triple with 7.7 seconds on the clock to lift the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to a 75-74 victory over visiting Ohio Valley Conference rival Jacksonville State. The Golden Eagles (7-19, 4-9) then held the Gamecocks (10-16, 5-8) defensively on the final possession, as Jr. Clay got a fingertip on a last-second effort to secure the team's second win in-a-row.
The contest featured many ups-and-downs from the very beginning, with Jacksonville State opening the contest on an 8-0 run. Tech took its first lead of the game, fittingly on a trey from Crosland, halfway through the first stanza, 20-17. The Gamecocks answered with an 11-0 run, but Tech responded in kind to take a 43-40 advantage into the break off a triple from Jr. Clay.
Tech's hot play to end the first half continued into the second, as the Golden Eagles opened their largest lead of the contest, an 11-point edge, with 16:24 to go. The offense sputtered a bit down the stretch, allowing the Gamecocks to get back in the contest and take a four-point lead with under two minutes to play.
With the ball in Jacksonville State's hands and the clock beginning to wind down, freshman Dane Quest stepped up for the second straight game, taking a crucial charge to give Tech the ball with 49 seconds left. A Hunter Vick layup with 22 seconds on the clock pulled the Golden Eagles within two. Desperate for a stop, the Golden Eagles went to a press that resulted in a Gamecock travel and subsequent turnover.
Rookie Keishawn Davidson took the ball on the final possession for the purple and gold, eventually drove it into the lane and kicked it out to Crosland. The senior dribbled towards the top of the 3-point line, passing the ball to Hunter Vick, who drove it around down the right side. With two Gamecocks collapsing on him, the sophomore kicked it back out to a wide-open Crosland on the wing of the arc.
The crowd favorite, who transferred to Tech from Chattanooga State as a sophomore walk-on, earned a scholarship later that season and was named a team captain heading into the 2019-20 campaign, calmly buried the shot, his career-high seventh triple of the contest. It provided him a career-high 21 points on the night, earning him Special Olympics Player of the Game honors.
Overall, Tech's 3-point shooting, defensive work and ball movement lifted the team to its first victory over the Gamecocks since 2017. The Golden Eagles connected on a season-high 15 of its 32 tries from beyond the arc, racked up a season-high 13 steals and dished out 20 assists.
Joining Crosland in double figures off the bench, Vick chipped in 15 points a team-high five rebounds while hitting 3-of-7 from deep and 6-of-10 overall. Clay scored 13 points, distributed seven helpers and tallied three steals. Davidson played a game-high 35 minutes, producing 12 points, eight dimes and a season-high five steals.
BELMONT 74, TENNESSEE STATE 51
NASHVILLE - Behind a dominant second half performance, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee State, 74-51, Thursday night from the Curb Event Center.
Belmont limited Tennessee State to 32 percent shooting and forced 23 turnovers.
Behind the play of sophomore Nick Muszynski, Belmont turned a 34-28 halftime lead into a 43-28 advantage with 16:31 remaining. A lay-in from sophomore Grayson Murphy made the score 64-46 with 4:53 left.
All told, Belmont shot 48 percent (29-for-60) from the field and went 6-for-10 from 3-point distance in the second half.
Muszynski led Belmont with 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. Murphy added 12 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals, while sophomore Adam Kunkel had 11.
Michael Littlejohn led Tennessee State (15-11, 7-6 OVC) with 14 points.
The Bruins held Tennessee State to its lowest offensive output since it scored 49 points at San Diego State Nov. 25.
With the victory, Belmont (19-7, 10-3 OVC) joins BYU, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville and San Diego State as programs to win 19 or more games 15 consecutive seasons.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74, UT MARTIN 72
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Skyler Hogan scored 21 points and Alex Caldwell added 14, including seven in the final 36 seconds to lead Southeast Missouri (6-20, 2-11) to a 74-72 come-from-behind win over UT Martin (7-17, 3-10) Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
SEMO trailed, 70-64, when Caldwell banked in a 3-pointer, was fouled and completed a four-point play to pull the Redhawks within two.
UTM answered with two free throws by Eman Sertovic to pull ahead, 72-68. Eight seconds later, Caldwell buried another 3-pointer to make it a 72-71 game.
Freshman DQ Nicholas then got a huge steal underneath the Redhawks basket, dished the ball to Hogan and Hogan scored a layup to give SEMO its first lead of the game at 73-72 with 24 seconds on the clock. Nicholas would later go on to split two free throws giving the Redhawks a two-point cushion.
UTM had one last chance with three seconds left, but Sertovic's 3-point attempt came off the front of the rim.
The Skyhawks opened the game with an 11-2 run behind three 3-pointers including two from Parker Stewart.
Miles Thomas made a layup to push the Skyhawks lead to 22-19 with 12:19 remaining in the first half before SEMO battled back to pull within two (35-33) when Sage Tolbert converted a 3-point play.
UTM responded by scoring the last eight points of the half to take a 43-33 advantage at the intermission.
The Skyhawks heated up to shoot 61 percent (14-of-23) from the field and buried 6-of-9 three-pointers in the opening stanza.
SEMO outscored UTM, 41-29, in the second half en route to getting by the Skyhawks. The Redhawks also made 10 free throws in the final 20 minutes.
Hogan shot 7-of-15 from the field, buried four 3-pointers and grabbed five rebounds. Caldwell scored 10 of his points in the second half. He also dished out a game-high seven assists. Both Hogan and Caldwell played all 40 minutes.
Sage Tolbert chipped in 16 points and nine rebounds, while Quatarrius Wilson contributed 12 points.
SEMO shot 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the field and attempted a season-high 29 threes.
The Redhawks played without their head coach, Rick Ray, who missed tonight's game with the flu. Keith Pickens served as the acting head coach in Ray's absence. SEMO was also without Jordan Love and Khalil Cuffee, also out due to illness.
Quintin Dove led UTM with a game-high 24 points. Stewart, who was injured late in the game and missed the last seven minutes, followed with 15.
SIUE 76, EASTERN ILLINOIS 74
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Mike Adewunmi scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead SIUE to a 76-74 road win at Eastern Illinois Thursday.
The win is just the second in 11 games all-time for SIUE at EIU. The Cougars improved to 4-9 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 7-19 overall. Eastern Illinois dipped to 5-8 in the OVC and 12-13 overall.
Adewunmi notched his second career double-double collecting career-highs in points and rebounds to lead the Cougars. He scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half.
Zeke Moore scored 16 points, including 12 in the second half. Shamar Wright scored 12 points. Brandon Jackson added eight points and Tyresse Williford collected seven assists.
Eastern Illinois had several chances to pull even down the stretch, but couldn't take advantage. After Mack Smith drained all three free throws after a foul, the Cougars led 74-72 with 27 seconds to play. The Cougars missed a free throw and the Panthers' Josiah Wallace and Jordan Skipper-Borwn missed back-to-back attempts before Brandon Jackson secured a rebound for SIUE. When Jackson missed a free throw, the Panthers again had a chance with 12 second to play when Williford stripped Wallace of the ball and started a fast break the other way. Jackson secured the SIUE win with an emphatic two-hand dunk to make it 76-72. Mack Smith scored on the ensuing play for EIU for the final margin.
After trailing by as many as eight points in the first half and 32-31 at halftime, SIUE didn't take its first lead until a steal and a layup by Zeke Moore made it 36-34 SIUE with 17:35 to play. The Cougars' largest lead of the game came when Moore buried a three-pointer to put SIUE up 55-44 with 10:56 to play.
Mack Smith finished with 25 points to lead Eastern Illinois. Wallace scored 20 points and Skipper-Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds.
AUSTIN PEAY 71, MURRAY STATE 68
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Jordyn Adams scored 20 points and Terry Taylor had a double-double and Austin Peay beat Murray State 71-68 on Thursday night to move into a first-place tie with the Racers.
The two teams end the Ohio Valley Conference regular season against each other at Murray State on Feb. 29.
Adams converted a three-point play with 87 seconds to break a tie at 66 and the Governors (17-9, 11-2 Ohio Valley Conference) made it hold up.
KJ Williams' layup 15 seconds later brought Murray State within 69-68, and following an Austin Peay timeout, the Racers Anthony Smith missed a short shot with 27 seconds left. Carlos Paez sank a pair of foul shots for the final margin before Tevin Brown and DaQuan Smith missed 3-point attempts to end it.
Taylor finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds, Evan Hinson scored 12 and Eli Abaev collected 11 rebounds for the Governors, which ended a two-game skid.
Jaiveon Eaves led Murray State with a career-high 21 points, Brown scored 13 with six assists and five rebounds, DaQuan Smith scored 13, Williams 11 and Anthony Smith 10. The Racers have lost two of their last three.