SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 70, @SIUE 52
@UT Martin 87, Southeast Missouri 78
@Eastern Kentucky 80, Morehead State 76
@Jacksonville State 75, Tennessee Tech 71
@Murray State 75, Austin Peay 61
Belmont 72, @Tennessee State 65
EASTERN ILLINOIS 70, SIUE 52
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Eastern Illinois jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back as the Panthers won their fourth straight game to close out the regular season with a 70-52 win at SIUE.
EIU improved to 16-14 overall, 9-9 in the OVC. SIUE ends the year at 8-23 overall, 5-13 in the OVC.
Kashawn Charles hit a pair of 3-pointers in the 10-0 in what proved to be a big night for the guard as he finished with 17 points.
SIUE cut the lead to six points before the Panthers extended it back to 12 points on a 3-pointer by Mack Smith with 8:54 to play in the first putting EIU up 19-7. Smith had 16 points in the game knocking down four 3-pointers as he moved into fourth on the EIU career 3-pointers made list and extended his consecutive games with a made 3-pointer streak to 79 games.
Charles transition lay-up with 30 seconds left in the half put EIU up 35-17 as they led 35-19 at the break.
EIU opened the second half much the same way as the Panthers opened the game as a 10-2 run provided the Panthers a cushion in the second half.
Lamar Wright was able to get the Panthers led back under 20 points for the first time in the second half with a pair of free throws with 3:41 left in the game.
EIU ended the night knocking down 12 3-pointers. Josiah Wallace had 13 points and seven assists. JaQualis Matlock added ten points with Shareef Smith collecting eight assists.
Tyresse Williford led the Cougars with 17 points.
UT MARTIN 87, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 78
MARTIN, Tenn. - It was only fitting that the two seniors sent the University of Tennessee at Martin out on a winning note in the 2019-20 season finale as the Skyhawks dialed up an 87-78 triumph over Southeast Missouri in Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball action.
After an emotional Senior Day ceremony before tipoff, UT Martin’s Derek Hawthorne, Jr. and Quintin Dove stole the show. Hawthorne went off for a career-best 30 points in addition to nine rebounds and four assists while Dove poured in 27 points despite playing a majority of the game in foul trouble.
Eman Sertovic (nine points, career-best eight rebounds) and Miles Thomas (eight points, career-high nine assists) narrowly missed double-doubles for UT Martin. Isaac Aguiar also tallied a career-best nine rebounds to tie for the team lead, logging a career-high 30 minutes in the process for the Skyhawks, who set a season-high in field goal percentage (.545) against a Division I opponent.
Southeast Missouri (7-24, 3-15 OVC) was led by Skyler Hogan’s 19 points while Sage Tolbert posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Alex Caldwell (13 points, eight assists) and Isaiah Gable (11 points) additionally paced the Redhawks.
A mid-range jumper by Sertovic exactly one minute into the contest opened the game’s scoring. Southeast Missouri then found a rhythm and led by as many as nine points (24-15) just under the midway point of the first half. Hawthorne was responsible for the final six points during an 8-1 run that helped eliminate the Skyhawk deficit and settle for a 36-36 score at the break – which was the fifth tie of the opening 20 minutes.
Dove (12 points) and Hawthorne (11) guided UT Martin offensively in the first half, as the Skyhawks shot 58.3 percent (14-of-24) in the early stages. Hogan’s 11 points led the Redhawks in the first half.
A free throw by Dove at the 19:22 mark of the second half resulted in UT Martin’s first lead since the opening bucket of the contest. Hawthorne then took over, tossing in 12 straight Skyhawk points over a 4:55 span. Five different UT Martin players scored during a 15-4 run as an Aguiar layup with 8:54 left to play pushed the Skyhawk advantage out to 64-56. Southeast Missouri rallied to even the score at 65-all with 6:31 remaining but UT Martin recovered and led by as many as 11 points late.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 80, MOREHEAD STATE 76
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team closed out the 2019-20 regular season with an 80-76 victory over Morehead State University on Saturday at McBrayer Arena. With the win, the Colonels complete the season sweep of the Eagles.
EKU’s 12 conference wins this season are tied for the second most in program history. It is only the fourth time in program history the Colonels have won 12 or more OVC games in a season, joining the 1964-65 (13), 2006-07 (13) and 2012-13 (12) squads.
Morehead State erased a 6-point Eastern Kentucky lead and went on top 58-57 when Justin Thomas connected on a lay-up with 11:43 left in the game. A MSU foul led to a media timeout with 10:30 showing on the clock. Morehead State was assessed a technical foul during the stoppage. Ty Taylor hit the two free throws for the technical and Jomaru Brown made his two free throws to turn the one-point deficit into a 62-58 lead.
Tre King made a jumper and JacQuess Hobbs hit a spinner in the lane to complete the 9-0 run and make it 66-58 with 8:27 to play.
Another jumper and a free throw from King pushed the lead to nine, 69-60. The Eagles made one more run, out-scoring the home team 12-3 to get within one, 73-72, with 3:33 remaining. Morehead State got within one again, 75-74, on a tip-in from James Baker at the 1:38 mark. Eastern Kentucky turned the ball over on its ensuing possession. MSU had two chances to take the lead – a three-point attempt with 45 seconds left and a jumper with 26 ticks to go – but neither shot fell.
Hobbs and Michael Moreno made four straight free throws to push the Colonels back in front by five, 79-74.
Brown led six Eastern players in double figures with 17 points. Taylor added 16 points and six rebounds. Moreno finished with 14 points and eight boards. King had 11 points. Russhard Cruickshank and Hobbs had 10 each.
Baker had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Morehead State (13-18, 7-11 OVC).
EKU out-scored the Eagles by five points off turnovers and out-scored the visitors by five at the free throw line.
Eastern Kentucky led by as many as 10 in the first half, going up 37-27 on a jumper from Moreno. However, the Eagles scored nine of the final 12 points of the half to draw within four, 40-36, at intermission.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 75, TENNESSEE TECH 71
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team closed out the regular season Saturday with a thrilling 75-71 win over Tennessee Tech at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Senior Night.
Kayne Henry's fourth double-double of the year, and outstanding senior performances from Ty Hudson and Jacara Cross, helped the Gamecocks (13-18, 8-10 OVC) earn the seventh seed in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Championships in Evansville.
Tennessee Tech led the Gamecocks 36-32 at the half, but that's when Henry came alive for Jacksonville State.
Henry tallied 13 of his 19 points in the second half, including eight rebounds. The junior finished the night with 19 and 12 rebounds. He helped Jax State outscore the Eagles 43-35 in the final 20 minutes of action.
Trailing by one with less than four minutes to play, freshman guard Marek Welsch drained a 3-pointer to put the Gamecocks up 69-67. TTU tied the contest 71-71 with 36 seconds left, but Henry put the game back in the home team's hands with a set of free throws.
Tennessee Tech fouled with less than a second to play to send Jax State to the free-throw line, but two more Welsch free throws only extended the lead to four.
On the front end, Cross and Hudson rode senior-night adrenaline through the first period. Cross was 3-for-7 from the field with four free throws for 10 points, while Hudson couldn't be stopped on his way to the basket. The guard was 3-for-4 with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws for nine points.
MURRAY STATE 75, AUSTIN PEAY 61
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers clinched their third-consecutive Ohio Valley Conference championship Saturday with a 75-61 victory over the Austin Peay Governors, played in front of a crowd of 8,229 at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers (22-8) share the title with Belmont at 15-3. The Bruins won the tiebreaker over the Racers and will be the No. 1 seed and the Racers will be the No. 2 seed, in next week's OVC Tournament (March 4-7) in Evansville, Indiana.
The OVC title win for the Racers is their 27th, best in the league that they helped start in 1948.
On a night when the Racers faced a must win, they got the job done with balanced scoring. Anthony Smith had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and KJ Williams gave the Racers a second double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Tevin Brown added 15 points and Jaiveon Eaves added 13 points, while Chico Carter, Jr., scored 12, giving MSU five players in double-figures.
The Racers led 36-33 at half, after Brown hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left.
When Carter hit a three with 15:32 left in the game, the Racers had their first double-digit lead at 45-35. APSU got as close as seven points at the 8:18 mark, but the Racers put together a 10-2 run, punctuated by a Williams slam dunk to make it 66-51 Racers with 4:27 left. APSU never got any closer than nine points the rest of the way.
BELMONT 72, TENNESSEE STATE 65
NASHVILLE - Behind 20 points from graduate student Tyler Scanlon, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee State, 72-65, Saturday night.
With the victory, Belmont secured its 11th regular season conference championship in the last 15 years - sixth since joining the Ohio Valley Conference in 2013.
Scanlon scored 15 points in the first 10:21 as Belmont built a 15-point first-half lead.
Belmont (24-7, 15-3 OVC) led 40-30 at halftime.
Tennessee State capped a 12-0 run on a Michael Littlejohn 3-pointer to get within 40-37 with 18:42 remaining. But an interior basket from sophomore Nick Muszynski and a Scanlon 3-pointer pushed the Belmont lead back to eight.
Tennessee State got within 64-61 with 4:08 left on a Wesley Harris 3-pointer, but Belmont scored seven straight points - punctuated by a Muszynski slam - to make the score 71-61 with 1:41 remaining.
Belmont shot 53 percent (28-for-53) from the field and forced 18 Tennessee State turnovers.
Muszynski added 19 points and two blocked shots, while sophomore Grayson Murphy had 13 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals.