SATURDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 98, @Jacksonville State 91
Murray State 79, @UT Martin 57
Eastern Kentucky 93, @Eastern Illinois 85 (OT)
Morehead State 64, @Southeast Missouri 50
@Tennessee Tech 74, Tennessee State 71
BELMONT 98, JACKSONVILLE STATE 91
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Behind a career-high 22 points from sophomore Ben Sheppard, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Jacksonville State, 98-91, Saturday.
The Bruins dug deep and played inspirational team basketball to earn their 20th consecutive conference victory.
Many expected a methodical, halfcourt affair featuring two of the top defensive teams in the Ohio Valley Conference. Instead a highly-entertaining, end-to-end offensive showcase ensued.
Jacksonville State made eight of its first 11 shots - including five 3-point field goals - in claiming an early 23-11 lead. Belmont rode the hot shooting of junior Luke Smith to respond, as his fourth 3-pointer of the first half gave the Bruins a 34-30 lead with 4:59 left in the first half.
Jacksonville State took a 45-40 lead on a Darian Adams basket inside the final minute of the first half - and appeared poised for more on a steal from Jalen Finch. But the guard's uncontested breakaway layin attempt rimmed off. Belmont gathered the rebound and answered with a deep, contested 3-pointer from junior Grayson Murphy to close within 45-43 at halftime.
Jacksonville State reserve post player Martin Roub would find the range early in the second half, helping the Gamecocks extend to a 56-48 lead. But Sheppard carried Belmont during a stretch in the second half, as his dazzling 3-point shooting and all-court game stabilized the Bruins and provided new life.
Consecutive 3-pointers from freshman JaCobi Wood and junior Tate Pierson gave Belmont a 73-70 lead with 9:14 remaining. A tough, driving basket from Adams and a Roub floater gave Jacksonville State an 81-80 lead with 4:54 left. Wood responded with a wing 3-pointer to put Belmont on top to stay. It sparked a decisive 9-0 run, highlighted by an acrobatic Murphy tip-in and another determined Wood drive, which made the score 89-81 with 1:30 left.
Belmont (14-1, 8-0 OVC) went 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the final 46 seconds to secure the victory. All told, Belmont shot 49 percent (32-of-65) from the field - including 14-of-34 from 3-point distance.
Sheppard led five Bruins in double figures. Junior Nick Muszynski delivered 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Smith had 18 points and a season-high eight assists, Wood had 15 and Murphy 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Roub led Jacksonville State (8-5, 4-3 OVC) with 21 points.
Belmont has won 26 of its last 27 games.
MURRAY STATE 79, UT MARTIN 57
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Murray State Racers scored their first road win of the season Saturday with a 79-57 victory over the UT Martin Skyhawks at the Elam Center in Martin, Tenn.
The Racers (5-6) stopped a four-game losing skid to improve to 2-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference. In this pandemic-adjusted season, the Racers’ game today was their first in nine days.
KJ Williams led five Racers in double-figure scoring with 17 points and he was one rebound shy of a double-double. Tevin Brown scored 13 points on four 3-point baskets. Dionte Bostick made his first career start at MSU and scored 11 points and was one assist shy of a double-double, while the Racers got a 10-point day from Demond Robinson and Chico Carter, Jr.
Leading 32-27 at halftime, the Racers outscored the Skyhawks 47-30 in the second twenty minutes. After shooting 52 percent in the first half, MSU picked it up a few notches in the second half to hit 63 percent on 19-of-31 from the field.
Racers took their largest lead of the game of 11 points at the 16:45 mark when Bostick and DaQuan Smith hit 3-pointers for a 44-33 advantage. The lead stretched to 52-39 with 12:15 to play on a steal by Brown that Carter finished with a slam-dunk. The lead grew to 17 points at 11:15 after Carter hit the Racers’ eighth 3-pointer of the day and he got a solo steal and finish. MSU had hit 7-of-8 shots in the 16-6 run over a span of 4:35 and had a stretch of assisting on 10-of-11 field goals. When Smith hit from the left wing with 3:54 remaining, the Racers had their season-high against a NCAA D-I opponent with 10 3-pointers.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 93, EASTERN ILLINOIS 85
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Sophomore Michael Moreno’s three-pointer with three seconds remaining in regulation sent the game into overtime, and the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team held on to beat host Eastern Illinois, 93-85, on Saturday at Lantz Arena.
It is EKU’s seventh consecutive win, and it makes the Colonels 12-2 (6-1 OVC) on the year. That is Eastern Kentucky’s best start since 1946-47.
EKU led, 69-66, following a three-pointer from the corner by junior Cooper Robb with 2:58 to play in regulation. However, Eastern Illinois followed that up with a 6-0 run and went ahead by three, 72-69, after a layup by Sammy Friday IV with 1:49 on the clock.
A dunk by Barlow Alleruzzo IV with 13 seconds left made it 74-71 in favor of the Panthers.
On EKU’s ensuing possession, Robb found Moreno on the wing and he buried the triple to tie the game and force overtime.
The Colonels connected on four of their first six shots in overtime, including three-pointers from Moreno, freshmen Wendell Green Jr. and redshirt freshman Curt Lewis. Lewis’ trifecta made it 88-83 in favor of the Colonels with under two minutes to play. EIU never got closer than three points the rest of the way.
Junior Tre King led all players with 24 points in the game, despite fouling out just over a minute into overtime. He added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.
All five starters reached double figures for the Colonels. Lewis finished with 18 points and six boards. Green Jr. had 17 points and six assists. Robb tallied 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Moreno collected 10 points, seven boards and three steals.
EKU shot a season-best 52 percent (12-of-23) from three-point range in the win. The Colonels stifled the Panthers to only 21 percent (6-of-28) shooting from deep.
EKU out-rebounded EIU, 46-44, and won the turnover battle, 18-16.
The back-and-forth game featured 12 ties and 11 lead changes.
MOREHEAD STATE 64, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 50
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Another lock-down effort on defense, plus four double-figure scorers on the offensive end of the floor, propelled Morehead State men's basketball to its fifth consecutive win, a 64-50 triumph at Southeast Missouri, Saturday night at the Show Me Center.
Morehead State improved to 6-2 in the OVC, its best eight-game league start since being 7-1 in 2009-10. The Eagles also completed the program's first-ever sweep of the road trip that includes Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri. Today's game was originally scheduled to be at SIUE but was postponed until Feb. 23. It also marked the first time Jan. 2-4, 2003 that Morehead State has swept an OVC road trip and won by a combined 40+ points.
The Eagles' five-game success streak is also the first time 2015-16 the program has seen a win in five straight contests. Three of the five wins have come on the road, the first overall three-game road winning streak since 2015-16 as well.
After seeing the game tied 31-all at the half, Morehead State's league-leading defense turned up the intensity in the final 20 minutes. The home team made only six of 20 field goals and shot 30 percent while scoring just 19 points. That was the lowest opponent point total for one half this season.
James Baker, Jr., the Eagles' lone senior, led the way with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting. Baker is now 12-of-14 from the field in the last two games. Junior guards Skyelar Potter and DeVon Cooper each scored 11, and freshman forward Johni Broome rounded out the double figure performances with 10.
TENNESSEE TECH 74, TENNESSEE STATE 71
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It came down to the closing seconds, but the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team held off the Tigers of Tennessee State to collect its second win of the season Saturday night. Leading wire-to-wire, the Golden Eagles pulled off the 74-71 victory in the Eblen Center.
Over the opening six minutes, Tech was playing stellar defense to the tune of a 12-2 advantage and saw as much as a 12-point lead with under five minutes to play in the opening half. The Tigers cut it to seven points at the break, however, forcing a pair of Tech's 10 first-half turnovers in the closing two minutes.
Tech once again led by 12 points in the second half, but a quick run by the Tigers closed the gap to four with just under 12 minutes to play.
The Golden Eagles expanded it back out to 11 behind a stellar effort from JUCO transfer Marcus Hopkins. In the second half alone, the big man scored six points, hauled in four offensive rebounds – five total – and hit four free throws. He finished the night with season-highs of 10 points, six rebounds and nearly 18 minutes of action.
Tennessee State trimmed its deficit to just two with 2:48 on the clock. Chattanooga native Jr. Clay drilled a clutch 3-pointer to push the lead back to five. After a Tiger layup, sophomore Keishawn Davidson laid in a fast-break score with 48 seconds to go to put Tech back up by five.
Davidson was the offensive force for the purple and gold on the night, scoring a career-high 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting and a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown. He snagged three rebounds and two steals while dishing out six assists with no turnovers in just 31 minutes.
The Tigers drilled a triple with 16 seconds left in the game, cutting things to just two points. Tech was able to pass the ball around and burn all but 1.6 seconds off the clock before the visitors could get a foul and send graduate transfer Shandon Goldman to the line.
The forward hit his first free throw for the three-point lead. His second shot was just a bit short and to the left, allowing a TSU rebound, but the subsequent shot came too late as the Golden Eagles held on for the win.
In the second half, Clay tipped in one of his own missed layup attempts for his first bucket of the game, giving the junior his 1,000th point of his career. He is just the 37th member of the Tech 1,000-point club and already passed Mitch Cupples to move into 36th on the program's all-time scoring list with his nine points on the night. He also dished out four assists with six rebounds and two steals.
JUCO transfer Damaria Franklin had a strong night with 16 points, four assists and four rebounds while freshman Austin Harvell turned in a team-high eight rebounds with eight points.