SATURDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 69, @Youngstown State 66
Austin Peay 87, @Dayton 81
Troy 80,
UT Martin 67 (Boca Raton, Fla.)
SIUE 69, YOUNGSTOWN STATE 66
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Ray'Sean Taylor's 35-foot three-pointer as time expired vaulted SIUE men's basketball to a 69-66 win over host Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon at the J. Arnold Wealth Management Company Tournament.
The shot completed a comeback for SIUE, which trailed by eight at halftime and by two with less than a minute to play.
The Cougars picked up their second win of the year, improving to 2-3. Youngstown State dropped to 2-2.
With two seconds left and possession out of bounds on the sideline, Courtney Carter inbounded the ball to Taylor, who mishandled the ball initially. He picked it up and heaved it to the rim, knocking it through as time expired.
The Penguins led 66-64 following a Taylor jumper with 37 seconds left. Lamar Wright blocked a shot with 10 seconds left and Shamar Wright grabbed the loose ball, found Courtney Carter on the break. Carter dished to Shaun Doss, Jr. who hit the running layup to tie the score with five seconds left. The Penguins turned the ball over on a tip into the backcourt on the ensuing inbounds play to give it back to SIUE.
Trailing 39-31 to start the second half, SIUE employed much more pressure in the second half, and forced 13 turnovers in the period, leading to 15 points. For the game, the Cougars scored 21 points off 18 YSU giveaways.
Taylor tied his career high with 24 points. He knocked down eight of 17 shots from the field and was 6 for 8 from three-point range, becoming the first SIUE plyer with at least five threes in a game since the 2017-18 season. He grabbed seven rebounds and added four assists.
Doss scored a season-high 19 points to reach the 900-point plateau in his college career including his time at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
SIUE connected on a season-best 48 percent (23-48) of its shots. The Cougars hit a season-high nine three-pointers and were 47 percent (9-19) from long range.
Youngstown was an identical 23-48 from the field. The Penguins were 5 for 17 from three-point range. Michael Akuchie had 14 points to lead three YSU players in double figures.
AUSTIN PEAY 87, DAYTON 81
DAYTON, Ohio - In front of a sold-out crowd inside UD Arena, the Austin Peay men's basketball team made five of its final six field goals and ended the game on a 14-3 run to secure an 87-81 victory over Dayton on Saturday afternoon.
During the final 3:21 of play, the Govs defense held Dayton to just 1-of-10 shooting from the field. Down the stretch, Austin Peay made five of its final six field goals and iced the game by making five of its final eight free throws.
The Govs had four score in double figures for the second time this season, led by freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett who had a career night against the Flyers. Hutchins-Everett notched a career-high 25 points to go along with a career-high 14 rebounds. The Orange, N.J., native was 6-of-13 from the field and a staggering 13-of-16 from the free-throw line.
Behind Hutchins-Everett in scoring was redshirt freshman Caleb Stone-Carrawell who matched his career-high with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. Stone-Carrawell was also 3-of-4 from behind the three-point line to go along with five rebounds, three assists, and one steal. It's the third double-digit performance for Stone-Carrawell this season.
Redshirt senior Tariq Silver tallied 15 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field. Silver was 7-of-11 from the free-throw line while having two three-pointers and four assists. Rounding out the double-digit scoring off the bench was junior Cameron Copeland with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field. Copeland scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half.
Junior Carlos Paez had seven points against Dayton with a team-high six assists in 38 minutes played. Paez also had one steal and one rebound while going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
As a team, the Govs shot 48.1 percent from the field and was 10-of-21 from behind the three-point line. The Govs went to the free-throw line early and often, going 27-of-37 from the charity stripe. It was the first game since Feb. 15, 2020, that Austin Peay has made 25 free throws and attempted over 35. Austin Peay was outrebounded, 35-32 with 11 offensive rebounds.
It was a back and forth battle in the first half between the Govs and the Flyers with seven ties and seven lead changes. Austin Peay got off to a hot start from long distance making its first three three-pointers to earn an 8-3 lead at the 17:52 mark. Dayton countered with a full-court press that helped the Flyers gain an 11-9 advantage.
The two teams went back and forth nearing the midway point of the first half as Hutchins-Everett knocked down two free-throws to tie the game at 15 with 12:26 remaining. Free-throw shooting kept the Govs in the game as APSU went scoreless from the field for over four minutes, yet the game was still tied at the halfway point.
Dayton earned its largest lead of the first half with 5:38 remaining after embarking on a 5-0 run. However, the Govs rallied back with a coast-to-coast bucket from Stone-Carrawell and a three from Calderon to tie the game at 32 with four left to play. The Flyers picked up momentum down the stretch in the first half, making eight of their final 10 field goals to grab a 46-38 lead at halftime.
The Flyers recorded their largest lead of the game (12) early in the second half. Despite the double-digit deficit the Govs continued to grind their way back, embarking on a 9-0 run over five minutes to trail 55-52 with 12:55 remaining. The 9-0 run was highlighted by five points off the bench from Copeland.
After a tough lay-up from Hutchins-Everett, the Govs cut their deficit down to seven at the midway point of the second half. Passing the halfway point, both teams got hot from the field as Dayton and Austin Peay went a combined 9-of-11 from the field en route to a 71-65 lead for the Flyers with 7:34 remaining.
Austin Peay continued to battle back and trailed by three with 3:21 left after Silver made 2-of-3 from the charity stripe after being fouled on a three-point attempt. The Govs then forced a Dayton turnover for the second straight possession that led to a Paez transition three-pointer to tie the game at 78 with 2:55 left to play.
The Govs earned their first lead of the second half on their next possession as Stone-Carrawell buried a floater from the free-throw line to give APSU an 80-78 lead. Silver gave the Govs a four-point lead just seconds later on a fadeaway jumper with under a minute remaining. Down the stretch, Austin Peay won the game at the free-throw line, making five of its final eight to secure the 87-81 road victory.
TROY 80, UT MARTIN 67
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team was embroiled in another tight decision today at the Paradise Classic but Troy ended the game with nine unanswered points to hand the Skyhawks an 80-67 loss.
The Skyhawks were within a single possession as late as 6:47 to go in the contest and trailed by only four points at the final media timeout. However, the Trojans knocked down their free throws down the stretch to come away with the win.
KJ Simon led UT Martin (1-3) in scoring for the second time in as many days, producing 15 points in addition to a game-high two blocks. KK Curry added 12 points while Koby Jeffries recorded 11 points, a team-best five rebounds and a game-high three steals for the Skyhawks, who shot 50 percent (15-of-30) in the first half but could only convert 29.4 percent (10-for-34) of its field goal chances in the final 20 minutes.
Troy (3-2) was led by Duke Deen’s 17 points while Desmond Williams and Efe Odigie followed closely behind with 16 and 15 points, respectively. The Trojans were forced into 19 turnovers but made 14 more free throws than UT Martin while going to the charity stripe nearly twice as many times as the Skyhawks (28 to 15).
UT Martin showed incredible balance early on as five different Skyhawks (Simon, Curry, Josh Endicott, David Kamwanga, Jeffries) combined to score the first six buckets. Jeffries’ jumper at the 13:43 mark of the first half provided UT Martin with its first lead of the matchup at 13-12.
The Skyhawks soon went on a 12-2 run over a 1:49 stretch, receiving seven of those points from Simon. By the time that Darius Simmons splashed a three-pointer with 11:15 to play in the first half, UT Martin had extended its lead out to 25-17.
Troy responded with an 8-0 run but a barrage of trifectas – courtesy of Mikel Henderson, Endicott and Josiah Morris – pushed the Skyhawk advantage back out to 36-32 at the 4:36 mark.
Three more ties followed in the first half before the Trojans managed to take a 42-39 lead at the break. Simon’s 11 points (in just nine minutes) led all scorers while Williams and Deen each generated eight points for Troy.
Jeffries began the second half with the hot hand as the redshirt freshman out of Olive Branch, Miss. tossed in seven of UT Martin’s first nine points. His layup with 15:21 remaining resulted in a 48-46 Skyhawk lead.
The Trojans were responsible for six of the next eight points but UT Martin was unfazed. Henderson buried a big trey before a pair of Simon free throws trimmed the Skyhawk deficit to 62-59 with 6:47 to go.
Troy then used a 7-0 run to go on top by double digits but again, UT Martin kept grinding. Curry scored the first and last buckets of an 8-2 run to pull the Skyhawks within four (71-67) with just under four minutes remaining.
However, that was as close as UT Martin would get the rest of the way as the Trojans converted five free throws and a pair of layups in the game’s waning stages.