WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 74, James Madison 62 (Naples, Fla.)
UT Martin 103, Carver College 43
UAlbany 64,
Eastern Illinois 62 (Richmond, Ky.)
MURRAY STATE 74, JAMES MADISON 62
NAPLES, Fla. - The Murray State Racers used a 17-0 run that began in the final minute of the first half and continued in the second half and carried it to a 74-62 win over the James Madison Dukes at the Naples Invitational at the Community School of Naples Fieldhouse in Naples, Florida.
The Racers (5-1) came away from the event with a pair of wins in three games with a prior loss to East Tennessee and a win over Long Beach, before today’s winning effort against JMU.
Trae Hannibal led five Racers in double-figure scoring with 15, while Tevin Brown and KJ Williams each added 13 points. Justice Hill scored 11 points and DJ Burns had 10 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double.
Trailing 30-25 at the half, the Racers hit the Dukes with a lightning quick start to the second half. Hill hit a pair of threes and fed Williams for a slam dunk to begin the second stanza. The run went to 12-0 at the 16:12 mark, after Brown made a steal and dunk. After a Racer defensive stop, DJ Burns scored for a 37-30 Racer advantage. Coming out of a timeout, Hannibal scored on a drive and Brown drilled a 3-pointer for a 19-2 start to the second half and the Racers had a 12-point lead with 14:32 remaining. MSU’s largest lead of the game was 17 points with 6:10 left.
The Racers second half is certainly one that any team would want to frame and hang in the locker room. In the final twenty minutes, MSU hit 21-of-29 from the field for 72 percent, including 4-of-8 from the 3-point line for 50 percent.
UT MARTIN 103, CARVER COLLEGE 43
MARTIN, Tenn. - Eleven different University of Tennessee at Martin players scored this afternoon as the Skyhawks dialed up a 103-43 win over Carver College at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Of those 11, UT Martin (3-3) placed six scorers in double figures for the first time since Nov. 21, 2018 against Western Illinois. Accomplishing that feat today for the Skyhawks was Darius Simmons (18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including four 3-pointers), KJ Simon (16 points, eight rebounds), KK Curry (16 points on 7-for-7 shooting, six rebounds, four assists, three blocks), Bernie Andre (13 points in his season debut), Josiah Morris (career-best 12 points) and Chris Nix (10 points on 5-of-6 shooting).
David Didenko added team-highs of nine rebounds and five assists for UT Martin, who improves to 3-3 on the season after shooting 52.6 percent (40-of-76) with a season-best 12 three-pointers and 30 assists. Mikel Henderson (five assists), Koby Jeffries (four assists, six rebounds) and Grant Hurst (five points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals) additionally performed well for the Skyhawks, who claimed their largest margin of victory since a 122-60 win over Boyce College on Jan. 2, 2016.
Playing its eighth consecutive exhibition against a NCAA Division I opponent, Carver College (0-2) was led by 13 points out of Antwon Ferrell. The Cougars shot 26.7 percent from the floor (16-of-60) while making 16.7 percent (3-for-18) of their three-point attempts.
After Carver College scored the opening bucket of the game, it was all Skyhawks. UT Martin scored eight unanswered and Simon went on a scoring spree – tossing in six straight points in a 1:33 span.
Moments later, the Skyhawks used a 24-3 run to create some separation as Jeffries, Simmons, Didenko, Morris and Henderson all knocked down triples during that spurt for UT Martin.
With under three minutes to go before the halftime break, Andre and Hurst became the sixth and seventh different Skyhawks to drain three-pointers in the contest as UT Martin took a 57-27 lead into the locker room at the half.
Simons was the only double-digit scorer at the intermission as his 11 points led a balanced effort for the Skyhawks, who splashed nine 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. Dyllon Scott accounted for a team-best seven points for the Cougars.
Carver College scored the first four points of the second half but UT Martin responded with 21 of the next 23 points of the game. Simmons went through a hot stretch where the Raleigh, NC native went off for eight of the Skyhawks’ 10 points in a 2:16 span.
UT Martin followed with a 13-1 run before wrapping up the contest with 12 unanswered points over the final five-plus minutes. An old-fashioned three-point play by Andre with 1:17 remaining pushed the Skyhawks over the century mark in the points column before a Hurst jumper extended UT Martin’s advantage out to 60 points – providing the final score and the Skyhawks’ biggest lead of the afternoon.
UALBANY 64, EASTERN ILLINOIS 62
RICHMOND, Ky. - For the second time in two weeks Eastern Illinois men’s basketball had some late game heroics by CJ Lane snatched away on a late second shot by its opponent.
On Wednesday it was UAlbany’s Justin Neely hitting a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining as the Great Danes beat Eastern Illinois, 64-62, in the final game of the EKU Hoops Invitational presented by Geneva Financial.
Lane had given the Panthers a 62-61 lead with 12 seconds remaining. It was the fourth lead change of the game in a tight contest that had six ties.
In the first half UAlbany built a 27-17 lead with 2:27 left in the first half following a Matt Cerruti 3-pointer that capped a 10-0 run. Cerruti would finish with 14 points for the Great Danes. EIU would build some late momentum in the half finishing the final two minutes on a 9-0 run to trail 27-26 at the half.
Kashawn Charles gave EIU its first lead of the game with his 3-pointer with 13:55 remaining in the game. Charles finished with 14 points going 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
The Panthers would extend their lead to eight points with 7:33 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Henry Abraham. Abraham had nine points. Jermaine Hamlin scored ten off the bench.
UAlbany would outscore EIU 13-5 over the next five minutes to tie the game 57-57 setting up the final game scenario for both teams.