FRIDAY'S SCORES
Southeast MissourI 79, @Incarnate Word 76
@#15 Tennessee 80,
Tennessee Tech 69
Austin Peay 69, @Howard 67
Belmont 72, Iona 65 (Kissimmee, Fla.)
Morehead State 75, @Arkansas State 51
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 79, INCARNATE WORD 76
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Chris Harris drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Southeast Missouri (3-2) to a thrilling 79-76 win over Incarnate Word (0-5) Friday afternoon at the Incarnate Word Thanksgiving Classic.
Tied, 76-76, Harris received a pass from Dylan Branson who inbounded the ball underneath his own basket. Harris launched a three from the left of the arc that went through the net for his only made 3-pointer of the game. Prior to his game-winner, Harris had missed his first four 3-point attempts of the contest.
The Redhawks took their largest lead of the game when Phillip Russel split two free throws to make it a 56-47 ballgame with 11:39 remaining.
However, UIW answered with a 17-8 run and tied things up, 64-64, on a jumper by Drew Lutz with 5:51 to go.
After Nate Johnson's layup put SEMO ahead by four, Eric Reed, Jr. later buried a 3-pointer to regain a three-point cushion for the Redhawks.
SEMO again led by three (75-72) following two made free throws by Harris at the 1:12 mark. Twenty-four seconds later, Russell split two free throws and the Redhawks led, 76-74.
UIW's RJ Glasper's jumper off a SEMO turnover brought the game to a 76-76 deadlock with 19 seconds on the clock.
Brandon Swaby rebounded a missed jumper by Russell, but lost the ball out of bounds. Swaby's turnover hurt the Cardinals in the end after Harris capitalized on the mishap.
SEMO, down 39-34 at halftime, trailed by 10 (44-34) with 17:55 left to play. The Redhawks won the second half, 45-37, to grab their second-straight victory.
Reed, Jr. finished with a season-high 23 points to pave the way for SEMO. He shot 9-of-15 from the field and buried 4-of-8 three-pointers en route to his second 20-point performance. Reed, Jr. also had two steals in 37 minutes.
Johnson and Harris followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Russell added 10.
As a team, the Redhawks shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the field to go along with a season-best 10 three-pointers. Seven of those treys came in the second half.
Glasper topped UIW with 19 points as one of four Cardinals with double-digits in the scoring column.
The Cardinals also made 22-of-26 free throws in a game that had six ties and nine lead changes.
#15 TENNESSEE 80, TENNESSEE TECH 69
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - An incredible defensive effort and resilience like you read about would be the best description for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Friday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles left it all on the court in an 80-69 loss at No. 15 Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena.
In front of a crowd of 16,909 roaring Vols fans, the purple and gold controlled the first half of the contest, using a relentless defensive showing to hold a Tennessee squad averaging more than 80 points per game to just 34 at the break. With just over a second to play in the opening 20 minutes, junior guard Jr. Clay hit a triple, pushing the Golden Eagles out front, 35-34, heading into the locker room.
In the second half, the Vols came out firing, hitting an immediate shot from deep to take back over the lead. Without flinching, sophomore guard Keishawn Davidson answered with his own make from beyond the arc. Both sides traded jump shots before UT's leading scorer, Santiago Vescovi, buried his second trey of the half.
Again, the Golden Eagles had a response, with Clay burying a 25-footer to put the Cookeville crew back on top. He followed with a layup to make it a three-point lead for Tech, its largest of the game.
Tennessee kept working the ball inside the paint, chipping away and eventually pushing out front for good at the 13:11 mark of the second half. The Vol defense also forced 19 Tech turnovers in the contest, providing more possession and eight more shots from the field.
Clay led the Golden Eagles in the contest with a season-high 19 points, including 12 in the second half alone. He added three assists and a pair of steals while shooting 50 percent from 3-point range. Davidson also finished in double figures, contributing 10 points and a team-high four dimes.
Sophomore forward Daniel Ramsey delivered 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting. Junior big man Amadou Sylla was a beast on the glass, hauling in a game-high nine rebounds while chipping in eight points to the mix as well.
AUSTIN PEAY 69, HOWARD 67
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett’s basket with 2.7 seconds left lifted the Austin Peay men’s basketball team past Howard, 69-67 in a thriller on Friday afternoon inside Burr Gymnasium.
The Govs held on to a five-point lead with 1:49 remaining before Howard rallied back to tie the game with 32 seconds remaining. With the shot and game clock separated by two seconds, the Govs dribbled the ball at the top of the key as the clock winded down. Junior Carlos Paez drove left and spun back right, finding Hutchins-Everett who proceeded to spin right and lay the ball up with a defender draped on top of him to give APSU a two-point advantage.
On the ensuing possession, the Bison got the ball across half court and got off a three-point attempt that bounced off the right side of the rim. The Govs rallied from eight points down with seven minutes remaining for their second straight road victory.
For the second game in a row, the Govs had four score in double figures led by junior Cameron Copeland with 16 points. Copeland was 7-of-11 from the field to go along with six rebounds, two assists, and seven steals. Copeland’s seven steals were two shy of the single-game school record.
Behind Copeland was the duo of freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett and redshirt senior Tariq Silver with 14 points each. Silver was 5-of-12 from the field against the Bison and was 4-of-9 from behind the three-point line. Silver also had one rebound, two assists, and two steals in 31 minutes. Hutchins-Everett notched his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Rounding out the quartet of double-digit scoring was redshirt freshman Caleb Stone-Carrawell with 10 points. Stone-Carrawell recorded his fourth straight double-digit performance, going 4-of-12 from the field with five rebounds and six assists.
As a team, the Govs shot 47.4 percent from the field and was 10-of-24 from behind the three-point line. It’s the third straight game the Govs have notched double-digit threes and the first time the Govs have accomplished such a feat on the road. The Govs forced Howard to commit 24 turnovers on Friday night, scoring 21 points off of Bison’s miscues.
It was a strong defensive effort from the Govs to begin the game, forcing back-to-back Howard turnovers leading to a 6-2 lead. The Bison rallied by making three of their next four field goals to earn their first lead of the game at 13-12 with 14:15 remaining. Howard held a two-point lead at the 11:45 mark before back-to-back three-pointers from freshman Drew Calderon.
The game was tied at 26 with less than four minutes to play before Howard embarked on a 4-0 run to earn a 30-26 advantage. To end the half, it was the Cameron Copeland show as the junior scored the final seven Govs points. The personal 7-0 run by Copeland gave Austin Peay a 36-34 lead at halftime as Howard was left scoreless from the field in the final 1:57 of the first half.
Both teams traded points to begin the second half as APSU started the half 1-of-4 from the field while Howard was just 3-of-9 from the field. The game was tied at 41 before Silver knocked down two consecutive three-pointers to give APSU a 47-43 lead with 13:30 remaining. The Bison rallied back once again, making three of their next four field goals to tie the game at 49 at the halfway point of the second half.
Howard earned its largest lead of the game with 6:29 remaining as the Bison went on a 14-2 run to grab a 59-51 lead. After an APSU timeout, the Govs started to rally back, embarking on a 5-0 run with three’s from Paez to trip the Howard lead down to three with 5:37 left. Austin Peay tied the game at 62 at the 3:30 mark after a corner three from Silver. APSU regained the lead on the next possession off a floater from Hutchins-Everett with 2:53 left.
The Govs grabbed a five-point lead with 90 seconds remaining thanks to Paez knocking down his second three-pointer of the night. The three from Paez capped off a 16-3 run for the Govs as Howard was held scoreless for nearly four minutes. Howard stormed back and tied the game at 67 with 32 seconds remaining before Hutchins-Everett laying in the game-winner with 2.3 seconds to go. Howard’s game-winning three-point attempt fell short as the Govs captured their second straight victory on the road.
BELMONT 72, IONA 65
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Ben Sheppard scored a career-high 25 points as Belmont University men's basketball defeated Iona, 72-65, Friday night in the ESPN Events Invitational semifinal round.
Sheppard, Nick Muszynski and JaCobi Wood fueled Belmont to a 34-21 lead in the first half.
Iona, which defeated No. 10 Alabama Thanksgiving night as part of its 6-0 start to the season, closed the half on a 15-4 run as Belmont led 38-36 at halftime.
Five Sheppard points increased the Belmont lead to nine, 52-43, with 14:37 remaining. Walter Clayton, Jr. sparked Iona as plays on both ends of the floor gave Iona its first lead of the game, 56-55. From there, Belmont rode strong defense as Iona was limited to four made field goals over the final 11:42.
A Muszynski conventional 3-point play with 7:20 left gave Belmont the lead to stay. Belmont made seven free throws in the final 1:24 to secure the victory.
In addition to Sheppard's career night, Muszynski had 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
Clayton, Jr. led Iona (6-1) with 13 points.
Belmont (5-2) will play Dayton - which defeated No. 4 Kansas - Sunday at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT in the championship.
MOREHEAD STATE 75, ARKANSAS STATE 51
JONESBORO, Ark. - Four players scored in double figures, led by 20 points from freshman forward Johni Broome, and sophomore guard Ta'Lon Cooper nearly had another triple-double as the Morehead State basketball team nearly led from wire to wire in handing host Arkansas State a 75-51 defeat in the first game of the Eracism Invitational at First National Bank Arena.
The Eagles moved to 3-3 with their second win in as many seasons over the Red Wolves. Morehead State hit a season-best 53 percent from the floor and out-rebounded ASU by 11. The Eagles have out-rebounded five of the first six opponents and three by double digits.
Broome, who had his breakout effort of his first season last year against Arkansas State, was 10-of-11 from the field, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked six shots. Cooper notched 11 points, eight rebounds and dished out eight assists.
MSU also saw junior guard Skyelar Potter score a season-high 16 points and corral seven rebounds. Grad transfer Tray Hollowell reached double-digits for the fifth straight game with 11.
The Eagles, who led 36-23 at halftime, were consistent in the second half as well, scoring 39 and outscoring the hosts by 11. MSU managed to nail 57 percent (16-of-28) in the final 20 minutes, including shooting higher than 60 percent for most of the half until a few misses in the final two minutes.
Morehead State drilled nine more three-pointers tonight and has now hit five or more three-balls in all six games this winter.
Arkansas State hit the first bucket of the game, but Broome hit back-to-back shots and MSU's 4-2 lead at 18:45 was never relinquished. The Eagles ballooned the cushion to as much as 29 on several occasions in the final half.