THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Austin Peay 71, UT Martin 50
@Jacksonville State 76, Eastern Illinois 64
Morehead State 79, @Tennessee State 66
SIUE 81, @Tennessee Tech 63
@Belmont 92, Eastern Kentucky 74
AUSTIN PEAY 71, UT MARTIN 50
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Nobody was happy when Austin Peay State University men's basketball team left Martin on Monday night following a buzzer-beating loss to the Skyhawks. But the Govs didn't have to wait long to exact their revenge and used a stifling defense to take down UT Martin in a 71-50 decision in the Dunn Center, Thursday.
Sophomore Carlos Paez led all scorers with 17 points and helped the Govs move to 12-8 on the season (8-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference). UT Martin falls to 7-12 (5-10).
The Governors started out hot from beyond the arc against the Skyhawks, with Carlos Paez and Tai'Reon Joseph both nailing a pair of threes in the opening minutes to stake Austin Peay to an 24-9 lead.
The party didn't stop there. After a brief 7-2 jaunt by the Skyhawks, Austin Peay ripped off an 11-2 run over the final five minutes to send the teams into their respective locker rooms with the Govs up 37-18; Terry Taylor, the reigning United States Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week, entered halftime having already procured 14 points and seven rebounds in the rematch against the Skyhawks.
The second half was more of the same; the Govs opened the half on a 23-10 run that pretty much erased any thoughts UT Martin might have been harboring about a comeback. The lead swelled to 34 points in the second half before UT Martin closed the game on a 13-0 run to drag the deficit closer.
Paez led four Govs in double figures, joined by Taylor (16 points and 11 rebounds), Mike Peake (13 as a reserve) and Tai'Reon Joseph (12).
JACKSONVILLE STATE 76, EASTERN ILLINOIS 64
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team earned a 76-64 win over Eastern Illinois in a highlight-rich game Thursday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Despite seeing their lead dwindle to five points in the waning minutes, the Gamecocks (13-7, 9-5 OVC) were in the driver's seat the entire game and led by as many as 25 points in the second half.
To go along with a monstrous slam dunk and swat, senior Kayne Henry tallied 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while fellow senior Darian Adams totaled a team-high 18 points after going scoreless in the first half.
Jax State scored the first basket of the game and never looked back. The defense held the Panthers (7-15, 4-11 OVC) to just 20 percent shootings (8-for-40) and did not allowed an EIU 3-pointer in the opening period.
Henry owned the first half, scoring 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting. The only Gamecocks the senior from London, England allowed to score more than five points in the first 20 minutes were Brandon Huffman and Amanze Ngumezi, totaling seven points each.
Leading 38-19 at the half, it was lowest scoring half for a Gamecock opponent this season.
Eastern Illinois' Mack Smith opened the second period with the Panthers' first 3-pointer of the night, but he soon found his team down by a game-high 25 points once Jax State got rolling. Huffman answered the trey with a two-handed dunk and Adams hit a jumper to completely erase the EIU bucket.
Henry followed up with an alley-oop jam on a feed from Jalen Finch, who ended the night with eight assists. A pair of Henry free throws just minutes later made it a 49-26 game in favor of the Gamecocks.
EIU battled back to make things interesting with less than two minutes to go, though. The Panthers pieced together a five-minute, 15-2 run that cut the JSU advantage to 65-58, but Adams widened the gap back to double digits with a steal and breakaway dunk to halt the Eastern Illinois momentum in its tracks.
After not hitting a basket in the first half, Adams was 4-for-6 from the floor with three 3-pointers, and he knocked down seven of nine free-throw attempts.
Adams and Finch were both 7-for-9 from the free throw line, helping Jax State to an 81.5 percent (22-for-27) night from the charity stripe.
Huffman and Ngumezi both saw significant time on the floor for the Gamecocks, collecting many playing minutes at the same time with Huffman playing the five and Ngumezi playing the four. Huffman had 11 rebounds and missed a double-double by one point, while Ngumezi bucketed 11 points.
The Panthers, who were without starting point guard Josiah Wallace, were led by 21 points from Marvin Johnson. Kashawn Charles added 15 points off the bench for EIU.
MOREHEAD STATE 79, TENNESSEE STATE 66
NASHVILLE - As it has done in almost trademark fashion since the beginning of 2021, Morehead State men's basketball used stingy defense and efficiency on offense to pull away in the second half and defeat Tennessee State 79-66 at the Gentry Center Thursday night, tying the program mark with its 12th consecutive win.
Leading by just two at the halftime break, the Eagles (16-6/13-2 OVC) shot 54 percent in the final half, outscored TSU (3-15/2-13 OVC) 45-34 and out-rebounded the Tigers 20-11 to also win their sixth straight OVC road game. MSU hadn't won six consecutive away from Johnson Arena since 2002-03.
Morehead State's 13 OVC wins are now tied for the second highest in program history, equaling 2002-03 and 2010-11 and trailing the 2009-10 squad by just two.
Freshman forward Johni Broome continued his stellar and efficient play in his first season, recording his seventh double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, his fifth 20-point effort. Broome was 9-of-12 from the field and also had a pair of assists and steals. Sophomore guard Ta'lon Cooper got the starting assignment in place of an injury and responded with season-highs of 17 points, seven assists and four steals.
Junior guard Skyelar Potter put the Eagles on his back in the first half, scoring 10 points on a trio of triple balls. He came back and added nine more in the final half and also grabbed eight rebounds as the Eagles out-rebounded TSU 41-29. That's the fifth time in the last six games the Eagles have owned a double-digit rebound advantage.
SIUE 81, TENNESSEE TECH 63
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - SIUE men's basketball put up one its best performances of the year, overpowering Tennessee Tech 81-63 Thursday at the Eblen Center.
SIUE improved to 8-10 overall and 6-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The win was the first-ever for SIUE at Tennessee Tech and was the sixth road win of the year, marking a program high for the Division I era.
SIUE took a 13-11 lead on the first of three consecutive three-pointers by Mike Adewunmi and never looked back. The Cougars pushed their lead to 15 late in the half and led by 13 (45-32) at halftime.
Courtney Carter blocked a layup attempt to start the second half, sparking a 10-0 run by the Cougars to slam the door on the Golden Eagles. The Cougars' lead ballooned to as many as 27 late in the half.
SIUE enjoyed its best shooting night of the season, knocking down 58 percent (31-53) of its shots including going 12-20 (60 percent) from three-point range. The 12 three-pointers were the second-most in a game this year and the 60 percent success rate, the best of the year from three-point range.
The Cougars also racked up a season-best 25 assists.
Carter led four SIUE players scoring in double figures with 18 points. He was 7-11 from the field and 4-6 from three-point range. He added five assists. Mike Adewunmi finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He was 4-5 from three-point range and added six assists. Shamar Wright scored 15 points while tying his career high with four assists. Carlos Curtis scored 13 points and dished our a career-best nine assists for the second straight game.
Seven players had at least an assist in the game for SIUE.
Tennessee Tech, which fell to 2-19 overall and 2-12 in the OVC, shot 44 percent (27-62) from the field and was 5-20 from three-point range. Jr. Clay led the Golden Eagles with 19 points.
BELMONT 92, EASTERN KENTUCKY 74
NASHVILLE - Behind a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore Ben Sheppard, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Eastern Kentucky, 92-74, Thursday.
Belmont (21-1, 15-0 OVC) won its 18th consecutive game and became the first program in America to win 21 games this season. It marked the team's 25th-straight regular season Conference victory, tying Western Kentucky (1965-67) for the OVC all-time record.
Sheppard and junior Caleb Hollander combined to score 11 points in the first 2:45 as Belmont seized a 15-5 lead. Two more Sheppard 3-pointers extended the lead to 32-19 as Belmont lead by double figures the final 31 minutes of the game. Belmont shot 58 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes in leading 50-35 at halftime.
Juniors Grayson Murphy and Luke Smith would spearhead Belmont, as it broke Eastern Kentucky pressure defense for scores. A Devontae Blanton basket made the score 61-49 with 13:10 remaining before junior Nick Muszynski capped a 12-2 Belmont run to extend the margin to 22, 73-51, with 10:34 left.
All told, Belmont shot 53 percent (33-of-62) from the field - including 12-of-28 from 3-point distance. Belmont handed out 22 assists on 33 made field goals, scored 40 points in the paint, and outrebounded Eastern Kentucky, 42-31.
Sheppard led four Bruins in double figures with 25 points. Muszynski had 15 points and seven rebounds while Hollander added 14. Freshman JaCobi Wood scored 11.
Cheikh Faye led Eastern Kentucky (15-5, 9-4 OVC) with 12 points.
Belmont has won 33 of its last 34 games and 27 consecutive conference games. Belmont has also won an NCAA-best 20 consecutive road/neutral games.