THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 63, Jacksonville State 59
@Austin Peay 79, SIUE 57
Eastern Illinois 68, @Murray State 59
@Tennessee State 91, Tennessee Tech 86
Eastern Kentucky 89, @UT Martin 72
BELMONT 63, JACKSONVILLE STATE 59
NASHVILLE - Junior Caleb Hollander had 18 points and eight rebounds as Belmont University men's basketball defeated Jacksonville State, 63-59, Thursday.
With the victory, Belmont has won 20 consecutive games, 29 consecutive conference games (including an OVC-record 27 consecutive regular season conference games) and secured at least a share of a 12th regular season conference championship in 16 years.
Belmont (23-1, 17-0 OVC), annually one of the nation's top 3-point shooting teams, fought through 0-of-16 shooting from the behind the arc in the first half.
A Kayne Henry basket gave Jacksonville State a 35-26 lead with 16:50 left. Strong post scoring from junior Nick Muszynski carried Belmont's offense.
The Bruins closed within one possession seven times during the second half only to have Jacksonville State respond behind Jalen Finch and Darian Adams. A 3-pointer from junior Grayson Murphy got Belmont within 53-52 with 4:39 remaining. On the next sequence, Murphy proceeded to steal the ball from Finch and tip the ball downcourt to a sprinting Hollander, who completed a twisting conventional 3-point play to give Belmont its first lead since 17:27 of the first half.
A backdoor slam to sophomore Ben Sheppard and two Hollander free throws capped a 10-0 Belmont run to make the score 59-53 with 2:37 left. Adams would score five points in the final 24 seconds, but four consecutive free throws from junior Luke Smith secured the outcome.
Belmont shot 56 percent (14-of-25) from the field in the second half and scored 19 points off turnovers. Muszynski had 16 points, six rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists.
Adams led Jacksonville State (14-8, 10-6 OVC) with 24 points.
Belmont has won 35 of its last 36 games and won an NCAA-best 20 consecutive road/neutral games.
AUSTIN PEAY 79, SIUE 57
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men's basketball team wasn't messing around Thursday night.
From the opening tip, the Govs were committed on both ends of the court and it resulted in a resounding 79-57 win against SIU Edwardsville to complete the season sweep of the Cougars.
Coupled with a Jacksonville State loss at Belmont, the win puts Austin Peay (14-9, 10-7 in the league) within a half-game of fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. SIU Edwardsville (8-13, 6-9 OVC) drops closer to its competition for the final two spots in the league tournament, especially with Eastern Illinois picking up a win against Murray State earlier in the evening.
Two names that have started to make a lot more noise in recent weeks carried the Govs in the first half. Mike Peake showcased his potential both as a rim-runner with a thunderous dunk in the early going and his bonafides as a shooter with a pair of threes during Austin Peay's 21-10 run that opened up a 17-point lead late in the half.
Peake had 13 at the break, while freshman Tai'Reon Joseph was the other Govs scoring the ball in the first half, knocking down a pair of threes and scoring Austin Peay's final bucket of the half on a baseline drive with 3:16 to play.
The Govs going cold late allowed the Cougars to close the half on a 7-0 run to cut the Cougar deficit to 10 points at the half, which has been a storyline of late: allowing teams to hang around. Could the Govs put the Cougars away in the second half?
Perhaps, with Peake and Joseph doing the bulk of the heavy lifting in the first half, Terry Taylor could be considered out of sight, if never, ever out of mind. But the reigning OVC Player of the Year is averaging a 20-10 for the last two seasons for a reason—because night-in and night-out, that's the production you're going to get from him.
Taylor scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, an onslaught that will hopefully be another chapter in his candidacy to retain his mantle as league player of the year. Peake finished with a career-high 20 and eight boards, Gee scored 10 of his 13 in the second half and Joseph added a dozen to polish off the Cougars.
Only briefly, early in the half, was SIU Edwardsville able to cut the deficit back to single digits but the Governors used suffocating defense and quality offensive looks, via mismatches inside for Taylor and Peake or kick outs to Joseph and Gee to coast to a comfortable win in the regular season's penultimate home appearance.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 68, MURRAY STATE 59
MURRAY, Ky. - For the first time in school history Eastern Illinois men’s basketball swept the season series with Murray State as the Panthers jumped out of the gates early and picked up a 68-59 win on Thursday night at the CFSB Center.
EIU improved to 8-16 overall, 5-12 in the OVC. MSU fell to 12-10 overall, 9-8 in the OVC.
The Panthers shot the ball well in the first half and dominated play on the glass as they built a 31-29 lead. EIU shot 59 percent in the opening half and held a 21-8 rebound margin. EIU finished the game at 57 percent with a 34-26 rebound edge.
Mack Smith hit back-to-back 3-pointers with his second coming at the 7:08 mark of the first half staking EIU to a ten point lead at 24-14. Jordan Skipper-Brown would answer baskets by Murray State on the next two possessions with dunks. Skipper-Brown finished with his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The senior added four blocks.
The Racers would end the half on a 7-0 run to trail by two at the half and then opened the second half with a basket by KJ Williams to tie the game at 31-31. Williams was one of three Murray State players in double figures with 15 points.
Marvin Johnson responded with a 5-0 run of his own giving the Panthers a lead they would never relinquish. Johnson had 18 points to go with six rebounds.
Deang Deang’s 3-pointer with 10:17 left in the game pushed the Panthers lead back out to double figures at 53-43. Deang finished with ten points off the bench with seven coming during an early run in the first half.
EIU would lead by as many as 12 points four times in the second half in the final eight minutes, the last 12-point margin coming with 56 seconds remaining on free throws by Johnson. Murray State would get as close as seven points with 18 seconds remaining on a Chico Carter Jr., lay-up. Carter led the Racers with 21 points. Tevin Brown added 11.
TENNESSEE STATE 91, TENNESSEE TECH 86
NASHVILLE (AP) - Mark Freeman had 22 points and 13 assists as Tennessee State narrowly defeated Tennessee Tech 91-86 on Thursday night.
Monty Johal had 16 points for Tennessee State (4-16, 3-14 Ohio Valley Conference), which ended its six-game losing streak. Shakem Johnson added 15 points. Yusuf Mohamed had 13 points.
The 91 points were a season best for Tennessee State, which also posted a season-high 24 assists.
Tennessee Tech totaled 48 second-half points, a season high for the team.
Jr. Clay had 26 points for the Golden Eagles (3-21, 3-14). Damaria Franklin added 23 points and seven rebounds. Shandon Goldman had 10 points.
The Tigers leveled the season series against the Golden Eagles with the win. Tennessee Tech defeated Tennessee State 74-71 on Jan. 16.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 89, UT MARTIN 72
MARTIN, Tenn. - EKU led by just three midway through the second half, but used a 10-3 run to build a 10-point lead on its way to an 89-72 victory at Tennessee-Martin on Thursday.
With the win, the Colonels set a new program record with seven Ohio Valley Conference road wins.
When Anthony Thomas connected on a lay-up with 10:33 to play, the Skyahawks were within three, 59-56. However, Tre King started the game-changing run with a pair of jumpers. Wendell Green Jr. finished it off with a lay-up and two free throws. His makes from the charity stripe with 8:07 to go made it 69-59.
King finished with a game-best 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. He also had three rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Green chipped in 17 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Curt Lewis scored 13 points, grabbed six boards and had three steals.
Eastern Kentucky (18-5, 12-4 OVC), the nation's leader in steals per game, had 12 steals on Thursday. The Colonels shot 54 percent from the floor for the game, including 7-of-17 from three-point range (41 percent). EKU out-rebounded UTM 35-34 and turned 11 offensive rebounds into 17 second chance points.
In a game that was tied seven times and saw eight lead changes, neither team led by more than seven in the first 27 minutes of action.
A lay-up from Vinnie Viana with 15:15 showing on the clock in the second half gave UT Martin a two-point lead, 49-47. After King scored to tie the game, the Skyhawks missed on two shots to take the lead. Lewis knocked in a three-pointer from the right win on the other end with 13:32 to go to put the Colonels on top 52-49. Eastern never trailed again.
Thomas had a team-high 16 points for UT Martin (7-14, 5-12 OVC). Cameron Holden finished with 13 points and 18 rebounds.