SATURDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 94, @SIUE 62
@Morehead State 75, Austin Peay 74 (OT)
Murray State 76, @Eastern Kentucky 64
@Eastern Illinois 86, Tennessee State 72
@UT Martin 66, Tennessee Tech 64
Jacksonville State 66, @Southeast Missouri 54
BELMONT 94, SIUE 62
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Behind 22 points from junior Nick Muszynski (Pickerington, Ohio), Belmont University men's basketball defeated SIU Edwardsville, 94-62, Saturday.
Junior Grayson Murphy added 10 points, six rebounds and a season-high 12 assists as Belmont won its 17th consecutive game and became the first program in America to win 20 games this season. Muszynski made his first three field goal attempts as Belmont seized control early.
The Bruins (20-1, 14-0 OVC) forced six SIU Edwardsville turnovers before the first media timeout and took a 14-4 lead on a basket from freshman Michael Shanks. 3-pointers from sophomore EJ Bellinger and junior Tate Pierson, and a layin from sophomore Derek Sabin gave Belmont a 25-10 lead 11 minutes in.
As Belmont's halfcourt defense forced contested shots, baskets from freshman Even Brauns, freshman JaCobi Wood and sophomore Ben Sheppard increased the margin to 23, 39-16, with 3:24 left in the first half. 12 Bruins scored in the first half as Belmont led 45-22 at halftime.
All told, Belmont shot 65 percent (38-of-58) from the field and scored 48 points in the paint. Belmont handed out 31 assists on 38 made field goals.
Muszynski led four Bruins in double figures. Wood had 13 points, while Murphy had 10 points and three steals. Freshman Frank Jakubicek added a career-high 10.
Carlos Curtis led SIUE (7-9, 5-5 OVC) with 20 points.
Belmont has won 32 of its last 33 games and 26 consecutive conference games. Belmont has also won an NCAA-best 20 consecutive road/neutral games.
MOREHEAD STATE 75, AUSTIN PEAY 74 (OT)
MOREHEAD, Ky. - In what could be dubbed an instant classic, Morehead State men's basketball shook off a huge early deficit and then weathered overtime to edge Austin Peay 75-74 at Johnson Arena Saturday afternoon.
In overtime, APSU's Terry Taylor missed the back end of a one-and-one with 0.9 seconds to go, the only free throw the Govs missed all day, and Eagle junior guard Skyelar Potter skied for the rebound to seal the victory. Potter led MSU with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
The Eagles (15-6/12-2 OVC) won their 11th straight game, having not lost in 2021, to equal the 2009-10 team for the second longest winning streak in program history. MSU also halted a five-game unsuccessful streak against the Governors.
Morehead State trailed 14-2 in the first six minutes and never led in the first half. The Eagles did not grab a lead until eight minutes left in the game and outscored the Govs 7-2 in the final 3:30 of regulation to get it the extra period. Alex Woodward's layup for the visitors with 0.8 left in regulation ultimately sent the game to overtime.
Besides Potter, freshman forward Johni Broome chipped in 19 points with eight rebounds and four blocked shots, while DeVon and Ta'lon Cooper each recorded 10 points on the box score. Taylor paced the Govs with 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Jordyn Adams drained five three-pointers and scored 20.
MURRAY STATE 76, EASTERN KENTUCKY 64
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Murray State Racers scored an emphatic 76-64 victory Saturday over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at McBrayer Arena in Richmond, Ky.
The Racers (9-9) improved to 6-7 in the OVC and split the Death Valley trip after losing at Morehead State Thursday night. The game also marked the Racers’ final league regular-season game against the Colonels. EKU recently announced their plan to leave the OVC after the 2020-21 season for the Atlantic Sun Conference.
MSU Sophomore Chico Carter, Jr., hit 9-of-14 from the field including 3-of-6 from the 3-point line for a career high 23 points. KJ Williams added 18 points to go with nine rebounds, while Tevin Brown added 13 points and Demond Robinson scored 10.
The Racers closed the first half on an 11-2 run in the final 4:40 punctuated by a pair of Devin Gilmore slam-dunks that produced a 39-30 MSU lead at the halftime intermission. Williams gave the Racers their largest lead of the game by scoring the first basket of the second half to make it 41-30 Racers.
After EKU drew as close as four points with 13:40 remaining, the Racers responded with a 16-3 run capped by Brown’s 3-pointer with 7:01 left to put the Racers in front of the Colonels 67-52.
The Racers held a convincing lead in many of the categories on the stat sheet including a 36-32 advantage on the boards. MSU put together one of their best defensive efforts of the season in holding EKU to 26-of-62 from the field for 42 percent and 6-of-24 from the 3-point line for 25 percent. It all added up to throttling an EKU offense that came in scoring 81.4 points per game in 12 OVC games and the Racers held them 17 points below that.
MSU was solid offensively in shooting 53 percent on 28-of-53 and 35 percent from the 3-point line on 7-of-20. MSU also won the game at the free line in hitting 13-of-19 for 68 percent.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 86, TENNESSEE STATE 72
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois men’s basketball opened with a flurry as the Panthers shot 72 percent in the opening half during a 86-72 win over Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena.
EIU came firing out of the gates as they opened the game with a 16-3 run as Kashawn Charles closed the run with a 3-pointer with 15:34 to play in the first half. Henry Abraham extended the EIU lead to 21-5 with another 3-pointer at the 13:14 mark as EIU was 8-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half. The Panthers finished the day 11-of-18 from behind the arc.
Marvin Johnson’s 3-pointer doubled up the score at 36-18 as Johnson drained a 3-pointer with 4:46 to play. Johnson finished the game with his second double-double of the week scoring 25 points to go with 10 assists. He had 18 points and 10 rebounds earlier this week in a win at SIUE.
EIU led 48-26 at the half and extended its lead to a high of 24 points on a Johnson jumper giving EIU a 56-32 lead just three minutes into the second half.
TSU used a 17-2 run to climb back into the contest. Mark Freeman knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the run as he finished with 28 points. Monty Johal capped the run with a steal and lay-up as TSU cut the lead to 67-60 with 8:47 left in the game. TSU had 12 steals.
Abraham ended the TSU run with a 3-pointer on the next EIU possession as the freshman scored 16 points for the Panthers on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point land.
The Tigers would close to within seven points one more time on a Josh Linder dunk with 6:31 left in the game. Sammy Friday IV answered for EIU and the Tigers never got any closer in the remaining six minutes of action.
Friday returned to the EIU line-up for the first time in two weeks finishing with 17 points. Jordan Skipper-Brown posted a double-double for EIU with 13 points and ten rebounds. He becomes the fifth different EIU player to get a double-double in a game this season.
Shakem Johnson just missed a double-double for TSU finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds. Ravel Moody had 12 points as TSU was held to 39 percent shooting for the game. EIU finished the game shooting 62 percent from the floor.
The win moved EIU to 7-14 overall, 4-10 in the OVC. TSU fell to 3-14 overall, 2-12 in the OVC.
UT MARTIN 66, TENNESSEE TECH 64
MARTIN, Tenn. - For the first time this season, the University of Tennessee at Martin overcame a halftime deficit to post a victory as the Skyhawks grinded out a 66-64 Ohio Valley Conference win against Tennessee Tech at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
UT Martin trailed by a 41-40 margin at the halftime break as the visiting Golden Eagles shot 52 percent (13-of-25) from the field – including a 7-for-15 effort from three-point range. However, the Skyhawks cranked up the heat on the defensive end over the final 20 minutes, limiting Tennessee Tech to just 34.6 percent shooting (9-of-26) and a 2-for-12 effort from outside the three-point arc.
Jaron Williams continued his remarkable play today as the junior forward topped UT Martin in scoring for the fourth time in the last five outings. The junior forward out of Rock Hill, SC dialed up a game-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting (plus a perfect 6-of-6 performance from the free throw line. Kenton Eskridge also reached double figures in the scoring column as he posted 12 points while divvying out a game-high six assists.
Defensively, Ajani Kennedy pulled down a game-best 10 rebounds while Cameron Holden swiped a game-high three steals to help the Skyhawks improve to 6-11 overall with a 4-9 mark in OVC play.
Tennessee Tech (2-18, 2-11 OVC) placed a trio of scorers in double digits, led by Keishawn Davidson’s 15 points. Austin Harvell and Jr. Clay each contributed 14 points apiece for the Golden Eagles.
It was a back-and-forth battle for a majority of the game as the lead changed hands nine times and there were five tie scores. Tennessee Tech scored the opening four points of the contest before back-to-back buckets by Eman Sertovic (three-pointer) and Williams (pull-up mid-range jumper) provided the Skyhawks with their first lead of the day.
The Golden Eagles answered with a 7-0 run and kept the advantage until Vinnie Viana knocked down trifectas on consecutive trips down the floor to tilt the score in favor of the Skyhawks at 29-26 with a little under seven minutes to go in the first half.
UT Martin’s lead was short-lived as Tennessee Tech went on an 11-0 run. The Skyhawks kept chipping away and eventually scored the final six points of the first half as a Sertovic floater with three seconds remaining provided the 41-40 score at the break.
Williams and Harvell each accounted for game-highs of 12 points to lead their respective squads.
The Skyhawks’ first five points of the second half belonged to Williams, who converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 18:23 mark to give UT Martin a 45-43 advantage.
Both sides slowed down offensively for an extended stretch as the Golden Eagles led by a 56-53 margin with a little under nine minutes left to play. Kennedy then buried a straightaway three-pointer, igniting a 12-1 spurt that lasted 4:47. A Kennedy transition layup that was caused by a Holden steal off the inbounds pass provided the Skyhawks with their biggest lead of the day (65-57) with 4:52 remaining.
Tennessee Tech kept fighting, putting together seven unanswered points as UT Martin clung to a 65-64 advantage with 1:49 to go. The Skyhawks did not allow another point as the Golden Eagles missed a pair of three-point tries and went 0-for-2 from the free throw line from that point forward. Eskridge calmly sank a free throw with six seconds left to play that resulted in the final 66-64 margin.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 66, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 54
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team earned its fourth road victory in a row Saturday with a 66-54 win over Southeast Missouri at the Show Me Center.
The Gamecocks (12-7, 8-5 OVC) were relentless on defense, holding the Redhawks (7-12, 5-8 OVC) to just 33 percent shooting (17-for-51) while crashing the boards for a 44-32 rebounding advantage. In the second half, SEMO hit just seven of 24 shot attempts – a 29.2 percent clip.
The first half belonged to the home team on the offensive end. Despite the Gamecocks grabbing a brief lead on a 7-0 run and a Darian Adams 3-pointer, the Redhawks answered with a six-point run to cancel out the hot streak.
Although turning the ball over nine times, Jacksonville State ended the first half just one point off the lead, 29-28, thanks to a stretch in the final five minutes of the period when the Gamecocks outscored SEMO 11-5. Amanze Ngumezi led the scoring in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 3-of-4 shots for six points.
The second half belonged almost entirely to Jax State. Jay Pal hit a 3-pointer prior to the first media timeout, pushing JSU's scoring streak to seven with the triple. That clip soon turned into a 15-1 run that put the Gamecocks up 17 with less than seven minutes to play. To that point in the period, SEMO had been outscored 28-10.
The Redhawks enjoyed a late surge, but the closest they came to the JSU lead was seven before Jalen Finch scored four straight to push to the advantage back to double digits for good.
Finch came alive for 12 points in the second, driving the lane for 10 while hitting a pair of free throws. Adams backed him up with eight points in the final period. Adams ended the night 12 points, while Ngumezi finished with 12 before fouling out.
For SEMO, guards DQ Nicholas and Eric Reed Jr. scored 13 and 12, respectively. Jacksonville State's defense held leading-scorer Chris Harris to 0-for-9 shooting with only a pair of made free throws.