MONDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 78, @SIUE 74
@UT Martin 76, Austin Peay 75
EASTERN KENTUCKY 78, SIUE 74
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team bounced back with a big 78-74 road win at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Monday afternoon at the Vadalabene Center.
It was EKU’s (15-4, 9-3 OVC) first win over the Cougars in Edwardsville since January of 2011.
The Colonels led by 12, 66-54, following a thunderous dunk down the lane by redshirt freshman Curt Lewis with 8:38 remaining.
However, SIUE (7-10, 5-6 OVC) responded with a 14-2 run and tied the game, 68-68, on a jumper by Courtney Carter with 4:41 on the clock.
The Cougars never took the lead, though. Junior Cooper Robb converted a layup on the EKU’s ensuing possession, and freshman Wendell Green Jr. followed that up with a three-pointer to stretch Eastern’s lead back out to five, 73-68.
SIUE got back to within two, 76-74, on a bucket in the paint by Sidney Wilson with six seconds remaining; however, Green Jr. calmly buried two free throws on the other end to ice the game for the Colonels.
All five EKU starters scored in double figures in the victory. Green Jr. led the way with 18 points, while junior Tre King finished with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Lewis, Robb and sophomore Michael Moreno all scored 10 points on the day.
SIUE’s Mike Adewunmi led all players with 23 points.
EKU forced SIUE into 17 turnovers and won the rebounding battle on the day, 38-32. Thirteen of those boards were of the offensive variety, and the Colonels turned those into 17 second-chance points.
UT MARTIN 76, AUSTIN PEAY 75
MARTIN, Tenn. - – Ajani Kennedy capped off a career-high scoring night with a step-back three-pointer just before time expired that sent the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team home a winner, 76-75 over Austin Peay.
The Skyhawks (7-11, 5-9 Ohio Valley Conference) played arguably their best game of the season against the league’s preseason favorite. UT Martin hit nine 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes on its way to a 43-31 halftime lead and did not panic after the Governors built up an eight-point lead as late as nine minutes to go in the contest. As a result, the Skyhawks improved to 5-0 on the season when the game is decided by single digits.
Kennedy’s heroics were the story of the night as the redshirt junior out of Moreno Valley, Calif. sealed the win after a career-best 22 points and team-high six rebounds. With UT Martin trailing by two points with 2.3 seconds left, Kenton Eskridge lobbed a high inbounds pass to Cameron Holden, who immediately found Kennedy at the top of the key. The 6-9, 225-pound southpaw took a step back and let it fly as the ball found nothing but net to send the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center into a frenzy.
In addition to Kennedy, the UT Martin backcourt tandem of Eman Sertovic and Vinnie Viana each established career-highs with 15 points. Holden was also a primary facilitator of the Skyhawk offense tonight as he equaled his career-high with seven assists for UT Martin, who was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line.
Austin Peay (11-8, 7-6 OVC) was led by Terry Taylor’s 17 points and 12 rebounds although the Preseason OVC Player of the Year was held scoreless until 1:20 to go in the opening half. Tai’Reon Joseph accounted for a team-high 18 points while Jordyn Adams (12 points) and Elton Walker (11) also scored in double figures.
In what was perhaps a sign of things to come, Kennedy splashed a three-pointer for the first points of the contest at the 18:48 mark. The Governors were able to take a 15-9 advantage shortly after the under-12 media timeout but Viana drained back-to-back triples and Sertovic buried a trifecta at the 8:56 mark to tilt the score in favor of UT Martin.
The Skyhawks led 29-28 with 3:53 to go before the halftime break but exploded for a big momentum boost going into the locker room. Viana (three-pointer), Jaron Williams (jumper in the paint), Holden (second-chance layup), Sertovic (three-pointer), Anthony Thomas (second-chance layup) and Hannes Polla (layup) gave UT Martin a half-dozen different scorers during a 14-3 run to wrap up the first half.
Sertovic and Viana both had nine first-half points for the Skyhawks, who shot 60 percent (9-of-15) from three-point range. Austin Peay was guided by Joseph’s nine points as the Governors were 1-for-11 from beyond the three-point arc in the opening half.
Austin Peay started the second half on a 14-2 run, quickly tying the score at 45-all with 15:15 remaining. Meanwhile, Kennedy was quietly brewing up a big performance as he was responsible for UT Martin’s first 11 points of the second half to keep the Skyhawks in it.
Taylor’s 14th point in the first 10-plus minutes of the second half resulted in the Governors’ biggest lead of the evening at 64-56. Viana then came up huge for UT Martin with back-to-back old-fashioned three-point plays after driving layups that whittled the Skyhawk deficit down to 66-64.
Facing a five-point deficit with under two minutes to go, UT Martin stayed the course. Sertovic sank two free throws and after a forced turnover, Kennedy connected on a deep three-pointer to knot the game at 73-73.
Taylor went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe with 14 seconds left to give Austin Peay a 75-73 advantage. Kennedy had a potential game-winning three-pointer from the right corner that was just off target but Holden hustled for the offensive rebound before throwing the ball off a Governor defender out of bounds. After a brief review, the referees placed 2.3 seconds on the clock and Kennedy’s second opportunity at glory was true.