THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 67, Tennessee State 44
@Belmont 92, Tennessee Tech 77
SIUE 66, @Eastern Illinois 53
MURRAY STATE 67, TENNESSEE STATE 44
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers showed they can win a game not only with a high-powered offense, but also a lock down defense as witnessed Thursday at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky. The Racers moved to 3-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 67-44 win over Tennessee State. The win for the Racers pushed their overall mark to 13-2 as they roll into a Saturday showdown in Nashville against Belmont.
KJ Williams scored his fifth double-double of the season on 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Tevin Brown and Trae Hannibal each added 11 points. Justice Hill dished out seven assists.
MSU’s determined defense held TSU to 25 percent shooting to grab an early 12-2 lead in the first minutes of the game. When Jordan Skipper-Brown had slam dunks in two consecutive trips down the floor, the MSU’s lead went to 25-5 with 7:51 before the half. The Racers held the Tigers to 7-of-25 from the field for 28 percent, while doubling TSU up in hitting twice as many from the floor on 14-of-30 for 47 percent. The Racers held the lead 35-16 at the halftime intermission.
In the second half, Hannibal hit a pair of threes with 6:47 remaining and the Racers pushed their lead back to 20 points after TSU had cut the MSU lead to 10.
BELMONT 92, TENNESSEE TECH 77
NASHVILLE - Behind 18 points each from Ben Sheppard and Will Richard, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee Tech, 92-77, Thursday from the Curb Event Center. Sheppard and Richard led six Bruins in double figures as Belmont shot 57 percent from the field in the first half.
The game came together in less than 24 hours, as Belmont was originally scheduled to play Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech was originally scheduled to play Southeast Missouri. With the Governors and Redhawks in health and safety protocol, Belmont and Tennessee Tech agreed to play.
Belmont hit four 3-point field goals in the first six and a half minutes, as JaCobi Wood gave the Bruins a 16-6 lead. Four points from Richard sandwiched around a Frank Jakubicek basket made the score 34-18 with 6:01 left in the first half. The Bruins closed the first half on a 12-3 run, with Wood's driving layin giving Belmont a 50-28 lead at halftime.
A Diante Wood conventional 3-point play got Tennessee Tech within 13, 61-48, with 12:50 remaining. Richard and JaCobi Wood combined on seven points to push the Belmont lead back to 18.
And while the Bruins endured uncharacteristic free throw shooting in the second half, Grayson Murphy recaptured a measure of Belmont's first half form with a remarkable sprawling, fullcourt, no-look overhead pass to Sheppard for a slam.
All told, Belmont (13-3, 3-0 OVC) shot 52 percent (34-of-65) from the field - including 11-of-26 from 3-point distance. Belmont had 20 assists and eight steals.
JaCobi Wood had 13 points and three assists while Luke Smith scored 11. Nick Muszynski and Tate Pierson each had 10. Murphy had nine rebounds, eight assists and two steals.
Daniel Ramsey led Tennessee Tech (3-11, 0-1 OVC) with 18 points.
SIUE 66, EASTERN ILLINOIS 53
CHARLESTON, Ill. - SIUE won its third consecutive road game at Eastern Illinois, defeating the Panthers 66-53 for its first Ohio Valley Conference win of the year.
SIUE improved to 7-8 overall and 1-1 in OVC play. EIU fell to 2-13 overall and 0-2 in league play.
SIUE got out to a strong start, jumping out to leads of 6-0 and 13-4 before Eastern Illinois made a game of it. The Panthers pulled within two (31-29) at half.
After Eastern Illinois tied the score at 31 to start the second half, SIUE scored the next seven points and 11 of 13 to pull away for good. SIUE pushed its lead to as many as 15 points.
The Cougars shot 50 percent (14-28) from the field in the second half and connected on 46 percent of its shots for the game. The Cougars outrebounded the Panthers 50-28, marking their most rebounds against a Division I opponent this year.
Shaun Doss, Jr. led the Cougars with 17 points on 7-13 shooting. DeeJuan Pruitt scored eight points while hauling in a career-best 15 rebounds, one shy of SIUE's Division I record for individual rebounds in a single game.
Ray'Sean Taylor scored eight points, marking the first time in his career that he has not scored in double figures. Courtney Carter scored eight points, added seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Paul Bizimana and CJ Lane scored nine points to lead Eastern Illinois, which shot 33 percent (18-55) for the game.