SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 77, SIUE 74
@Tennessee State 65, Austin Peay 61
Southeast Missouri 87, @Eastern Illinois 58
@Murray State 74, UT Martin 66
MOREHEAD STATE 77, SIUE 74
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State men's basketball put together a 17-0 run in just a 3:21 period of the second half as the Eagles shook off an eight-point deficit to rally for a 77-74 victory over SIU Edwardsville at Johnson Arena Saturday.
Morehead State improved to 14-5 and stayed perfect in the OVC at 6-0, while the Cougars slipped to 7-11 overall and 1-4 in the league. MSU also won for the 17th straight time at home and eighth straight overall this year.
Trailing 56-50 with 8:39 remaining, free throws by Jaylon Hall and Skyelar Potter started the run. Then Johni Broome scored seven straight. Hall, who hit a career-high 8-of-10 from the free throw line, book-ended the scoring flurry with a pair of free throws at 5:18 and the Eagles found themselves all of the sudden back on top by double digits (67-56).
But, the visitors made a run themselves, cutting their deficit all the way back to two with six seconds left on a trio of free throws. Hall iced the game with another free toss next, and Potter stole a pass on the final play to seal the victory.
Broome registered his 12th double-double of the season and 25th of his career with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The OVC leader in rejections also blocked six shots for the sixth time this year.
Potter scored 17 for the second straight game on the strength of three three-pointers, while Tray Hollowell canned four triples and scored 15. Hall played a career-high 29 minutes and scored 13 points, just two short of his career high.
Point guard Ta'Lon Cooper also dished out seven assists, the ninth game this year the OVC leader in helpers has handed out seven-plus assists.
Morehead State shot 52 percent for the contest (25-of-48) and hit 9 of 20 three pointers. SIUE hit 10 three-pointers, including four by Ray'Sean Taylor who led all scorers with 26 points. Deejaun Pruitt cashed in with 16 points.
TENNESSEE STATE 65, AUSTIN PEAY 61
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men's basketball team secured a victory over Austin Peay, 65-61, on Saturday afternoon.
Austin Peay's freshman sensation, Elijah Hutchins-Everett, scored the first basket of the game. TSU responded with five unanswered points to grab an early advantage. Several minutes into the game, the Governors went on a 10-4 scoring stretch to take an 18-11 lead. Kassim Nicholson went on a tear for Tennessee State as he contributed eight points during a 12-2 run to regain the lead, 23-20. Despite TSU going scoreless over the final 4:58, the game remained even at the break.
Tennessee State regained the momentum out of the break with consecutive layups from Nicholson and Emmanuel Dowuona. The teams exchanged baskets throughout the first ten minutes, including Carlos Marshall Jr. converting two three-pointers. Midway through the half, TSU led by three and scored nine unanswered points to extend the advantage to 58-46. Despite one field goal in the final 5:25, the Tigers were able to cash in five of six at the free-throw line to seal the game.
Nicholson led the team with a game-high 16 points, on 7-of-9 from the field, and eight rebounds. Shakem Johnson logged 11 points, on 5-of-7 from the field, and six rebounds.
Tennessee State shot 50% (24-of-48) from the field.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 87, EASTERN ILLINOIS 58
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Southeast Missouri (8-11, 3-3) roughed up Eastern Illinois (2-16, 0-5), 87-58, for its largest Ohio Valley Conference road win in program history Saturday at Lantz Arena.
SEMO controlled the game from start to finish en route to ending a seven-game losing skid in true road games. The Redhawks also picked up their second-straight win and are 3-3 in league play for the first time in five years.
Dylan Branson rallied SEMO with a strong start early by draining a pair of 3-pointers and scoring 10 points in the opening 6:10 of play. Branson later made another basket to finish with 12 points in nine minutes during the first half.
Ahead by seven (24-17), the Redhawks pieced together a 14-4 run. Chris Harris' third 3-pointer in a quick 1:21 stretch ignited the surge that ended on a DQ Nicholas 3-pointer that made it a 38-21 game with 3:20 remaining.
Harris later nailed his season-best fourth 3-pointer to increase SEMO's lead to 51-29 before the Redhawks headed into the locker room up 51-32.
SEMO's 19-point margin marked its largest first-half lead of the season as three Redhawks reached double figures in the scoring column during the first 20 minutes. Branson and Harris each had 12 points, while Nana Akenten followed with 10 points, including nine from downtown.
The Redhawks made 10 threes and outscored the Panthers, 30-12, from distance in the first half. SEMO shot 50 percent (18-of-36) from the field overall with nine of its 10 available players scoring in the opening stanza.
SEMO continued to man-handle EIU in the second half.
The Redhawks started with a 12-4 run in the first 4:40. Nygal Russell and Phillip Russell each drained a 3-pointer and Manny Patterson added a couple layups as SEMO stretched its lead to 63-36.
SEMO led by 30 or more points on five occasions and took its biggest lead when Eric Reed, Jr. made a 3-pointer to give the Redhawks a hefty 82-50 advantage with 3:48 to go.
The Redhawks 29-point margin of victory surpassed their previous 108-81 (+27) win at Austin Peay on Feb. 28, 2013.
For the game, SEMO had a season-high 27 assists and assisted on all but four of its 31 made field goals. The Redhawks shot 49.2 percent (31-of-63) from the field and buried 15 three-pointers along the way. Additionally, SEMO outrebounded EIU, 42-27, for its largest rebounding margin (+15) of the season.
Branson's career-high 15 points paced four Redhawks in double figures. Harris and Akenten followed with 14 and 12 points off the bench, and Patterson added 11 points and six rebounds. P. Russell dished out a game-high eight assists and had 15 dishes in his last two starts alone.
MURRAY STATE 74, UT MARTIN 66
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers improved to 7-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 74-66 victory over the UT Martin Skyhawks and pushed their home win streak to 11 at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. The win pushes the Racers to seven-straight wins since their last loss at now second-ranked Auburn (Dec. 22).
KJ Williams had a monster game with a career-high 33 points to go with 15 rebounds. It marked his sixth double-double this season and the 22nd of his MSU career. Justice Hill added 13 points and Tevin Brown 10 points. Brown and Trae Hannibal each grabbed 10 rebounds.
On a night when the shots weren’t falling, the Racers rolled up their sleeves and got the job done. The Racers held the Skyhawks to 33 percent from the field to take a halftime lead of 32-29. They outscored UTM 42-37 in the second half to get the win.