SATURDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 74, @SIUE 69
@Tennessee State 95, Southeast Missouri 84
Belmont 81, @UT Martin 55
Morehead State 66, @Austin Peay 55
MURRAY STATE 74, SIUE 69
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Murray State Racers scored a 74-69 victory over the SIUE Cougars at the First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois Saturday afternoon.
The Racers (12-2) moved to 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference as they played their first game since Dec. 30. The Racers begin a stretch of six games in two weeks Thursday when they welcome the Tennessee State Tigers to the CFSB Center for a women's and men's doubleheader at 5 p.m./7p.m.
Murray State put five players in double-figure scoring starting with Tevin Brown with 18 points. KJ Williams had his fourth double-double this season (20th in MSU career) with 15 points and 15 rebounds, while Justice Hill added 12 points. MSU also got 10 points from Carter Collins and DJ Burns.
Coming out of halftime with MSU in front 42-27, SIUE used a 24-7 run to take the lead with 12:29 left at 51-49.
One craziest plays you will ever see got the Racers back into the game. With 12:09 remaining, Tevin Brown was fouled on a 3-point attempt for the third time this season. He made 1-of-3 free throws, but his miss on the third was rebounded by Williams and he was fouled on a shot. He hit his first free throw, but missed the second. Trae Hannibal secured the rebound and fired the ball to Brown on the wing and he hit a 3-point basket to put the Racers back in front 52-51 with 12:07 left. Indeed, it was the rarely seen five-point play.
However, SIUE rallied to tie the game with 8:25 remaining 60-60. Moments later, Brown put the Racers in for good with a pair of free throws and a 63-62 lead.
The Racers didn't have a great game shooting, but their 23-of-62 (37 percent) was enough. They were 9-of-23 from the 3-point line (39 percent) and they shot 76 percent from the free throw line (19-of-25).
In the first half with the game tied 16-16, the Racers went on an 18-8 run on back-to-back 3-pointers from Collins and Brown. With 2:55 left, Jordan Skipper-Brown's blocked shot started a run the other way that ended with an alley oop from Justice Hill and a slam dunk by Tevin Brown for a 36-24 Racer lead. MSU led the Cougars 42-27 at the halftime intermission.
TENNESSEE STATE 95, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 84
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men's basketball team secured their first OVC victory on Saturday afternoon against Southeast Missouri, 95-84.
Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. drained a three-pointer on the game's first possession. TSU grabbed the initial momentum with a 9-4 run to open the game, as Shakem Johnson's registered four of the nine points. With less than two minutes remaining, Emmanuel Dowuona contributed four points to an 8-0 scoring stretch to give TSU their largest lead of the half, 38-25.
Tennessee State carried the momentum out of halftime with a 9-4 scoring stretch to acquire their largest lead of the game, 51-35. Carlos Marshall Jr. tallied four straight points for TSU to open the half. SEMO battled back to cut the deficit to 10 points, 59-49, after six straight points by Phillip Russell. Midway through the half, the Tigers went on a 10-3 run to extend the advantage to 75-56. The Redhawks went on a 12-3 run, bringing the TSU lead to single digits with 1:50 remaining. Tennessee State sealed the game with a handful of free-throws.
Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. led TSU with 23 points, a season-high for the second-year freshman. Shakem Johnson tied his season-high with 16 points, while he added four rebounds and three blocks.
Carlos Marshall Jr. scored 18 points on 5-of-11 from the field, including 7-of-9 at the free-throw line.
BELMONT 81, UT MARTIN 55
MARTIN, Tenn. - Behind 20 points from Nick Muszynski, Belmont University men's basketball defeated UT Martin, 81-55, Saturday.
Muszynski went 10-of-12 from the field and added six rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
After four empty offensive possessions to open the game prompted a timeout from head coach Casey Alexander, Belmont responded with nine consecutive field goals. A Ben Sheppard driving layin made the score 20-13 nine minutes in. Strong bench contributions from Even Brauns and JaCobi Wood enabled Belmont to build a working margin, increasing the lead to 32-24 on a Brauns conventional 3-point play.
Belmont (12-3, 2-0 OVC) held UT Martin without a field goal for a five-minute stretch late in the first half, as defensive stops and hit-ahead passes from Grayson Murphy sparked the Bruins. Consecutive offensive rebounds from Will Richard powered Belmont to a 42-31 halftime lead.
A Richard steal set up Muszynski for a transition slam to open the second half, as Belmont used energized defense and rebounding to methodically pull away. Five straight points from EJ Bellinger made the score 53-38 with 16:17 remaining. Consecutive slams from Muszynski and Sheppard capped an 18-6 run and gave Belmont a 71-46 lead with 7:35 left.
All told, Belmont shot 61 percent (35-of-57) from the field – including 8-of-19 from 3-point distance. The Bruins tied a season-high with 27 assists on 35 made field goals. Belmont limited UT Martin to 36 percent shooting.
Sheppard had 13 points, five rebounds and two steals. Murphy added 12 points, four rebounds and eight assists.
Chris Nix led UT Martin (6-9, 2-1 OVC) with 17 points.
MOREHEAD STATE 66, AUSTIN PEAY 55
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Morehead State Men's Basketball gutted out a 66-55 OVC victory at Austin Peay on Saturday evening at the Dunn Center.
The Eagles improved to 10-5 overall, their fourth straight win, and 2-0 in the OVC. APSU fell to 0-3 in the league and 4-9 overall.
Second-year big man Johni Broome had to sit much of the second half with four fouls but still finished with team-highs of 19 points and eight rebounds as the Eagles out-boarded the hosts 40-36.
Sophomore guard Ta'Lon Cooper stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists. Balanced scoring was the key as well with Broome having to watch from the bench. Tray Hollowell scored nine, while Jaylon Hall, Skyelar Potter, LJ Bryan and Jaylen Sebree all finished with six points.
Morehead State connected on its first five shot attempts and hit seven of its first eight to build a 16-4 lead in the first five minutes. APSU cut it to six (20-14) but Potter, Broome and Hollowell sank buckets in succession as the visitors went back up by double digits. MSU shot 52 percent (14-of-27) in the opening half and led 38-29 at the intermission.
The second half became a little closer battle. The Govs cut the Eagle lead to four (42-38) early in the half before MSU went back out by double digits. APSU then trimmed its deficit back down to as low as six. Broome scored the final four as the Eagles won by double-digits.
MSU finished shooting 47 percent (25-of-53). The Eagles only hit four three-pointers, their lowest total of the year after hitting 5+ in all 14 games so far.