THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 99, Campbellsville-Harrodsburg 58
@Tennessee Tech 82, Tennessee Wesleyan 48
@Lindenwood 85, Hannibal-LaGrange 58
Illinois State 54,
@Eastern Illinois 49
@Little Rock 71, Arkansas Baptist 60
MOREHEAD STATE 99, CAMPBELLSVILLE-HARRODSBURG 58
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Six Eagles scored in double figures and Morehead State's men's basketball team opened its 2022-23 home schedule with a resounding 99-58 win Thursday against Campbellsville-Harrodsburg on FamilyLeisure.com Court in Johnson Arena.
The Eagles were led by guard Branden Maughmer, who had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Forward LJ Bryan added a career-high 16 points off the bench, and graduate transfer Alex Gross chipped in as well with 15 points and two blocks. Guards Drew Thelwell (career-high 14), Kalil Thomas (10) and Trent Scott (10) also dotted double figures in points.
The Morehead State offense made hay from downtown, making eight threes on 24 attempts. Maughmer hit three treys for the Eagles in the contest.
The Morehead State defense caused its share of mistakes in Thursday's game, forcing 19 turnovers while committing just seven. Those takeaways turned into 31 points on the other end of the floor. Thomas' three steals led the way individually for the Eagles.
After jumping out to an 18-10 advantage, Morehead State went on a 10-0 run with 14:25 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Bryan, to increase its lead to 28-10. The Eagles then added seven points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 52-27 advantage. Morehead State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 28 of its 52 points close to the basket.
Following intermission, Morehead State kept widening that lead, expanding it to 85-52 before going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Tucson Redding's layup, to grow the lead to 91-52 with 5:25 to go in the contest. The Eagles kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 99-58 win. Morehead State took care of business in the paint, recording 32 of its 47 points in the lane in the second period.
TENNESSEE TECH 82, TENNESSEE WESLEYAN 48
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A monster second half helped the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team cruise to an 82-48 victory over visiting Tennessee Wesleyan Thursday evening, as the Golden Eagles (1-1) claimed their 43rd win in 46 home opening games in the Hooper Eblen Center.
After getting off to a torrid start with an 11-1 lead, the purple and gold offense stalled for the rest of the opening stanza. The Bulldogs forced 11 Tech turnovers in the first half and matched the Golden Eagles from distance, leading to a 31-31 stalemate at the horn.
The Golden Eagles responded in the second half, playing stout defense and exploding on offense. Tech blitzed the Bulldogs 51-17, out-rebounding the visitors 31-17. The purple and gold also cut down the turnovers, making just four in the stanza while piling up a whopping 13 steals over the final 20 minutes.
Hitting 44.4 percent of its attempts from the floor in the second half, the Cookeville crew hit six triples and dished out 18 assists as part of an offensive onslaught. Tech also racked up a ridiculous 28 points on the fast break, delivering the crowd a bevy of jaw-dropping dunks.
Leading the effort for the Golden Eagles on the night was graduate transfer Jaylen Sebree, flirting with a triple-double behind 15 points, a career-high-tying 11 rebounds, and a career-best seven assists. He also picked up three steals while hitting a pair of triples.
South Dakota transplant Erik Oliver led all scorers in the contest with a highly efficient performance, dropping 19 points on 7-for-8 shooting. The junior hit 3-of-4 from downtown and added three boards and a pair of dimes, despite being limited to 19 minutes due to foul trouble. Fellow newcomer Jayvis Harvey turned in career-highs of nine boards and four assists chipping in three points.
Graduate transfer Ty Perry produced 12 points with five helpers and a team-high five steals. Local Celina native and Clay County HS product Grant Strong scored his first collegiate points on the night, finishing with 11 and five assists.
Junior forward Daniel Ramsey chimed in with eight points and six rebounds while Florida Atlantic transfer Bogdan Zimonjic tallied seven points and three boards. Redshirt freshman Isaiah Nelson-Ododa made his collegiate debut, picking up Tech's first block of the season. Rookie forward Jerome Beya tacked on four points and five rebounds, flashing his elite athleticism on an alley-oop slam delivered by Strong.
LINDENWOOD 85, HANNIBAL-LAGRANGE 58
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood men's basketball team (1-1) earned its first win as a NCAA Division I program on Thursday night in an 85-58 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange (1-1) from Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
The Lions started the game on fire from behind the arc, which began with a three-point bucket form Kevin Caldwell Jr. Lindenwood took an 18-4 lead at the 16:35 mark by making six shots from long range. The Trojans fought back to take a 31-29 lead, but the advantage was short lived.
Brandon Trimble knocked down a three-point shot to make it 34-33, as the Lions ended the half with a 41-33 lead. Lindenwood shot 53.3 percent from three in the first 20 minutes, and collected 13 points off the fast break with six points from forced turnovers.
Lindenwood continued to build on its lead to start the second half, as a three pointer from Trimble at the 15:11 mark made it a 53-35 ballgame. Hannibal-LaGrange made it an 11-point deficit with 7:34 to go, but Lindenwood picked up the pace and anchored down on defense.
The Lions kept the Trojans scoreless for nearly three minutes, while a dunk by David Ware extended the lead to 23 points with four minutes remaining. After a steal on the defensive end, Remy Lemovou took the ball down the length of the court and slammed home a dunk that set the gym in a frenzy. The Lions rolled to an 85-58 win in the first home action of the season. Lindenwood forced 18 turnovers upon the Trojans, while led to 26 points on the offensive end.
All players who appeared in the game registered points, while four players scored in double-digits. Caldwell Jr. led the Lions with 20 points, as he also dished out seven assists. Trimble knocked down three three-point shots to tally 16 points in the game. Trimble led all players with four steals, as he added one assist and one rebound. Ware registered the first double-double of the season, as he tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds, and handed out five assists. Chris Childs dropped 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc, and he added six rebounds.
ILLINOIS STATE 54, EASTERN ILLINOIS 49
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Illinois State made its first trip to First Mid Court at Lantz Arena in more than 40 years and the home opener for Eastern Illinois would provide shades of some of the rivalry games the two teams had when they were one time conference foes.
In the end Illinois State held on for a 54-49 win over EIU as the Redbirds moved to 1-1 on the season and EIU fell to 0-2.
The Panthers trailed 28-16 at the half after shooting just 26 percent from the floor in the opening half. EIU's intense defense was able to keep them in the game as they cut the margin to 32-30 on a Sincere Malone driving lay-up with 11:32 left in the game.
EIU knotted the game at 32-32 with 9:36 left in the contest knocking down a pair of free throws as he finished with a team-high 14 points, the only Panther in double figures.
Luke Kasubke countered with a 3-pointer to put the Redbirds back in front as ISU was 9-of-22 from 3-point range in the game including 5-of-11 in the second half. Kasubke was 4-of-5 himself from 3-point range scoring a game-high 16 points.
EIU would cut the ISU lead down to one possession four more times over the final six and a half minutes including trailing by one point with 31 seconds left after Yaakema Rose Jr's lay-up made it 50-49.
Nick Ellington had a pair of dunks that resulted in three-point plays in the run as he scored eight points off the bench.
The Panthers held Kendall Lewis to just four points but the forward did pull down 14 rebounds. Rose led EIU with eight boards.
Malachi Poindexter (11 pts) and Joe Petrakis (10 pts) both joined Kasubke in double figures for the Redbirds.
LITTLE ROCK 71, ARKANSAS BAPTIST 60
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Four Trojans scored in double figures, led by a double-double from Myron Gardner and a career-high 16 points from Nigel John, as Little Rock pulled away over the final 10 minutes to defeat Arkansas Baptist 71-60 at the Jack Stephens Center.
The win opens up the 18th season of basketball at the Jack as Little Rock improves to 16-2 in the building in home openers and 41-3 since making the transition to Division I. Head coach Darrell Walker improved to 5-0 in home openers at the helm of the Trojans.
John's 16 points came on 4-of-9 shooting as he also went 8-for-10 at the free throw line, pulling down seven rebounds and helping the Trojans to a 52-39 edge on the glass. DeAntoni Gordon added 14 points and six rebounds while Chris Walker also set a new career high with 12 points, knocking down a game-high three three-pointers.
Gardner registered his double-double in the first half, sitting at 11 points and 11 rebounds at halftime before finishing with 11 points and 13 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. CJ White also had a solid night for Little Rock, flirting with a double-double by finishing with eight points and eight rebounds with three assists.
For the game, Little Rock shot just 36.5% from the floor, hitting 5-of-16 from three-point range (31.3%) and 20-of-29 (69.0%) from the free throw line. The Trojans shot better in the second half, making 46.9% of their shots, compared to 25.8% in the opening 20 minutes.
After committing just seven turnovers at Southern Illinois Monday, Little Rock turned the ball over 14 times in the first half and 17 times for the game, but limited the Buffaloes to just 14 points off those giveaways. But the Trojans finished with 15 assists, compared to just four for Arkansas Baptist, while forcing 14 Buffalo turnovers of their own.
D.J. Smith finished with six points and a team-high six rebounds with Isaiah Palermo rounding out the scoring with four points while dishing out three assists.
Both Little Rock and Arkansas Baptist struggled from the floor in the early going with both teams shooting under 30% through the first 10 minutes of the game. The Trojans slowly built a five-point lead at 15-10 behind a three from Gardner, only to see the Buffaloes answer back to to tie the game at 15-15 at the midway point.
Little Rock couldn't shake Arkansas Baptist, building an eight-point advantage at 27-19 with 2:42 remaining in the opening half and again at 30-22 with just under two minutes to go, but Arkansas Baptist outscored the Trojans over the final minute and a half, hitting a three from just inside the center court line as time expired to cut the lead to 31-27 at halftime.
Gardner led Little Rock with a first half double-double, scoring 11 points with 11 rebounds, but the Trojans and Buffaloes were an identical 8-for-31 (25.8%) in the opening 20 minutes. 14 Trojan turnovers plagued Little Rock and negated a dominating 33-16 rebounding advantage.
Little Rock would build a nine-point lead early in the second half behind an 8-1 run, taking a 39-30 lead off a Gordon layup with 17:13 remaining. But as they did in the first half, the Buffaloes responded once again, trimming the lead to three at 41-38 with 13:16 remaining in the game.
Leading 47-45 at the midway point of the second half, Little Rock used a 7-0 run behind back-to-back layups from Gordon and a jumper from White, building a nine-point advantage at 54-45 with 7:27 remaining to start to gain control. The Buffaloes closed the gap to five at 54-49, but Little Rock would rattle off an 11-0 run to build a 65-49 advantage with 3:55 to play to put the game away.
With the win, coach Walker improves his overall record to 98-84, improving to 15-6 at the Jack Stephens Center against non-conference opponents. The Trojans also improved to 9-8 against Natural State foes under Walker, improving to 2-0 all-time against Arkansas Baptist.