TUESDAY'S SCORES
Arkansas State 70,
UT Martin 64
@Tennessee Tech 84, Truett McConnell 48
@St. Bonaventure 80,
Southern Indiana 66
@Morehead State 114, Kentucky State 49
@Southeast Missouri 87, William Woods 49
ARKANSAS STATE 70, UT MARTIN 64
JONESBORO, Ark. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball squad led for over 15 minutes of the second half this evening but Arkansas State staged a late comeback to hand the Skyhawks a 70-64 setback at First National Bank Arena.
In an evenly matched game that was competitive throughout, UT Martin (3-4) went on a 9-1 run midway through the second half and saw its lead stretch out to eight points with 7:29 remaining. The Skyhawks weathered multiple Red Wolves’ comeback tries and still held a lead with under a minute to play but Arkansas State ended the contest with eight unanswered points.
Parker Stewart topped UT Martin in scoring for the second straight game as the graduate out of Union City, Tenn. poured in 15 points thanks to a 5-of-10 effort from beyond the three-point arc. KJ Simon made his return after a one-game injury absence and scored 14 points with a team-high three assists in 23 minutes off the bench. Jordan Sears (12 points, six rebounds, team-best three steals) completed the double-digit scorers for the Skyhawks, who shot 11-for-25 (44 percent) from three-point range.
The Red Wolves (3-2) were led by 17 points and seven assists out of Caleb Fields while Markise Davis posted 15 points. Malcolm Farrington scored 14 points – including the go-ahead three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining that gave Arkansas State the lead for good – and Omar El-Sheikh (11 points, 11 rebounds) also heavily contributed to the Red Wolves’ attack.
Arkansas State scored the first four points of the game before Desmond Williams got UT Martin on the scoreboard with a straightaway three-pointer at the 16:20 mark. The Red Wolves would go on to lead by six points until Rifen Miguel helped the Skyhawks get on track. The 6-8 senior forward from Luanda, Angola tossed in back-to-back buckets in the span of 30 seconds before a fast break dunk from Simon gave UT Martin its first lead of the contest (16-15) with 9:11 to go in the first half.
Simon drained a three-pointer 49 seconds later to keep the lead intact for the Skyhawks. Sears followed with five consecutive UT Martin points, capped off with a trifecta that gave the Skyhawks a 24-23 advantage at the under-4 media timeout.
Arkansas State accounted for six of the next seven points before a deep three-pointer from Miguel and a free throw by Sears made the score 29-29 at the half.
Sears’ nine points led all scorers at the break while Miguel and Simon each had seven points apiece off the bench. Fields’ eight points guided the Red Wolves, who committed eight turnovers and were limited to 28.6 percent (2-of-7) shooting from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
After Arkansas State scored the first four points of the second half, UT Martin went on a 9-0 run. Stewart knocked down a step-back three-pointer from the left wing to start the surge, which also featured an old-fashioned three-point play by Sears and three points from Chris Nix.
The Skyhawks’ next two field goals came via three-pointers from Stewart and Josh Endicott but the Red Wolves battled back to tie the score midway through the second half. Simon then went on a personal run of his own, generating six points in a 68-second stretch to make the score 54-48 in UT Martin’s favor. A Williams three-pointer from the left wing at the 7:29 mark gave the Skyhawks their largest lead of the contest at 57-49.
Arkansas State came back with an 11-3 run over a stretch of 3:43 to even up the score at 60-60. UT Martin trailed by a 62-61 margin with under 90 seconds to play but Stewart buried a go-ahead triple from the right wing, giving the Skyhawks a 64-62 advantage. However, that would be the last points of the game for UT Martin as the Red Wolves completed their comeback.
TENNESSEE TECH 84, TRUETT MCCONNELL 48
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Strong showings on both sides of the ball propelled the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to an 84-48 victory over Truett McConnell Tuesday evening, as the Golden Eagles (3-3) used a dominant first half to move to .500 on the 2022-23 campaign.
Leading by seven in the first half, the purple and gold closed the final 7:32 of the stanza on a 22-5 run to take a 49-25 advantage into the locker room. Tech was highly efficient over the opening 20 minutes, shooting 58.1 percent from the floor and an even better 58.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The Golden Eagles outpaced the Bears 35-23 in the second half. For the game, the Cookeville crew limited TMU to just 26.6 percent shooting and a 3-for-20 showing from distance.
Twelve of the 14 Golden Eagles that saw the floor produced at least one point on the night, led by graduate guard Ty Perry and his game-high 14 points. The Lafayette transfer was perfect from the floor, connecting on all five of his attempts, including a 4-for-4 effort from downtown.
Junior guard Brett Thompson flirted with a double-double in just 21 minutes of action, producing nine points, eight assists, and four steals. Fellow junior backcourt mate Erik Oliver turned in 12 points with a 5-for-7 performance from the field.
Freshman guard Grant Strong hauled in a team-high seven rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench, contributing eight points and three dimes. Local Sparta native Grant Slatten chipped in eight points, as did junior guard Diante Wood.
Playing in his first contest of the season, former manager Walter Peggs Jr. turned in six points and six boards in just under 13 minutes of action off the bench. Also a former Tech manager, Marcus Lee Jr. scored his first points in the purple and gold, converting a pair of free throws with two assists.
ST. BONAVENTURE 80, SOUTHERN INDIANA 66
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball could not get on track and stumbled at St. Bonaventure University, 80-66, Tuesday evening at the Reilly Center in St. Bonaventure, New York. The Screaming Eagles are 2-3 after tonight's action, while the Bonnies are 3-2.
The Eagled spotted the Bonnies a 6-0 lead with a cool start to the offense, missing their first five shots. Senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Indiana) got the Eagles' offense going with a dunk and a three-pointer as the deficit shrank to 8-5.
After the St. Bonaventure pushed the lead back to 14-9, USI surged on an 11-2 run to grab its first lead of the game, 20-16. The Eagles were a perfect four-of-four during the run, including three three-point bombs, and was led by sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) with six of the points during the run to the lead.
The Bonnies would rally back before the end of the half on a 14-4 spurt and took a 30-24 lead into the locker room. Swope would lead the Eagles through the first 20 minutes with 10 points.
In the second half, the Bonnies extend their first half lead and never looked back. St. Bonaventure quickly extend the halftime margin to 14 points, 40-26, in the first three minutes before USI pulled back to within seven, 40-33, when junior guard Gary Solomon (Detroit, Michigan) connected on a driving layup with 15:01 to play.
The seven-point deficit would be as close a USI would come the rest of the way as St. Bonaventure took the lead back to double-digits at 43-33. The Bonnies would lead by as many as 21 points in the second half (63-42) before settling for the 80-66 final.
Swope and graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) would lead the Eagles in scoring with 21 points and 13 points, respectively. Swope posted his career-high 21 points on eight-of-16 from the field, three-of-seven from beyond the arc, and two-of-three from the stripe, while dishing five assists.
Lakes recorded his 13 points on four-of-eight from the field, three-of-seven from beyond the arc, and two-of-three from the line.
MOREHEAD STATE 114, KENTUCKY STATE 49
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball team shot 52 percent from three-point range en route to a 114-49 victory against the Kentucky State Thorobreds at home on FamilyLeisure.com Court Tuesday.
The Eagles (3-3) had six players score in double figures, led by Kalil Thomas, who had 21 points. Branden Maughmer added 20 points and Jalen Hawkins, playing in his first game as an Eagle after transferring and missing the first five games, helped out with 18 points and two steals off the bench.
In his first career start, Trent Scott stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, career-high nine assists, three blocked shots and two steals.
The Eagles went above the century mark for the first time since scoring 102 against Alice Lloyd (Ky.) in 2019.
Morehead State took advantage of great ball movement in Tuesday's game, piling up a season-high 28 assists on 39 made field goals - also the most field goals made since canning 41 versus Alice Lloyd in the 2019 game. Scott's nine assists led the distribution list for the Eagles, and Tucson Redding also added five assists of his own.
The Morehead State defense held Kentucky State shooters to just 30 percent from the field, including 28 percent from three-point range. The Thorobreds did not get many second opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only nine offensive rebounds and scored six second chance points while Morehead State pulled down 35 defensive rebounds.
After jumping out to a 17-15 advantage, Morehead State went on a 13-0 run with 12:24 left in the first half to increase its lead to 30-15. The Eagles then added eight points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 49-26 advantage. Morehead State capitalized on 13 Kentucky State turnovers in the period, turning them into 19 points on the other end of the floor.
Following intermission, Morehead State kept widening that lead, expanding it to 60-33 before going on an 18-0 run to grow the lead to 78-33 with 7:40 to go in the contest. The Eagles kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 114-49 win. Morehead State capitalized on 15 Kentucky State turnovers in the period, collecting 24 points off those turnovers.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 87, WILLIAM WOODS 49
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Josh Mitchell had a double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds and Southeast Missouri (4-1) established a new season-high in points during an 87-49 win over William Woods (3-4) Tuesday.
SEMO led from start to finish in a dominating effort en route to picking up its second home win of the season. The Redhawk scored over 80 points for the second time this year.
Ahead, 8-4, the Redhawks put together a 16-2 run to stretch its lead to 18. Adam Larson, in his first career start, had three points, while four others including Mitchell, Kobe Clark, Tevin Gowins and Chris Harris also scored. Harris buried a 3-pointer to end the surge giving SEMO a 24-6 advantage with 11:02 left to play in the first half.
SEMO continued its balanced scoring and pushed its lead over 20 on a Clark layup. Nate Johnson's two free throws later gave the Redhawks a commanding 49-21 lead at the half.
Eight different Redhawks got in the scorebook in the first half. SEMO's 49 points marked its most in a first half of play this season.
SEMO kept pouring it on in the second half and built its largest lead to 38 on a Tevin Gowins layup with 30 second remaining.
Mitchell shot 6-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 at the free throw line. He also had four dunks in his first double-double at SEMO.
Larson and Russell followed with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Clark had a near double-double nine points and 14 boards.
SEMO man-handled William Woods on the glass, 49-20. The Redhawks shot 48 percent (31-of-64) from the field and made 20-of-27 free throws.