MONDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 86, McNeese 83
@Milwaukee 84,
Southeast Missouri 68
UT MARTIN 86, MCNEESE 83
MARTIN, Tenn. - Parker Stewart poured in a career-best 34 points – including a pair of clutch free throws with five seconds remaining – to boost the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball squad to an 86-83 triumph over McNeese at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Stewart's 34 points came on a remarkably efficient 11-of-15 shooting performance, which included a 7-for-10 effort from three-point range to tie a career-high in treys. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe while adding a team-high seven rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes of playing time.
KJ Simon tossed in 17 of his season-high 22 points in the second half tonight while Desmond Williams swished four 3-pointers on his way to 12 points for the Skyhawks (4-4). Koby Jeffries provided a game-high six assists in 15 minutes off the bench for UT Martin, who won its fourth straight home decision after shooting 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from three-point range and committing only eight turnovers.
McNeese (2-5) was led by 29 points and five assists out of Trae English while Christian Shumate tallied a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Johnathan Massie rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Cowboys, who shot 29.6 percent (8-of-27) from the free throw line.
UT Martin led for 31:23 of clock time but it was McNeese who came out as the aggressors. In a prelude of things to come, Stewart splashed a three-pointer on the game's opening possession but the Cowboys answered back with a 14-3 run with a dozen of those points coming from English.
A Stewart trifecta – already his fourth of the contest – at the 12:46 mark evened the score at 18-all. Williams knocked down a three-pointer with 11:01 left to play in the first half to give the Skyhawks a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. Williams' triple ignited a stretch of 16 unanswered points in a 5:30 span, which included two more treys from Stewart.
After UT Martin led by as many as 14 points in the opening half, the Skyhawks settled for a 39-32 advantage at the break. Stewart accounted for 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from downtown while English registered 16 points to pace McNeese.
The Cowboys began the second half on an 8-1 run to knot the score at 40-40 but Stewart soon took over once again. The graduate guard out of Union City, Tenn. piled up 12 of UT Martin's next 15 points – reaching the 30-point plateau with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
With the McNeese defense keying in on Stewart, Simon took over. The senior southpaw from Orlando, Fla. scored 15 of 20 Skyhawk points during a stretch of 6:43 – helping UT Martin build back up a 77-70 advantage with a little over three minutes to go.
KK Curry followed with four consecutive Skyhawk points to help push the lead out to nine points but a 13-5 Cowboy run resulted in a one-point game (84-83) with eight seconds left. Coming out of a timeout, UT Martin inbounded the ball to Stewart – who calmly converted a pair of free throws to make the score 86-83. The Skyhawks then buckled down defensively, forcing a 35-foot pull-up three-point heave that clanged off the rim and into the waiting hands of Stewart as time expired.
MILWAUKEE 84, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 68
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - – Israel Barnes scored 22 points as Southeast Missouri (5-3) dropped its final game of the Cream City Classic, 84-68, to tournament host Milwaukee (5-3) Monday night at the Klotsche Center.
MKE won the four-team event with a 3-0 record.
Barnes gave SEMO a nice boost off the bench, particularly in the first half. He entered the game and scored 11-straight points to grab the Redhawks an 18-13 lead with 10:27 left.
However, SEMO fell into a big hole right after that when the Panthers answered with 18-consecutive points and a 21-1 run to take a 34-19 advantage. The Redhawks lone point during that time was a free throw by Josh Mitchell which snapped his team's 4:53 scoreless drought.
Three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, including one by BJ Freeman and the other by Elijah Jamison ran MKE's lead to 17 (46-29) before the Panthers led, 46-31, at halftime.
Barnes scored 13 points, including nine from 3-point range, in the first half alone.
SEMO managed to cut MKE's lead to 68-60 on a pair of free throws by Barnes with 5:53 to go, but that was as close as the Redhawks could get.
The Redhawks missed their next seven field goals and the Panthers went on a 12-0 run to pull away for good.
Barnes shot 7-of-14 from the field, 4-of-8 from downtown and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line in 21 minutes of action. It was the first time he scored double figures in his career.
Aquan Smart followed with 12 points and Phillip Russell chipped in 11 for his eighth double-digit scoring game this year.
MKE shot 51 percent (26-of-51) and outrebounded SEMO, 44-28. Additionally, the Panthers committed 22 turnovers.