WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Chattanooga 81,
@Tennessee Tech 74
@Lindenwood 103, East-West University 56
Northern Illinois 90,
@Eastern Illinois 70
@Western Illinois 86,
Southern Indiana 78
@Saint Louis 80,
Tennessee State 63
@San Francisco 90,
Little Rock 68
CHATTANOOGA 81, TENNESSEE TECH 74
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A spectacular first half wasn't enough for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to pull off an in-state victory Wednesday evening, as the Golden Eagles fell to Chattanooga in the Hooper Eblen Center, 81-74.
Both sides got off to torrid starts, particularly beyond the arc, but the Mocs cooled off as the opening half progressed, allowing the purple and gold to take advantage and build a double-digit lead at the break. Tech fired at a 55.2 percent clip from the floor, sinking a nearly flawless 7-of-9 attempts from distance for a 45-34 lead.
Tech won the first-half battle on the boards, 17-11, and received great production off the bench to the tune of 20 points. Local Sparta native Grant Slatten led the charge over the first 20 minutes, turning in 10 points.
In the second half, the tables turned. The Golden Eagles found their fair share of struggles getting the ball in the hoop, shooting just 31.4 percent from the field and sinking only one of the team's seven attempts from deep. On the flip side, Chattanooga couldn't miss, almost literally.
The Mocs converted 12 of their minuscule 15 attempts from the floor for an 80 percent clip. The visitors also sunk 7-of-9 tries from 3-point range. The purple and gold attempted a whopping 20 more shots than Chattanooga in the second half, but couldn't take advantage.
Chattanooga finished 16-of-20 from the charity stripe in the second half, contributing to its 47 points. Tech did manage to force 12 turnovers by the Mocs in the same span and held the visitors without an offensive board.
Four Golden Eagles produced in double figures, led by a trio of 13-point efforts. Graduate forward Jaylen Sebree piled up a career-high six steals on the night to go along with his 13 points and dished out four assists. Junior guards Brett Thompson and Jayvis Harvey each contributed 13 points as well.
Slatten finished his night with a career-high 12 points and chipped in three boards off the bench. Freshman Grant Strong turned in a team-high five rebounds and dished out three helpers to go along with four points.
Leading the contest in scoring was Chattanooga center Jake Stephens, recording a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds, as well as six dimes. The big man converted 10-of-12 attempts at the charity stripe.
LINDENWOOD 103, EAST-WEST UNIVERSITY 56
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood men's basketball team (4-5) earned a dominating win over East-West University by a final of 103-56 on Wednesday night from Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
The Lions wasted no time firing the long-range shots, as Brandon Trimble knocked down a three pointer on the first Lindenwood possession. The Lions built a 12-7 lead in the first five minutes, but the Phantoms stuck around through the first half of the opening frame. Lindenwood started to hammer points in the paint, and a three-point bucket by Keenon Cole put the Lions in front 29-19 at the 7:34 mark. Cam Burrell ended the half with a layup and the foul, making it a 46-32 lead at the half.
Cole led the team with 15 points, as he was 3-of-4 from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes of play. Burrell was right behind him with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Chris Childs had just four points at the midway point, but he dished out nine assists and pulled down eight rebounds.
The Lions were rolling to start the second half, as the 14-point lead quickly became 23 points in the first two minutes. At the 14:28 mark, Jacob Tracey made a layup in the pain to put the Lions ahead by a score of 64-34. Lindenwood saw a short stretch of free-throw opportunities, which slightly slowed the pace on offense. However, Trimble reignited the fire with a three-point bucket at the 9:34 mark to make it an 80-44 lead.
With less than 10 minutes to go in the game, Childs knocked down a jumper in the paint for his 11th point, notching his triple-double performance. In the final 1:30 of game clock, Remy Lemovou scored the last four points for the Lions, as he finished his night with nine points and seven boards.
Lindenwood saw six players score in double figures, including Cole who led the team with 20 points of 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Burrell ended his night with 19 points, as he made all three field goal attempts in the second half. Trimble efficiently notched 16 points, after shooting 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. David Ware collected a quiet double-double, as he posted 10 points with 11 rebounds.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 90, EASTERN ILLINOIS 70
CHARLESTON, Ill. - With the score tied at 36-36, Northern Illinois closed the first half with a 6-0 run and carried that momentum over to the second half to pull out to a double figure lead in the opening two minutes as they beat Eastern Illinois 90-70 at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena.
EIU tied the game at 36-36 with 2:07 left in the opening half on a 3-pointer by Cameron Haffner. NIU answered with a jumper in the lane by Yanic Konan Niederhauser followed by a jumper by Darweshi Hunter and dunk by Keshawn Williams as time expired to put the Huskies up 42-36 at the half.
NIU then opened the second half with a 5-0 run capped by a three point play by Williams as he led NIU with 17 points, one of five Huskies in double figures.
Kyle Thomas snapped the NIU run with a lay-up with 18:03 to play to make it 47-38. Zarique Nutter countered with a pair of free throws for NIU and Eastern Illinois was never able to get back within single digits the remainder of the game.
Thomas had eight points off the bench as EIU featured a balanced scoring night playing without leading scorer Kinyon Hodges who missed the game due to a death in his family.
Caleb Donaldson was the lone EIU player in double figures scoring 15 points with six assists. Donaldson also pulled down three offensive rebounds as EIU finished the game with 11 offensive boards.
Both teams were hot from the floor in the opening half with NIU shooting 65 percent and EIU connecting for 62 percent. In the second half, NIU continued to blister the nets finishing the game shooting 62 percent while EIU cooled down to 48 percent for the game.
NIU moved to 3-5 on the season. Nutter and David Coit both added 16 points for the Huskies. EIU fell to 1-7 on the year.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 86, SOUTHERN INDIANA 78
MACOMB, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball surged late, but fell short at Western Illinois University, 86-78, Wednesday night at Western Hall in Macomb, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles are 3-4 after tonight's action, while the Fighting Leathernecks rise to 3-4.
USI tried to rally a few times in the first half, but trailed by two at halftime, 36-34. The Eagles jumped out in front early, 9-6, but a Leatherneck 9-0 momentum shift allowed Western Illinois to take command of the contest.
A 15-6 run in the final five minutes of the opening half allowed the Eagles to narrow an 11-point deficit to just two points at the intermission. Junior guard Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) led the surge with seven of the 15 points.
The second half did not start in favor of USI as Western Illinois went on a 15-5 run to take a 51-39 advantage. The Eagles tried to cut into the deficit, closing the gap to 59-52 with a 13-8 run with 10:25 left in the game. Senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) gave the Eagles the momentum with six of the 13 points.
USI would make one more push in the final seven minutes with a 17-9 run to cut the deficit to two points, 74-72, with 3:45 to play when Henry connected on an old fashion three-point play. The Leathernecks would not let the Eagles get any closer as they pulled away to the 86-78 final.
USI had three players reach double-digit scoring with Polakovich leading the way with 18 points. The senior forward, who also had a game-high nine rebounds, was eight-of-14 from the field and two-of-seven from the stripe.
Henry followed Polakovich with 17 points on a blistering seven-of-nine from the field. He also was one-of-one from beyond the arc and two-of-two from the line.
Graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
SAINT LOUIS 80, TENNESSEE STATE 63
ST. LOUIS - Tennessee State men's basketball team fell to the Saint Louis Billikens, 80-63, on Wednesday evening at Chaifetz Arena.
The Tigers (4-3) had three players score in double figures, led by Jr. Clay, who had 17 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. tacked on 10 points and Zion Griffin helped out with 10 points.
The Tennessee State offense was productive from beyond the arc, pouring in eight threes.
On the defensive end, Tennessee State finished with six blocks. Zool Kueth led the way with three rejections.
TSU led 16-13 after a three-pointer by Dedric Boyd at 11:33 but fell behind 36-26 heading into halftime.
Saint Louis kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 57-37 advantage before Tennessee State went on a 6-0 run, finished off by Boyd's three, to shrink the deficit to 57-43 with 10:05 to go in the contest. Tennessee State scored 15 of its 37 points in the final frame from the outside.
SAN FRANCISCO 90, LITTLE ROCK 68
SAN FRANCISCO - Another extended run in the first half put Little Rock in a deep hole early and the Trojans were unable to recover, falling 90-68 to San Francisco at War Memorial Gym at the Sobrato Center Wednesday night.
Myron Gardner registered his third double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Ethan Speaker set a career-high with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench. D.J. Smith once again led the Trojans with 16 points, adding six rebounds.
Little Rock finished the game shooting 42.1% from the floor, recovering from a 33.3% performance in the first half, but again struggled from three point range, making just 4-of-18 from beyond the arc. Little Rock had its best performance at the line, making 16-of-20 attempts for 80.0%.
San Francisco held the advantage shooting 46.9% as the Dons were able to knock down 13 three pointers on 32 attempts, using the long ball to help pull away from the Trojans in the first half. San Francisco held a 36-34 rebounding edge and forced the Trojans into 16 turnovers, outscoring Little Rock 21-14 on those giveaways.
CJ White and Nigel John each added nine points for Little Rock with White grabbing five rebounds. Isaiah Palermo finished with seven points as well with Smith and Gordon each adding a pair of steals and DeAntoni Gordon added a pair of blocks.
Once again, a fast start by the opposition put Little Rock in an early hole as the Dons scored the game's first eight points and led by 10 at 14-4 at the 14:36 mark, making four of their first six threes. Little rock answered with a 9-2 run of its own, including an and-one from Speaker and back-to-back threes from White and Smith to pull within three at 16-13 with 12:55 to go in the first half.
A layup from Speaker off a feed from White brought the Trojans within three once again at 18-15, but San Francisco responded with a 10-0 run to build a 13-point lead at 28-15 with just over eight minutes remaining in the half. That run extended to a 21-2 advantage for the Dons, spanning just over five minutes, as San Francisco built a 39-17 lead with just under five minutes left in the first half.
Little Rock went cold from the floor over the final 10 minutes of the first half, making just two of their final 10 shots of the half, while San Francisco shot 50% from the floor and knocked down nine of its 16 three point attempts, building a 25-point halftime lead at 49-24.
Speaker and John led the way with seven points for Little Rock in the opening 20 minutes as the Trojans shot 33.3%, making just two of their seven three point attempts. San Francisco held a 22-15 rebounding edge and took advantage of eight Trojan turnovers with a 13-4 edge in points off those giveaways.
Little Rock' shooting was better to start the second half, hitting four of its first seven, but San Francisco matched every Trojan basket in the early going, only allowing Little Rock to get to within 20 in the opening five minutes at 56-36 off a three from White.
The Trojans got it under 20 at 60-41, thanks to five-straight free throws, but that opened up the flood gates for San Francisco, which answered with a 12-2 run of its own to open up a 29-point lead at 72-43. Little Rock answered with a 12-2 run of its own, getting back to within 19 at 74-55 with 6:38 remaining with Gardner picking up his third double-double of the season.
But once again, the deficit was too great as San Francisco kept Little Rock at bay down the stretch, handing the Trojans their third-straight defeat with the 90-68 loss. Little Rock shot better over the final 20 minutes, hitting 50% of its shots in the second half, but was just 2-for-11 from three point range.