SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Illinois State 77,
SIUE 71
Western Illinois 79,
@Eastern Illinois 75
@Troy 87,
Tennessee Tech 64
ILLINOIS STATE 77, SIUE 71
NORMAL, Ill. - Four players scored in double figures Saturday, but it wasn't enough as Illinois State outlasted SIUE men's basketball 77-71 at Horton Field House.
The Cougars have dropped two in a row and are now 7-4. Illinois State won its third consecutive game and improved to 5-6.
Following the opening basket from Illinois State, SIUE went on a 9-0 run to lead 9-2. The Cougars pushed their lead to seven on two other occasions before the Redbirds fought back. SIUE led 34-33 at halftime.
Illinois State opened the second half with an 11-4 run to take a 44-38 lead following the first media timeout.
The Cougars responded with a 12-2 run of their own to lead 50-46 following an ISU turnover and a three-pointer from Desmond Polk with 12:44 left. The Redbirds got the game back to even at 52 and from that point, the two sides traded baskets and the lead.
Illinois State made its final push over the game's final 4:00 when SIUE led 61-59. ISU's Darius Burford made a running layup to tie the score and was fouled on the play, spurring the Redbirds on to a 10-1 run. Illinois State had its largest lead at 69-62 after a pair of free throws from Burford with 1:26 left. The Cougars cut the lead back to three twice, including on a Ray'Sean Taylor three-pointer with 19 seconds left which made it 74-71.
Burford knocked down three of four free throw attempts in the closing seconds to secure the win.
Taylor finished with a game-high 20 points. He was 3-6 overall and 7-7 at the free throw line. It was Taylor's second 20-point game of the year and the 11th of his career.
Shamar Wright chipped in 12 points and six rebounds.
SIUE made it a point to be strong down low and finished with 42 points in the paint. Post players Jonathan Kurtas (10 points, seven rebounds) and Terrance Thompson (11 points, six rebounds) were large contributors.
Burford scored 20 points to lead ISU. Colton Sandage added 16 points and five rebounds. The Redbirds outrebounded SIUE 37-33 for the game.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 79, EASTERN ILLINOIS 75
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Kinyon Hodges scored a season high 23 points but a turnover by Eastern Illinois in the final five seconds of regulation, just the Panthers ninth turnover of the game, prevented EIU from taking a final shot to tie or win the game.
Trenton Massner would sink two free throws with two seconds left in the game helping Western Illinois retain the Old Railsplitter Axe with a 79-75 win at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena.
EIU shot 53 percent from the floor and 86 percent from the foul line in the loss while Western Illinois also was hot from the field finishing at 52 percent from the floor and 88 percent from the foul line.
The difference ended up being the type of shots that went down as WIU made nine 3-pointers compared to just five for the Panthers.
Alec Rosner was 5-of-8 from 3-point range to lead the Leathernecks with 23 points.
EIU led 38-37 at the half and held the lead for a good portion of the second half. A 3-pointer by Massner gave WIU a 57-56 lead with 10:40 left in the contest.
The game would see five lead changes and four ties over the next five minutes before Rosner sank a 3-pointer with 5:43 left in the game to give WIU the lead for good.
Caleb Donaldson joined Hodges in double figures for EIU with ten points.
Four WIU players finished in double figures led by Rosner. Massner scored 17.
EIU fell to 2-9 on the season. WIU improved to 6-4.
TROY 87, TENNESSEE TECH 64
TROY, Ala. - Turnovers and offensive efficiency proved to be the difference makers in Saturday's contest between the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team and Troy, as the Trojans, playing in front of their home crowd at Trojan arena, defeated the Golden Eagles 87-64.
The purple and gold got off to a very quick start, hitting a pair of triples right out of the gate for a 6-0 lead. Troy answered with a 15-0 run and never looked back, shooting 57.6 percent for the contest while forcing 19 Tech turnovers.
The Trojans fired at a 50 percent clip from the floor in the opening stanza, holding Tech to 44 percent shooting while taking a 13-point lead into the break. The Golden Eagles closed the gap to as close as eight points with 14:40 to play, but a remarkably efficient half for Troy allowed the home squad to pull away down the stretch.
Finishing 20-of-31 in the half, Troy shot 64.5 percent from the field to expand its lead to the final tally. The Trojans scored 24 points off Tech turnovers and 29 fast-break points, compared to seven and 11 for the Golden Eagles, respectively.
Three members of the Golden Eagles finished the contest in double figures, led by newcomers Ty Perry and Brett Thompson. The guards both tallied 13 points, with Perry finishing 5-for-10 from the field and Thompson converting 4-of-10 tries from the floor and 4-of-4 attempts at the charity stripe.
Junior guard Jayvis Harvey contributed 12 points, as well as team-highs of seven rebounds and two steals. Diante Wood made the most of his opportunities, finishing 4-for-4 from the floor on his way to eight points while Jaylen Sebree chipped in seven points and five rebounds.