WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 74, @Georgia Southern 71
Charleston Southern 91,
@Tennessee State 87
@Arkansas State 68,
Southeast Missouri 61
@Lipscomb 64,
Tennessee Tech 63
MOREHEAD STATE 74, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 71
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Morehead State men's basketball team didn't hit a field goal in the final 9:35 at Georgia Southern Wednesday night, but never fear. The Eagles drained 21 free throws during that period and also shot 50 percent from three-point range on the night en route to a 74-71 win against the GSU Eagles on the road Wednesday.
The Eagles (6-5) had four players score in double figures, led by Kalil Thomas, who tied his career-high with 21 points. Thomas had 13 points in the first half and hit 8-of-9 overall and 4-of-5 from three-point range in the game. Alex Gross added 13 points, and Mark Freeman helped out with 13 points and five assists. Jake Wolfe scored all 11 of his points from the free throw stripe as the visitors were 24-of-31 on free tosses in the second 20 minutes.
The Morehead State defense held Georgia Southern (6-5) shooters to only 35 percent from the field, including just 15 percent from three-point range (4-of-26). MSU leads the Ohio Valley Conference in three-point defense.
After jumping out to a 21-15 advantage, Morehead State went on a 7-0 run with 7:46 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Thomas, to increase its lead to 28-15. The Eagles then added one point to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 34-20 advantage. Morehead State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down five shots to account for 15 of its 34 points.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run to grow the lead to 48-35 with 12:01 to go in the contest. Thomas' triple with 9:35 left gave MSU a 16-point lead (53-37) but GSU kept narrowing the margin, eventually pulling to less than five with 10 seconds to play.
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 91, TENNESSEE STATE 87
NASHVILLE - — Christian Brown collected 26 points, but the Tennessee State men's basketball team fell to the Charleston Southern Buccaneers 91-87 at home Wednesday.
The Tigers (6-5) had three players score in double figures, led by Brown, who had 26 points and nine rebounds. Jr. Clay tacked on 19 points and six assists and Adong Makuoi chipped in as well with 16 points, seven rebounds, and two steals.
Led by Brown's six offensive rebounds, Tennessee State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 13 boards that resulted in 15 second-chance points.
The Tennessee State defense was a problem in Wednesday's game, forcing 18 Charleston Southern turnovers while committing 10. Those takeaways turned into 22 points on the other end of the floor. Makuoi's two steals led the way individually for the Tigers.
After falling behind 40-18, Tennessee State went on a 15-0 run with 5:31 left in the first half to narrow its deficit to 40-33. Charleston Southern answered back and added to its lead, leaving the Tigers down 50-42 entering halftime.
Charleston Southern kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 59-49 advantage before Tennessee State went on a 7-0 run, finished off by Dedric Boyd's jumper, to shrink the deficit to 59-56 with 12:25 to go in the contest. Charleston Southern responded and outscored the Tigers the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 91-87. Tennessee State got out on the break in the period, scoring 14 fast break points.
ARKANSAS STATE 68, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 61
JONESBORO, Ark. - Adam Larson pitched in a career-high 19 points and made five 3-pointers, but Arkansas State (6-5) overcame an 11-point deficit to get past Southeast Missouri (5-6), 68-61, Wednesday night at First National Bank Arena.
SEMO led for over 28 minutes before ASU took its first lead with a little over 10 minutes to go.
Tied, 46-46, the Red Wolves put together a 7-0 run as SEMO missed six-straight field goals. After that, ASU didn't trail again and remained ahead for the final 9:01 of the contest.
SEMO started strong in the second half where it used a 13-4 run to build its double-digit advantage in the opening 3:19.
Larson buried two 3-pointers in a quick 1:05 and Phillip Russell, who played only seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, added six points during the stretch. Russell's two free throws widened the Redhawks lead to 39-28 with 16:41 to go.
SEMO turned the ball over five times in 3:30 and ASU capitalized with seven points off those miscues. Avery Felts drained ASU's first 3-pointer of the game off a turnover. Caleb Fields then scored on a layup after another Redhawks mishap before Felts scored again with the help of a bad pass to make it a 41-39 game at the 13:05 mark.
Felts was later fouled and made two free throws to put ASU ahead for the first time at 45-44.
ASU shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from the field and outscored SEMO, 44-35, in the second stanza.
The Redhawks and Red Wolves combined for just 50 points in a low scoring first half.
SEMO never trailed in the first 20 minutes of play and used a 6-0 run to take a 24-16 lead when Larson knocked down his second 3-pointer with 2:51 left.
ASU answered with a 6-0 surge of its own and cut the Redhawks lead to 26-24 on a pair of free throws by Fields just before the intermission.
The Red Wolves missed 13 of their first 16 field goals of the game and went over four minutes without scoring. ASU shot just 29 percent and did not make a 3-pointer (0-of-8) in the first half.
Meanwhile, SEMO made four of its first eight shots of the contest and was led by Clark's seven points and nine rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
Larson shot 5-of-8 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line en route to his third double-digit game of the season. Tonight marked Larson's second career start. All five of his field goals came from long range.
Russell followed with 13 points, while Chris Harris, who missed SEMO's last game against Purdue Fort Wayne due to illness, chipped in 10 off the bench.
Additionally, Kobe Clark had a near double-double with eight points and 16 rebounds. Clark's 16 boards matched a season-high. He now has five double-digit rebound games this year.
Fields paced ASU with 14 points and Felts scored all 13 of his points in the second half.
ASU outrebounded SEMO, 41-32, and held +5 advantage (11-6) on the offensive glass. The Red Wolves also missed 12 free throws (23-of-35) and scored 20 points off 16 SEMO turnovers.
The Redhawks were without their second-leading scorer Israel Barnes. Barnes did not play due to illness.
LIPSCOMB 64, TENNESSEE TECH 63
NASHVILLE - A jumper in the paint off a turnover with seven seconds to play lifted Lipscomb to a 64-63 win over the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Wednesday evening in a battle between in-state rivals at Allen Arena in Nashville.
Up by one with just under 20 seconds to play, the Golden Eagles forced a turnover by the Bisons to give take control of the ball on the sidelines in Lipscomb territory. The home squad had one foul to give and used it, resulting in a second inbounds play for the visiting purple and gold.
Rather than foul a second time, Lipscomb used its press to force a Tech turnover and Bisons star Will Pruitt drilled a jumper just inside his own free-throw line to put the home squad on top for good. Out of timeouts, the Golden Eagles rushed the ball up the floor and got two looks at a potential game-winning bucket before the clock struck zero to end the game.
The loss undermined a fantastic defensive effort by the Cookeville crew, which held a Lipscomb squad averaging just under 80 points a game and shooting 50 percent from the floor to just 64 points and 38 percent efficiency. The Bisons used its decisive advantage on the glass to edge, 48-35, to edge Tech in the defensive slugfest.
After trailing by one at the half, the Golden Eagles opened the largest lead of the game with just under 14 minutes to play at six. Neither scored more than six straight in the contest, a game that featured 10 lead changes and seven ties.
Golden Eagle forward Jaylen Sebree put up a career showing on the offensive side of the ball, piling up a game-high and personal-best 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting. The graduate transfer also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds.
Junior guard Jayvis Harvey also finished in double figures, tallying 13 points with a 2-for-3 night from beyond the arc. Fellow junior Erik Oliver chipped in seven points to the effort.
Lipscomb center Ahsan Asadullah posted a double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds while Pruitt finished with 10 points. Derrin Boyd added 12 points to the mix.