SATURDAY'S SCORES
*#23/24 Murray State 57, @Morehead State 53
*@SIUE 61, Tennessee Tech 60
*@Eastern Illinois 82, UT Martin 70
*@Austin Peay 54, Tennessee State 52
*Belmont 81, @Southeast Missouri 72
#23/24 MURRAY STATE 57, MOREHEAD STATE 53
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Murray State Racers pulled out an improbable victory Saturday with a 57-53 win over the Morehead State Eagles in Johnson Arena in Morehead, Kentucky.
In erasing a nine-point deficit in the final 5:17, the win keeps the Racers with at least a two-game lead in the Ohio Valley Conference at 14-0 with a matching 14-game winning streak and 24-2 overall record. After winning at Tennessee State Thursday, the Racers went 2-0 away from home after breaking into the Associated Press and USA Today top-25 rankings at No. 23 and No. 24 on Monday.
KJ Williams recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Justice Hill tossed in 11 points with seven assists. Carter Collins added eight points to the MSU attack while Tevin Brown made his seven points count by scoring all of them during MSU's frantic comeback.
Trailing 49-40 with 5:17 remaining, the Racers began an amazing comeback that included Brown's only 3-pointer of the game to make it a three-point game with 3:31 to go. While the MSU defense racked up several stops, they took the lead for good at the 1:55 mark on a Williams fast break and another drive to the basket for a 53-50 lead with 1:01 to play. The Eagles knotted the game with 38 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Tray Hollowell, but the Racers took the lead again on a basket by Brown with 15.9 left at 55-53. Morehead's drive to the hoop with 3.9 left missed and Williams was fouled and hit both free throws for the 57-53 win.
The Racers comeback is one for the ages as they trailed by nine points with 5:17 remaining and won the game on a 17-4 run. It's the biggest come from behind win for Murray State when trailing at the 5:00 mark since 2015. In a game on Feb. 14, the Racers clawed back and forced overtime where they beat the SEMO in Cape Girardeau 94-92. The most recent wins after trailing with 5:00 left includes a game at Tennessee Tech in 2019 where MSU overcame a three-point deficit to win 63-60 and a home game in 2018 against Evansville when the Racers were down by five points and won 56-51.
SIUE 61, TENNESSEE TECH 60
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - DeeJuan Pruitt's double-double helped SIUE withstand a second-half surge from Tennessee Tech Saturday at First Community Arena. The Cougars outlasted the Golden Eagles 61-60 to win their second consecutive game.
The Cougars improved to 9-17 overall and 3-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Tennessee Tech is now 7-19 overall and 4-9 in OVC play.
Pruitt tied his career high with 17 points while hauling in a game-high 12 rebounds. Pruitt's two-hand slam with 15 seconds to play proved to be the game-winning basket. Trailing 60-59, the Cougars called a timeout. Pruitt set up a high screen before rolling left to the hoop, where he caught a pass from Desmond Polk for the open dunk.
Pruitt then recorded a block on the first of two Tennessee Tech go-ahead shots attempts with six seconds left. He was able to get his left hand on a John Pettway layup attempt which would have put the Golden Eagles ahead. Tennessee Tech got another attempt, but Shandon Goldman's three-point attempt hit the front rim and stayed out as time expired.
The double-double is the third of Pruitt's career and the second time he has recorded a double-double this year against Tennessee Tech. He scored 17 points and added an SIUE Division I-record 16 rebounds in the teams' first meeting in January.
Pruitt led three players in double figures. Courtney Carter scored 12 points. He added seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals while playing all 40 minutes for the second consecutive game.
Shamar Wright scored 10 points and added four rebounds and three assists. Desmond Polk scored eight points and pulled down four rebounds.
SIUE took a 31-19 lead into the second half, but Tennessee Tech stormed back in the second half. The Golden Eagles open the period with a 27-10 push to pull ahead of the Cougars 46-41 with 8:59 to play in the game.
The Golden Eagles led 55-52 with 4:11 to play, but a layup and subsequent free throw from Pruitt tied the score at 50.
Pettway scored 18 points and added 10 rebounds to lead Tennessee Tech.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 82, UT MARTIN 70
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Kashawn Charles scored a career high 27 points and moved into the Eastern Illinois career top ten for 3-pointers made as Eastern Illinois swept the season series against UT Martin with an 82-70 win over Skyhawks on Saturday afternoon at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena.
EIU improved to 5-20 overall, 3-9 in the OVC. UT Martin fell to 8-18 overall, 4-10 in the OVC.
After an early lead by UT Martin, Dan Luers tied the game at 12-12 with a 3-pointer with 13:04 to play in the first half. Rodolfo Bolis would follow with a 3-pointer that gave the Panthers the lead at the 12:20 mark as EIU went on a 19-2 run over the next seven minutes to open up the contest.
EIU led 40-29 at the half with Charles scoring ten of his 27 points in the opening half. He finished the contest 6-of-11 from 3-point range and moved into a tie with Gerald Jones for 10th on the EIU career 3-pointers made list with 143.
In the early minutes of the second half the Skyhawks trimmed the Panthers lead to single digits on a couple of occasions with EIU answering most of the early challenges. Twice Charles sank baskets to push the EIU lead back to double figures.
UT Martin closed to within three points with 7:29 left in the game on a 3-pointer by KJ Simon. Simon led UTM with 21 points.
Bolis would answer that UT Martin threat with a put-back basket as the Panthers freshman post player had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Mikel Henderson drained a -pointer with 6:44 remaining capping a string of six straight made field goals by UT Martin that cut the EIU lead down to two points at 62-60. UT Martin shot 54 percent from the floor in the second half.
Bolis again answered for EIU as his basket opened a 15-2 EIU run that helped the Panthers ice the contest. Charles hit a pair of 3-pointers in the run while Kejuan Clements sank several key free throws. Clements ended the game 9-of-11 at the stripe with 15 points. He posted his second double-double this season with 10 assists. Luers rounded out the EIU double figure scorers with 12 points.
Bernie Andre had a double-double for UT Martin with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Koby Jeffries added 11.
AUSTIN PEAY 54, TENNESSEE STATE 52
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Redshirt senior and Clarksville native Tariq Silver knocked down a jumper with 1.9 seconds remaining to complete the Govs comeback as the Austin Peay men’s basketball team defeated Tennessee State, 54-52 on Saturday afternoon inside the Winfield Dunn Center.
The Govs trailed by as many as 12 in the second half and trailed by eight with a little less than five minutes remaining. What followed was a Govs comeback for the ages, embarking on a 12-2 run over the final 4:40 of regulation to knock off the Tigers and secure APSU’s second straight victory.
Austin Peay tied the game with 49 seconds remaining thanks to a three-pointer from redshirt freshman Caleb Stone-Carrawell. On the ensuing Tennessee State possession, the Govs defense stepped up and got a crucial stop, giving the ball back to the Govs with 20 seconds left.
With time winding down, Silver dribbled down the right side of the lane and got off a jumper that banked off the backboard and in to give the Govs their first lead of the night with 1.9 seconds to go. After a TSU timeout, the Tigers made it to half court and threw up a shot that missed the rim completely en route to a Govs comeback victory.
The Govs had three score in double figures, led by the duo of freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett and junior Cameron Copeland with 12 points each. Hutchins-Everett was 5-of-10 from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Copeland off the bench was 3-of-9 from the field but was 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Copeland also led the Govs with nine rebounds while registering two assists and one steal in 25 minutes.
Rounding out the double-digit scoring was redshirt freshman Caleb Stone-Carrawell off the bench with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field with two three-pointers. Stone-Carrawell also recorded four rebounds, two of which came on the offensive glass. Silver’s game-winner was two of his nine points on the night as the Clarksville native was 3-of-6 from the field with two threes.
As a team the Govs shot 32.7 percent from the field and was 7-of-20 from behind the three-point line. At the free-throw line Austin Peay shot 76.5 percent and was 11-of-15 in the second half from the charity stripe. Tennessee State outrebounded Austin Peay, 39-34, and held an 11-9 advantage on the offensive glass.
The Govs once again got a significant contribution from the bench, scoring 32 points to Tennessee State’s 22. APSU had a season-high five blocks to go along with 12 assists on 17 made field goals. Austin Peay forced TSU to commit 14 turnovers on the night, scoring 11 points off of Tiger mistakes.
BELMONT 81, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Behind 21 points and six rebounds from Nick Muszynski, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Southeast Missouri, 81-72, Saturday.
Muszynski went 6-of-11 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
Will Richard scored seven points during a 9-0 run as Belmont led 16-12 nine and a half minutes in. Luke Smith scores and a determined basket from Michael Shanks increased the margin to nine, 35-26. Southeast Missouri scored nine of the final 11 points of the first half as Belmont led 37-35 at halftime.
Grayson Murphy sparked increased defensive activity early in the second half, as his tip-ahead pass to Richard for a dunk and his own steal and score gave Belmont a 52-45 lead with 12:27 left. While Belmont established the paint and attacked the rim with precision passing and drives, the Bruins were unable to provide their traditional 3-point shooting to complement the offense.
Four Manny Patterson points got Southeast Missouri within 54-51 with 10:18 left. Murphy and Muszynski would answer with scores as Belmont methodically built a working margin. Both teams managed fouls in the second half as Murphy seemingly embraced the physical play. His fadeaway jumpshot in the lane made the score 66-56 with 6:10 remaining.
As Patterson and Eric Reed kept Southeast Missouri within reach, a Tate Pierson 3-pointer and five Ben Sheppard points reasserted a 10-point lead, 74-64, with 3:28 left. Reed cut the margin to seven before Belmont got an important defensive stop with under three minutes remaining. Smith would then sink a contested 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock to give Belmont a 77-67 lead with 2:15 left.
Belmont (22-5, 12-2 OVC) scored 23 points off 16 Southeast Missouri turnovers.
Muszynski led five Belmont players in double figures. Smith had 14 points, seven assists and two steals, while Sheppard had 12 points, five rebounds and two steals. Richard scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Murphy had 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Patterson led Southeast Missouri (11-15, 6-7 OVC) with 20 points.