THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 76, UT Martin 69
Austin Peay 68, @SIUE 64 (OT)
Morehead State 82, @Eastern Illinois 46
Tennessee State 92, @Tennessee Tech 56
@#19 Murray State 76, Belmont 43
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 76, UT MARTIN 69
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Eric Reed, Jr. scored 21 points and Southeast Missouri (13-16, 8-8) outscored UT Martin (8-21, 4-13) 25-7 at the free throw line in a 76-69 win Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
Reed, Jr. scored eight-straight points in a span of two minutes to grab SEMO a 64-59 lead with 5:17 remaining.
After Mikel Henderson knocked down a 3-pointer to narrow SEMO's lead to 68-65, Chris Harris immediately answered with a huge trey to grab a six-point advantage for the Redhawks with just under two minutes to go.
SEMO's lead didn't dip below four after Harris' shot as the Redhawks finished strong down the stretch to close out their 13th win of the season.
The Redhawks led for the final 7:17 of the contest which featured five ties and 10 lead changes.
Neither team led by more than six points until the last minute of a back-and-forth first half.
Tied, 22-22, DQ Nicholas buried a 3-pointer and Phillip Russell made jumper right after the Skyhawks pulled within a point.
After Henderson's free throw made it a one-point game again, Manny Patterson sunk two free throws and Eric Reed, Jr. buried a jumper to give SEMO a 35-30 advantage with 1:17 remaining in the first half.
Harris was later fouled behind the 3-point line and UTM was charged with a technical foul. That resulted in Reed, Jr. draining two free throws and Harris adding one to increase the Redhawks lead to 38-30.
Russell then threw a nice pass to Patterson for a layup as time expired giving SEMO a 40-32 lead at the break.
Both teams shot well in the opening 20 minutes. SEMO made 54.2 percent (13-of-24) of its shots and UTM hit 50 percent (14-of-28) of its field goals. The Redhawks also outscored the Skyhawks, 12-1, at the free throw line in the first half.
SEMO shot 46.2 percent (24-of-52) from the field on an off-night from long range (3-of-15). The Redhawks made 25-of-32 free throws, as well and those loomed large in the end.
Reed, Jr. shot 7-of-12 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Patterson followed with 16 points and, like Reed, Jr., did not miss a free throw (8-of-8). He also pulled down six rebounds.
Russell was SEMO's other double-digit scorer with 10 points and a game-high four assists. Additionally, DQ Nicholas contributed nine points and six rebounds.
KJ Simon topped UTM with a game-high 24 points. The Skyhawks edged the Redhawks, 37-36, in the second half.
AUSTIN PEAY 68, SIUE 64 (OT)
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - – In a thrilling game that took five extra minutes to complete, the Austin Peay men’s basketball team defeated SIU Edwardsville 68-64 in overtime Thursday night to clinch a spot in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Evansville.
The Govs led by as many as 14 early in the second half before SIUE rallied back to take a four-point lead with 1:23 left to play. Down the stretch, Austin Peay forced three straight Cougar turnovers to tie the game at 55 heading into the first overtime. In the overtime period, APSU outscored SIUE 13-9 to secure the Govs third OVC road victory of the season.
Leading the way was redshirt freshman Caleb Stone-Carrawell with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. Stone-Carrawell in 35 minutes was 3-of-7 from long distance to go along with three rebounds and a career-high six assists. It’s the third straight double-digit performance for Stone-Carrawell and the 15th this season.
Behind Stone-Carrawell with 15 points was redshirt senior Tariq Silver. Silver was 5-of-12 from the field with four three-pointers, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Silver was clutch for APSU in the extra session, scoring six points in overtime.
Rounding out the double-digit scoring was freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett with 10 points to go along with 10 rebounds. It was the fifth double-double of the season for Hutchins-Everett who was 5-of-11 from the field with four offensive rebounds, two assists, and two steals. The Orange, N.J., native now has a team-high 20 games scoring in double figures.
As a team, the Govs shot 43.6 percent from the field and was 11-of-25 from behind the three-point line. SIUE narrowly outrebounded APSU, 37-36 with the Cougars having 12 offensive rebounds to the Govs 11. Defensively, the Govs forced 21 turnovers Thursday night, scoring 24 points off of SIUE mistakes.
MOREHEAD STATE 82, EASTERN ILLINOIS 46
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Morehead State shot a season-high 58 percent, including 62 percent in the second half, as the Eagles gradually pulled away and roughed up host Eastern Illinois 82-46 Thursday evening at Lantz Arena.
The Eagles improved to 21-9 overall and 13-4 in the OVC, tying the program record for the largest-ever victory margin over the Panthers (tying the 2012 75-39 win) and marking the highest victory margin ever at EIU. It also marked the first time since EIU joined the OVC in 1996-97 that the Eagles have won in back to back seasons at Lantz Arena.
Second-year big man Johni Broome was his usual self, contributing a team-high 18 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Broome now has 121 blocks this season, the fourth highest single-season total in OVC history.
But, many more Eagles contributed as junior Jaylon Hall, coming off a career-high point total versus SEMO Saturday, cashed in 14 points. Junior center LJ Bryan came off the bench to chip in a season-high 10 points while nearly missing a double-double himself with eight rebounds. Also notably, freshman Braden May canned a late three-pointer for his first collegiate points.
The Eagles built a 33-22 halftime lead and kept pushing it out in the final half, eventually holding the Panthers to the 46 points, which marked a season-low for an MSU opponent. The Eagles' largest lead was 39 (82-43) in the waning seconds.
Morehead State was just 4-of-11 from behind the three-point arc in the first 20 minutes but drilled seven three-balls in the final half for 11 for the game. It's the ninth game this year with double-digit three-pointers.
The Eagles also out-rebounded their 20th different foe this year, trailing 18-15 at the half, but leading on the boards when the final horn sounded, 33-29.
TENNESSEE STATE 92, TENNESSEE TECH 56
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State men's basketball team dominated Tennessee Tech on Thursday evening, 92-56.
The Golden Eagles scored the first points of the game at the free-throw line. Kassim Nicholson responded with a three-pointer to give TSU an early advantage. The Tigers went on a 13-2 scoring stretch to begin the game as Nicholson led the charge with five points. Carlos Marshall Jr. rattled off five consecutive points in the middle of the half. TTU's JR Clay attempted to stop the run with consecutive buckets for Tech. Both programs went scoreless from the field for almost four minutes. Dedric Boyd drained a three-pointer towards the end of the half, but Tech's Clay cashed a layup at the buzzer to trim the deficit.
TTU's John Pettway recorded the first basket of the half, but Shakem Johnson responded with a layup on the next possession. The Tigers went on a 11-2 scoring stretch with Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. scoring four of the nine. TSU went on another run, 15-5, as Marshall Jr. tallied seven points over the stretch. With seven minutes to go, Tennessee Tech logged seven straight points to cut the deficit to 73-53. With less than four minutes to go, Boyd caught fire with 11 straight points on three long-range jumpers. Monty Johal and Marshall Jr. followed up with three-pointers of their own. The Tigers scored 19 of the final 22 points of the game.
Tennessee State shot 62.2% from the field in the second half.
Carlos Marshall Jr. scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range. Shakem Johnson flirted with a double-double as he registered 10 points and seven rebounds, along with three assists and a block.
#19 MURRAY STATE 76, BELMONT 43
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Forward KJ Williams had 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting and added five rebounds, and No. 19 Murray State claimed the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title with a 76-43 win over Belmont on Thursday night.
The Racers (27-2, 17-0) have won 17 straight games.
Belmont (24-6, 14-3) had its 10-game winning streak halted after being limited to 32.1% shooting from the floor, 19.2% from beyond the arc and getting outrebounded 40-22.
In the final regular season meeting before both teams join the Missouri Valley Conference this summer, Williams was one of nine Racers to score.
Tevin Brown added 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Justice Hill had eight points, seven assists and four rebounds and DJ Burns had four points and nine rebounds. Trae Hannibal finished with seven rebounds, six assists and four points.
Freshman Will Richard was the only Belmont player to reach double figures, scoring 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting with two 3-pointers. Grayson Murphy, Ben Sheppard and Nick Muszynski each had eight points.
Brown and Williams combined to score the Racers' first 18 points and Murray State jumped out to a 20-13 lead.
Belmont closed within three poiints before the Racers closed the first half on a 19-4 run for a 35-17 halftime lead.
Murray State's defense held the Bruins to 7-for-27 shooting from the field and 1 for 12 from long distance in the first half.
That defensive effort continued into the second half, as the Racers stretched their lead to 66-33.
Murray State coach Matt McMahon won his 150th career game, all with the Racers.