SATURDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 64, @Eastern Illinois 52
@SIUE 77, Morehead State 70
#19 Murray State 70, @Southeast Missouri 68
@Belmont 87, Tennessee State 67
@Tennessee Tech 88, UT Martin 75
AUSTIN PEAY 64, EASTERN ILLINOIS 52
CHARLESTON, Ill. - To conclude the regular season the Austin Peay men’s basketball team led wire-to-wire in a 64-52 victory at Eastern Illinois Saturday to clinch the No.6 seed in next week’s Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
It was a balanced attack from the Govs who had five score in double figures for the first time since Dec. 5 against Milligan. APSU had three players score 13 points with freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett leading the way, notching 13 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Hutchins-Everett was 5-of-8 from the field with four of his 10 rebounds coming on the offensive glass.
Junior Cameron Copeland registered 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field while shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the three-point line. Copeland was a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to go along with seven rebounds, one block, and one steal. It’s the 12th double-digit performance of the season for Copeland and 35th of his career.
Playing his final regular-season game as a Gov, redshirt senior Tariq Silver had 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field with three from long distance. Silver also had four rebounds with three assists and one steal in 30 minutes of action. Redshirt freshman Caleb Stone-Carrawell continued his stellar play with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. Stone-Carrawell made the most of his opportunities at the free-throw line, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
Rounding out the double-digit scoring for the Govs was junior Alec Woodard with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field. Woodard knocked down two from long distance while going a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
As a team, the Govs shot 42 percent from the field and was 9-of-28 from behind the three-point line against the Panthers. Austin Peay outrebounded Eastern Illinois, 32-26, and held a 10-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The Govs forced EIU to commit 15 turnovers, scoring 14 points off of Panther mistakes.
SIUE 77, MOREHEAD STATE 70
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Shamar Wright's career high 21 points led four Cougars in double figures Saturday as SIUE men's basketball upset Morehead State to earn the eighth and final spot in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
The Cougars' appearance in the tournament marks the first time that SIUE has made three consecutive tournament appearances.
The Cougars finished the regular season at 11-20 overall and 5-13 in OVC play. The 11 wins are the second most in a season for SIUE at the Division I level. Morehead State dropped 21-10 and 13-5.
SIUE connected on 48 percent of its shots and knocked down six of 11 three-point attempts to carry a 39-38 lead into halftime. The Cougars never trailed in the second half.
Morehead State trimmed SIUE's lead back to one on a couple of occasions, but the Cougars responded each time.
It was 58-57 with 5:15 to play when SIUE scored an 8-0 run, capped off by a Shamar Wright three-pointer for its biggest lead of the day at 66-57. Wright then answered buckets from Morehead State with back-to-back dunks to keep the lead at nine (70-61).
Morehead State got three three-pointers from Skyelar on three straight possessions to make it 73-70 with 49 seconds to play. Two free throws from Courtney Carter pushed the Cougar lead to 75-70 with 18 seconds left. After an Eagle miss and a rebound by Lamar Wright, Cam Williams slammed the door shut on the Eagles with a two-hand slam dunk just before time expired.
Shaun Doss, Jr. finished with 15 points and Williams turned in a season-best 14 points. Carter added 14 points, six assists and no turnovers.
The Cougars shot 48 percent for the game and knocked down seven of 15 from three-point range. SIUE turned the ball over a season-low five times in the game.
Jaylor Hall led Morehead State with 14 points. Johni Broome collected the double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
#19 MURRAY STATE 70, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 68
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) - Justice Hill scored nine straight points in the final three minutes, and No. 19 Murray State beat Southeast Missouri 70-68 on Saturday to cap a perfect Ohio Valley Conference regular season.
Murray State is the sixth team in OVC history to go undefeated in conference play. It is the first to go 18-0, with the conference expanded its league schedule by two games this season. The Racers were also the last OVC team to go unbeaten in conference play during the 2014-15 season.
This season's 18-game winning streak came entirely in conference play after a 71-58 loss to then-No. 12 Auburn on Dec. 22. The Racers' other loss came against East Tennessee State, 66-58 on Nov. 22.
KJ Williams had 23 points and eight rebounds for Murray State (28-2, 18-0), and Trae Hannibal scored a career-high 20 points. Tevin Brown had 15, and Hill finished with 11.
Manny Patterson, a second-year transfer from Green Bay, scored each of his 12 points in the first half, helping Southeast Missouri (13-17, 8-9) to a 37-32 lead.
The Racers had to overcome a 12-point deficit in the final 6 1/2 minutes. They got a lift from a six-point possession triggered by a flagrant foul on Nana Akenten away from the ball as Williams was scoring with just over three minutes remaining.
DJ Burns made 1 of 2 free throws resulting from the foul and Hill hit a 3-pointer to get within a point. A turnover then turned into fast-break basket for Hill and Murray State had its first lead since midway through the first half.
Hill added a 3-pointer and free throw in the final minute and Hannibal made another free throw for a five-point edge with 15.3 seconds left. Eric Reed Jr. hit a 3 to cut the lead to two and, after a missed Hill free throw, Chris Harris missed a running shot from just inside midcourt as the game ended.
BELMONT 87, TENNESSEE STATE 67
NASHVILLE - Behind 24 points from Ben Sheppard, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee State, 87-67, Saturday from the Curb Event Center.
Sheppard went 9-of-14 from the field and added three steals as Belmont improved to 81-5 all-time in Ohio Valley Conference home games.
Belmont also joined Gonzaga as the only two progams in America to finish Top 2 in regular season conference standings 17 consecutive seasons (Belmont, 12 regular season conference championships, 5 second-place finishes).
Sheppard and Grayson Murphy fueled an electrifying 24-3 run midway through the first half. A Will Richard steal and dunk gave Belmont a 27-15 lead 10 and a half minutes in. After Kenny Cooper closed the margin to four, Belmont ended the first half on a 16-5 run. Determined drives from Sheppard and JaCobi Wood gave Belmont a 46-31 halftime lead.
Belmont established Nick Muszynski inside in the second half, as a 3-pointer from Tate Pierson and an Even Brauns offensive rebound basket increased the lead to 20, 61-41 with 14:15 remaining.
Sheppard added 10 points in the second half as strong bench contributions from Michael Shanks kept Belmont in command.
All told, Belmont shot 56 percent (36-of-64) from the field – including 10 3-point field goals. Belmont, the national leader in assists, handed out 20 assists and scored 52 points in the paint.
Richard had 13 points, while Murphy provided 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Murphy had three steals in the first half to tie the OVC all-time career steals record (279, Van Usher, Tennessee Tech 1989-92).
Muszynski added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Kassim Nicholson and Carlos Marshall, Jr. led Tennessee State (13-17, 8-10 OVC) with 17 points each.
TENNESSEE TECH 88, UT MARTIN 75
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It was a special finish to the 2021-22 regular season for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Saturday, as the Golden Eagles (10-20, 7-10) claimed an 88-75 victory over in-state and Ohio Valley Conference rival UT Martin on Senior Night.
Prior to the contest, the five senior members of the Tech program were honored during a special, Senior Night ceremony, with manager Trey Treadway, guard Jr. Clay, forward Shandon Goldman, guard John Pettway, and forward Amadou Sylla all being recognized for their contributions to the team over the past four years.
The Skyhawks appeared to have the hot hand early, hitting back-to-back triples to take a 6-0 lead right out of the gate, but the purple and gold answered quickly and often to jump out front and extend as much as a 16-point advantage in the first half. The Golden Eagles took a 13-point lead into the locker room, holding UT Martin to just 25.6 percent shooting from the floor and 20 percent efficiency from distance.
In the second half, the Skyhawks mounted a comeback, closing to within two points with 12:22 to play, but a wise timeout by Pelphrey allowed the Golden Eagles to regroup. Tech immediately dropped six-straight points out of the break, with Goldman burying a trey and Diante Wood converting an old-fashioned three-point play.
UT Martin never got closer than five down the stretch, with Tech hitting its free throws down the stretch and keeping pace with the high-octane offense displayed by the Skyhawks. Both sides scored 51 points in the second half, with Tech hitting 16-of-22 attempts from the charity stripe.
Five of Tech's seven players to see the court scored in double figures, with Kenny White Jr. leading the way with 18 points and five rebounds. Wood delivered season-highs of 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting and eight boards while also posting three assists and two blocks.
Clay turned in 15 points in his final game in the Hooper Eblen Center, producing three dimes and two steals as well. Goldman hit 4-of-8 tries from beyond the arc on his way to 13 points, as well as seven rebounds and six assists.