SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 77, Austin Peay 52
Tennessee State 69, @UT Martin 61
@Southeast Missouri 63, Eastern Illinois 56
@Murray State 79, SIUE 59
Belmont 100, @Tennessee Tech 92 (OT)
MOREHEAD STATE 77, AUSTIN PEAY 52
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State Men's Basketball shot 56 percent and saw seven players record multiple assists as the Eagles scored their largest-ever home victory over Austin Peay, 77-52, Saturday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles improved to 19-6 overall and 11-1 in the OVC with their 20th straight home victory since December 2020. The margin of defeat over the Govs (7-13/3-7 OVC) missed the best overall victory margin over an APSU team in series history by one point. MSU beat the Govs 103-77 (26 points) on the road in 1971. MSU has now won all 22 games in the past two seasons when an opponent scores 60 or less.
Second-year freshman center Johni Broome recorded his 17th double-double in 2021-22 and 30th of his career with a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting from the field. Junior guard Skyelar Potter also dotted double-digits for the eighth straight game with 13 points.
But it was the sharing of the ball that led to a season-high shooting percentage (31-of-55) as Morehead State dished out 24 assists on 31 made buckets. Junior guard Jaylon Hall had six helpers, sophomore point guard Ta'Lon Cooper had five dish-offs that led to points, while junior guard Jake Wolfe tied his career high with four dimes.
The home team blistered the nets to the tune of 62 percent in the opening half as they built a 43-20 halftime lead. The cushion ballooned to as much as 36 (70-34) with 5:25 remaining.
Elijah Hutchins-Everett was the lone Governor player to score in double figures with 11.
The Eagles also nailed 10 three-pointers, including three from Potter and two from grad transfer guard Tray Hollowell. Hollowell now has hit at least one triple in 31 straight games.
TENNESSEE STATE 69, UT MARTIN 61
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Tennessee State men's basketball team earned their second road victory in conference play at UT Martin on Saturday afternoon, 69-61.
UT Martin won the opening tip and K.J. Simon converted a layup on the game's first attempt. Tennessee State responded with seven consecutive points, as Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. generated five of the seven. The teams exchanged baskets in the opening five minutes and the Tigers regained the lead on a three-pointer from Kenny Cooper, 14-11. TSU extended the lead to 20-15 after six straight points from Kassim Nicholson. The Skyhawks were held scoreless for over five minutes during the middle of the half. Following the drought, UT Martin went on an 11-0 scoring stretch to even the score at 28. Shakem Johnson tallied his lone two points on the final possession of the half to give TSU a slim lead.
The Skyhawks opened the second half with a hook shot by Chris Nix to tie the game. The programs flip-flopped scoring stretches as TSU rattled off seven straight to regain the advantage, 39-33. UT Martin answered with nine unanswered points to acquire their first lead since the opening seconds, 41-39. The Tigers grabbed the lead after an 8-0 run, 45-41, as Johnson cashed in four points during the stretch. UTM's Simon recorded six consecutive points for the Skyhawks to trim the deficit to 55-51. With four minutes left, UT Martin took a one-point lead, 58-57. The Skyhawks fouled Fitzgerald Jr. on a three-point attempt, and the second-year freshman converted all three at the charity stripe. In the final minute, Cooper cashed in four free-throws to seal the game.
Kassim Nicholson secured his eighth double-double of the year with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. registered 17 points, including 8-of-8 at the free-throw line.
UT Martin's K.J. Simon logged a game-high 21 points and three steals.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 63, EASTERN ILLINOIS 56
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Eric Reed, Jr. scored a game-high 21 points and made five 3-pointers to lead Southeast Missouri (10-13, 5-5) to a 63-56 win over Eastern Illinois (4-18, 2-7) Saturday in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Show Me Center.
SEMO improved to 7-1 in its last eight games at home and completed a two-game sweep of EIU for the fourth time in five years.
The Redhawks seized the momentum from the opening tip by burying five-straight 3-pointers.
Reed, Jr. knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and Nygal Russell buried one to give the Redhawks a quick 9-0 advantage not even three minutes in.
Phillip Russell and Dylan Branson each made a 3-pointer after that to increase SEMO's lead to 15-2 as EIU turned the ball over seven times in the first seven minutes.
The Redhawks, who scored 22 points off 13 Panther miscues in the first half, ran their lead to 21 (34-13) on a layup by Reed, Jr. before heading into the locker room with a big 34-15 advantage.
SEMO made seven 3-pointers with six different players accounting for at least one during the game's first 20 minutes. The Redhawks limited EIU to just 15 first-half points, fewest by any opponent in an opening stanza this season.
EIU turned things around in the second half, where it outscored SEMO, 41-29.
The Panthers used a 12-2 run to get within seven and later made it a 59-55 ball game when Paul Bizimana sunk a 3-pointer with 1:05 left to play.
Manny Patterson, however, made his second layup in less than a minute to put SEMO ahead by six and that helped the Redhawks hold off the Panthers for good.
SEMO finished with 29 points off 21 EIU turnovers.
Reed, Jr. shot 8-of-18 from the field and 5-of-12 from downtown en route to his seventh 20-point game of the season and 10th in his career. Patterson and N. Russell followed with eight points apiece.
For the game, the Redhawks shot 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the field and made 11-of-32 threes.
EIU was led by Bizimana's 12 points. The Panthers outrebounded SEMO, 32-26.
MURRAY STATE 79, SIUE 59
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers recorded the 300th win at the CFSB Center in a 79-59 victory over the SIUE Cougars in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers (22-2), who have won games at an 86 percent clip over 24 seasons on their home court, improved to 12-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The first place Racers have won 12-straight games overall and their last 14 games at the CFSB Center.
MSU had four players scoring in double-figures with 18 points each by Tevin Brown and Justice Hill, while KJ Williams added 12 points and DJ Burns scored 11. Williams added 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season and the 25th of his career.
After jumping on top 12-4 on a reverse dunk and layup by Williams, the Racers pushed to a 12-point lead at 21-9 seven minutes into the game. The Cougars managed to cut the lead to four at the 8:09 mark, but the Racers finished the half on a 23-7 run for a 44-24 halftime lead.
The Racers shot 44 percent from the field (27-of-61), while limiting SIUE to 39 percent (19-of-49). The Racers scored 20 points off 13 turnovers by the Cougars. Two days after grabbing a season-high 15 steals at Austin Peay, the Racers added another nine against SIUE.
BELMONT 100, TENNESSEE TECH 92 (OT)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Behind a career-high 41 points from Ben Sheppard, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee Tech, 100-92, in overtime Saturday.
Nick Muszynski added a career-high 33 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five blocked shots and three steals as Belmont won for a 10th consecutive time in the series.
While Belmont won the previous nine by a margin of nearly 15 points per game, this would require one of the greatest comebacks in recent program history.
Tennessee Tech shot 64 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes in leading 52-37 at halftime.
A Kenny White, Jr. 3-pointer made the score 59-39 with 17:02 remaining.
Sheppard and Muszynski willed Belmont back into the game; a Sheppard layin made the score 69-61 with 8:47 left.
Consecutive Muszynski scores around a Will Richard dunk got Belmont within four, 75-71, with 4:44 left.