SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 55, SIUE 50
Little Rock 91, @Tennessee Tech 89
Southeast Missouri 79, @Eastern Illinois 68
@UT Martin 86, Southern Indiana 83 (OT)
@Tennessee State 83, Lindenwood 66
MOREHEAD STATE 55, SIUE 50
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Mark Freeman scored 28 points, including 21 in the second half. and Alex Gross added 12 more, combining to score 40 of Morehead State's 55 total points as the Eagles knocked off the SIUE Cougars 55-50 at home Saturday.
With the Eagles (14-9, 7-3 OVC) trailing by 10 with nine minutes left, Freeman took over and scored 11 straight points to pull MSU ahead 42-41. SIUE (14-9, 5-5 OVC), which has lost four straight games, tied the game 42-all moments later but Freeman's three-pointer at 5:55 put MSU up to stay, 45-42, giving him 14 straight Eagle points.
Gross tacked on 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, and Drew Thelwell chipped in as well with nine points, eight rebounds and two steals.
Led by Gross' three offensive rebounds, Morehead State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 14 boards that resulted in eight second chance points.
The Morehead State defense held Cougar shooters to just 32 percent from the field, including 28 percent from three-point range. The Eagles also kept SIUE's leading scorer, Ray'Sean Taylor, to 3-of-16 shooting and eight points in the game.
After falling behind 23-15, Morehead State went on a 5-0 run with 2:38 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Gross, to narrow its deficit to 23-20, a score that would hold until halftime.
SIUE kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 41-31 advantage before Morehead State went on an 11-0 run, finished off by Freeman's layup, to seize the 42-41 lead with 7:08 to go in the contest. The Eagles kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 55-50 win. Morehead State got out on the break in the period, scoring seven fast break points.
LITTLE ROCK 91, TENNESSEE TECH 89
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Little Rock used a 23-0 run in the first half to take control, then held off a late Tennessee Tech rally to earn a hard-fought 91-89 victory over the Ohio Valley Conference co-leaders at the Eblen Center Saturday afternoon.
Little Rock was led by a pair of 20-point performers, including DeAntoni Gordon setting a new career-high with 25 points and just missing his fourth double-double, adding nine rebounds. Gordon's 25 points came on 11-of-16 shooting and 3-of-4 at the free throw line.
Myron Gardner notched his fourth 20+ point game of the year, finishing with 21 on 7-of-13 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three and 5-of-6 at the free throw line. Gardner added seven rebounds and four assists as well as a steal and a block.
CJ White made his presence felt with his second double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and a career-high 11 assists, complemented by five rebounds and a pair of steals. D.J. Smith was the fourth Trojan to reach double figures, adding 10 points with six assists, while Isaiah Palermo and Nigel John both finished with eight points on the afternoon.
For the game, Little Rock shot 52.3% from the floor, going 34-of-65. The Trojans were 5-of-13 from three (38.5%) and 18-of-23 from the line (78.3%), outrebounding the Golden Eagles 37-27. Tennessee Tech finished at 53.6%, including 63.3% over the final 20 minutes as it made its final surge.
The Trojans dominated in the paint, outscoring the Golden Eagles 48-32, while holding a 19-8 edge on second chance points after outrebounding Tennessee Tech 15-7 on the offensive glass. The teams were even with 16 turnovers apiece as Little Rock led for the majority of the game at 31:34, the most since leading for just over 34 minutes in the win over Tennessee State.
Making its first-ever trip to the Eblen Center, Little Rock once again found itself down early, seeing Tennessee Tech reel off 13 of the game's first 17 points and fall into an early 13-4 deficit.
Trailing 15-6, a jumper from White sparked the largest offensive surge of the season for Little Rock as the Trojans reeled off a 23-0 run spanning six minutes, turning that 15-6 deficit into a 29-15 Little Rock lead at the 7:39 mark. All five Trojans on the court scored during that spurt, led by six points from Gordon and five each from White, Palermo and Gardner.
The 23-0 run was the most for a Trojan team since a similar 23-0 stretch against Champion Christian on December 18, 2020. It is the largest of the year for Little Rock, surpassing the 14-0 run against Tennessee State on January 21.
But after the offensive surge, Little Rock then struggled as Tennessee Tech used a 14-2 surge over the next three and a half minutes, including a 10-0 run, pulling to within two at 31-29 with 4:07 to go in the opening half.
Little Rock would push its lead back to five on a pair of occasions over the final minutes of the first half, the last of which came at 40-35 off a three from Smith, part of five-straight points for the sophomore. But Tennessee Tech made four free throws in the final minute, trimming the Little Rock halftime lead to one at 40-39.
Over the first 20 minutes, Little Rock shot 53.6% from the floor, making 3-of-7 from three and 7-of-8 from the line, holding a 19-12 rebounding edge on Tennessee Tech. The Trojans led in the paint 20-8, led by eight points from Gordon and seven each from Smith, Gardner and Palermo.
Both teams came out firing in the second half, shooting over 65% from the floor over the first eight minutes. After bouncing back and forth between a two and five-point lead, Little Rock put together a 10-2 spanning two minutes, eight of which were scored by Gardner, as the Trojans pushed their lead back to 10 at 58-48 with 14:45 remaining.
A 7-0 Golden Eagle run pulled Tennessee Tech within three at 58-55 a minute later, but the Trojans would put together an 8-1 run of its own, pushing its lead back to 10 at 66-56 with 12:02 remaining.
The Trojans would push their lead to as many as 12 off a three from Smith with nine minutes remaining, giving the Little Rock the 72-60 lead. But that sparked an 8-0 run for Tennessee Tech, trimming the lead to 72-68 with just over seven minutes to go.
But another extended run for the Trojans matched their game-high as Little Rock used a 10-0 run spanning just under two minutes to take an 82-68 lead with 4:53 to play as four different Trojans scored during the surge. Tennessee Tech then found its three point touch, making three in a row as the Golden Eagles used a 19-6 run to pull to within one at 88-87 with 30 seconds to go.
The Golden Eagles missed a three point attempt to take the lead with 30 seconds left, which was answered by an Ethan Speaker tip-in with 8.9 seconds remaining to give the Trojans the 90-87 lead. The Golden Eagles would hit two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining, closing the gap to 90-89, before Gordon hit one of two at the line to make it 91-89 with 4.5 seconds remaining. Tennessee Tech then missed the game-winning shot at the buzzer as Little Rock notches its first road victory of the year.
The Trojans shot 51.% over the final 20 minutes, led by 17 from Gordon and 14 from Gardner. That was enough to hold off a hot-shooting Tennessee Tech team that shot 63.3% in the second half, including 5-of-10 from three point range.
The Golden Eagles were led by 28 points from Jaylen Sebree, 23 of which came in the second half, while Jayvis Harvey finished with 24, scoring 16 of those in the first half.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 79, EASTERN ILLINOIS 68
CHARLESTON, Ill. - – Phillip Russell scored 19 points and had six assists leading four players in double figures as Southeast Missouri (12-11, 7-3) grinded out a 79-68 win over Eastern Illinois (7-16, 3-7) Saturday at Lantz Arena.
SEMO, which has heated up to win seven of its last nine games, remains tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. The Redhawks also won three-straight OVC road games for the first time since 2012-13.
The Redhawks fell behind, 6-2, but responded by scoring the next 19 points to grab a 21-6 lead with 12:20 remaining in the first half.
Russell got things going with the first five points of the surge and then capped the run with a four-point play after he drained a 3-pointer, was fouled and made his extra free throw.
EIU later strung together a 10-0 run and pulled within seven (27-20) on Cameron Haffner's 3-pointer at the 5:42 mark.
Nate Johnson's layup slowed down the Panthers and SEMO regained a double-digit lead when Adam Larson scored off a Russell assist to make it 31-20 with 4:19 left to play.
Russell knocked down his third 3-pointer to send the Redhawks into the locker room ahead, 39-29, at the intermission.
Russell scored 15 points and had six assists in 13 minutes during the first half. He went over 200 career assists on his third dish of the game with 11:00 on the clock.
EIU quickly got back in the game with a 13-6 run to start the second half. Sincere Malone stole the ball and broke away for a layup to cut SEMO's lead to 45-42 with 16:34 to go.
Yaakema Rose's step back jumper made it a three-point game again at 47-44, but Adam Larson buried a 3-pointer on SEMO's ensuing possession.
Then, the Panthers scored layups off back-to-back steals to close the Redhawks lead to 50-48 at the 13:21 mark.
After Kyle Thomas followed with a layup to tie the game at 50-50, Larson countered with his second three off the bench putting SEMO back on top.
Aquan Smart's two free throws and jumper gave the Redhawks a 57-52 lead and Nate Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to stretch SEMO's lead to 59-54 with 7:48 left.
Larson came up big again sinking another 3-pointer from the right corner to widen SEMO's lead to 62-55 with 7:31 on the clock.
EIU managed to get within three twice more, however, Israel Barnes made a layup and Russell hit two free throws to put SEMO back up by five.
The Panthers couldn't get any close the rest of the way and SEMO ran its lead back to double figures when Russell made two free throws to give the Redhawks a 75-65 advantage.
SEMO made 6-of-8 free throws in the final minutes to put the finishing touches on its 12th win of the season.
Russell shot 4-of-8 from the field and made 8-of-10 free throws. He also drained three 3-pointers and went over 200 assists in his career.
Barnes and Larson followed with 11 points apiece, while Earley chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.
SEMO shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field in the second half and finished with a 47.3 percent (26-of-55) clip for the game.
The Redhawks beat EIU in Charleston for the fifth time in six trips. SEMO also posted its sixth-straight win in its series against the Panthers.
UT MARTIN 86, SOUTHERN INDIANA 83 (OT)
MARTIN, Tenn. - Extraordinary performances out of Jordan Sears and KJ Simon helped the University of Tennessee at Martin stay atop the Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball standings following an 86-83 overtime win over Southern Indiana.
Sears exploded for a career-high 32 points – eight of which came in overtime – on 11-of-19 shooting and distributed a season-best five assists in 33 minutes. Simon registered his second consecutive double-double (21 points, career-high 12 rebounds) to go along with a career-best five blocked shots, connecting on seven of his 10 field goal tries with a perfect 4-for-4 effort from three-point land.
KK Curry added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Skyhawks, who led for over 33 minutes while holding the Screaming Eagles to 36.5 percent shooting (27-of-74). As a direct result, UT Martin improved to 15-8 overall with a 7-3 OVC record, which is tied with Morehead State and Southeast Missouri for first place in the league race.
Southern Indiana (13-10, 6-4) forced overtime with seven unanswered points in the final 95 seconds of regulation but ultimately saw its five-game winning streak snapped. Jelani Simmons scored a game-high 26 points while Jacob Polakovich accumulated 12 points and 20 rebounds. Trevor Lakes (17 points) and Tyler Henry (12 points) also guided the Screaming Eagles.
Neither side would lead by more than one possession over the final 17:44 of the opening half. Parker Stewart sank a three-pointer only 12 seconds into the contest before Sears scored UT Martin’s next seven points.
The Screaming Eagles led 20-17 with a little under seven minutes to go before the halftime break but six unanswered Skyhawk points (two Sears free throws, Curry layup, Simon fast break layup) helped flip the score back in UT Martin’s favor.
After Southern Indiana briefly reclaimed the lead, a Stewart pull-up jumper wrapped up the scoring in the first half and sent both teams to the locker room locked up in a 28-28 tie. Sears and Simmons each recorded team-highs of nine points in the first 20 minutes.
The Skyhawks roared out of the halftime break with an 8-0 run with Sears compiling the first five points. Simon then canned back-to-back three-pointers before throwing down a contested dunk at the 13:49 mark to push UT Martin’s lead out to 47-39.
The Screaming Eagles pulled within two points with 10:37 remaining in regulation but a 10-2 Skyhawk surge – completed by a three-pointer from Simon – provided UT Martin with its biggest lead of the day (61-51) with a little under nine minutes to go in the second half.
Curry (seven) and Sears (four) joined forces to score 11 straight Skyhawk points as UT Martin led 74-67 late in the second half. However, Southern Indiana made its final three shots – including a Lakes trailing three-pointer with 16 seconds to go that tied the contest at 74-74 and would eventually send the game into overtime.
Sears began the extra period with five consecutive Skyhawk points, including an old-fashioned three-point play that boosted UT Martin’s lead to 79-75 with 4:07 to go. The Screaming Eagles responded with four straight points for the 10th and final tie score of the game. The Skyhawks then held Southern Indiana without a field goal for a three-minute span as UT Martin held on to win its third overtime decision inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center in 2022-23.
TENNESSEE STATE 83, LINDENWOOD 66
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men's basketball team shot 52 percent from beyond the arc on the way to an 83-66 win against the Lindenwood at the Gentry Center on Saturday.
The Tigers (12-11, 4-6 OVC) were led by Marcus Fitzgerald Jr., who had 22 points and six assists. Zion Griffin tacked on a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Adong Makuoi chipped in as well with 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Tennessee State took advantage of great ball movement in Saturday's game, piling up 18 assists on 29 made field goals. Fitzgerald Jr.'s six assists paced the Tigers.
After jumping out to a 31-28 advantage, Tennessee State went on a 13-0 run with 4:10 left in the first half to increase its lead to 44-28. The Tigers then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 44-30 advantage. Tennessee State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down 10 shots to account for 30 of its 44 points.
Tennessee State kept its lead intact before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by Jr. Clay's layup, to grow the lead to 51-32 with 15:59 to go in the contest. The Lions narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Tigers still cruised the rest of the way for the 83-66 win. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 22 of its 39 points in the lane.