SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 69, Eastern Illinois 59
Tennessee State 60, @Lindenwood 57
Tennessee Tech 84, @UT Martin 80 (OT)
Southeast Missouri 74, @Little Rock 68
SIUE 69, @Southern Indiana 62
MOREHEAD STATE 69, EASTERN ILLINOIS 59
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Drew Thelwell scored a career-best 20 points to help lead the Morehead State men's basketball team over the Eastern Illinois Panthers 69-59 at home on FamilyLeisure.com Court in Johnson Arena Saturday.
Thelwell stuffed the stat sheet by adding six rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 32 minutes to his 20-point game to lead the Eagles (10-7, 3-1 OVC). Kalil Thomas helped out with 13 points and three steals, and Alex Gross chipped in with 12 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Jake Wolfe completed four guys in double digits with 11 points and also handed out a team-high five assists.
Morehead State out-rebounded Eastern Illinois 37-31 in Saturday's game, led by seven boards from Trent Scott.
Morehead State's defense also held Eastern Illinois to only 35 percent shooting from the field in the Eagles' fourth straight victory in the EIU series.
After falling behind 13-12, Morehead State went on a 10-0 run with 12:38 left in the first half to take a 22-13 lead. The Eagles then added nine points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 38-20 advantage. Morehead State took advantage of six offensive rebounds to score seven second chance points out of 38 total in the period.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run to grow the lead to 48-24 with 15:08 to go in the contest. The Panthers narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 69-59 win. Morehead State took care of business in the paint, recording 18 of its 31 points in the lane in the final half.
TENNESSEE STATE 60, LINDENWOOD 57
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Tennessee State men's basketball team went into the half trailing Lindenwood 32-18, but fought back from the deficit to beat the Lions 60-57 on the road Saturday.
The Tigers (10-7, 2-2) had two players score in double figures, led by Jr. Clay, who had 22 points, four assists and four steals. Dedric Boyd added 14 points and Adong Makuoi added eight points.
Tennessee State out-rebounded Lindenwood 41-36 in Saturday's game, led by 10 boards from Zion Griffin. The Tigers also grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and scored 16 second-chance points.
Tennessee State forced 16 Lindenwood turnovers while committing 12 themselves in Saturday's game. The Tigers turned those takeaways into 12 points on the other end of the floor. Clay's four steals led the way for Tennessee State.
Tennessee State struggled out of the gate, falling behind 32-18 heading into halftime.
Tennessee State narrowed its deficit to 57-53 before going on a 7-0 run to seize a 60-57 lead with six seconds to go in the contest, The Tigers held onto that lead for the rest of the game for the 60-57 win. Tennessee State capitalized on nine Lindenwood turnovers in the period, collecting 12 points off those turnovers.
TENNESSEE TECH 84, UT MARTIN 80 (OT)
MARTIN, Tenn. - Timely stops and relentless effort lifted the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to its second straight victory Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles outlasted UT Martin, 84-80, in an overtime barnburner at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center in Martin, Tenn.
The contest had all the makings of an instant classic from tip-off, with both sides challenging each other offensively throughout the first half. Both teams entered the final media break of the opening stanza shooting an electric 60 percent or better from the field before things cooled down headed into the break.
Entering halftime, the Golden Eagles (6-11, 2-2) led 46-40 behind 56.3 percent efficiency from the floor and an eye-popping 8-for-18 showing from distance. The Skyhawks (10-7, 2-2) kept relative pace behind a 53.3 percent showing from the field.
Junior guard Jayvis Harvey provided the heavy lifting for the purple and gold over the opening 20 minutes, rolling out 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting and a 3-for-5 effort from downtown.
The second half proved to be more of a slog on offense for both sides, particularly the Golden Eagles, who converted just 8-of-29 attempts from the floor at a 27.6 percent clip. Despite Tech opening the second stanza with a solid run to push its advantage to as high as 11, the Skyhawks responded with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to a single point with nearly 15 minutes left in regulation.
From that point on, it was war between the two sides, as the contest saw 10 ties the rest of the way, with neither side taking a two-possession lead again until overtime. Each side traded blows down the stretch, with the home squad taking a two-point lead with 1:10 on the clock.
Tech head coach John Pelphrey called for a timeout, drawing up a play that saw graduate guard Jaylen Sebree drive the lane and drain a floating jumper to square the contest at 71-71 with just under a minute to play. UT Martin's Parker Stewart missed on a potential go-ahead triple, giving the Golden Eagles the ball and possible final possession of the half.
After running the clock down, Harvey looked for the game-winner with a pull-up jumper just inside the arc, but the Skyhawks hauled in the miss with one second to play and called a timeout of their own. Their ensuing pass attempt deflected off their own man, giving Tech the ball at the UT Martin baseline with 0.6 seconds to play, but the Golden Eagles couldn't convert and the crowd in the Elam Center was treated to free basketball.
In the overtime period, Perry buried a triple early only to see the Skyhawks answer with their own. A turnaround jumper from Sebree put Tech back on top, but the home squad responded once more to even the score.
In need of a bucket to stay in control, sophomore guard Grant Slatten delivered one of the key plays of the game, hauling in an offensive board on the next possession and flipping the ball mid-air to a wide-open Diante Wood for the go-ahead bucket.
Again UT Martin squared things up with a layup, and, following a Golden Eagle turnover, finally looked to take its own lead. A missed layup allowed Sebree to haul in a critical rebound and give Tech its final timeout of the contest.
The purple and gold responded from the break by turning to the top scorer on the floor all night. Harvey calmly worked his way into the paint and knocked down a turnaround jumper to put Tech back on top for good at 80-78.
The Skyhawks missed a 3-point field goal try from the corner on the next trip down the floor and junior guard Brett Thompson found the ball before drawing a foul. He calmly knocked down four free throws over the final 22 seconds to help ice the ball game.
The purple and gold shot converted 4-of-5 tries from the field in the overtime period, finishing at 45.5 percent for the game. Tech also knocked down 13-of-13 attempts from deep on the night while out-rebounding the Skyhawks, 40-37.
The victory marked the first on the road for the Golden Eagles since defeating Austin Peay in Clarksville late last February, pushing Tech's Ohio Valley Conference mark to 2-2.
Harvey led all scorers beyond career-highs of 23 points and five makes from distance and added five boards to the mix. Sebree posted 14 points and seven rebounds while Perry delivered 13 points and a pair of dimes.
Jumping in on the double-digit scoring action were Thompson and Wood, each contributing 10 points on the night. Wood just missed a double-double, settling for nine boards and team-highs of five assists and two blocks. Thompson snagged four boards and dished out a trio of dimes.
Slatten did the dirty work on the glass all evening, corralling a game-high 10 boards in just over 20 minutes of action off the bench. He provided five points to the effort as well.
KJ Simon led the Skyhawks with 19 points while Stewart added 18 and Koby Jeffries racked up 15.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74, LITTLE ROCK 68
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Southeast Missouri (7-10, 2-2) ended a seven-game road losing streak behind a career-high 19 points by Dylan Branson in a 74-68 victory over Little Rock (5-12, 1-3) Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center.
SEMO led for all but 11 seconds and closed things out strong after LR made it a one-point game on multiple occasions down the stretch.
Branson scored 11 of his points in the last 20 minutes to help the Redhawks eke out their first win outside of Cape Girardeau since Nov. 26 (vs. Boston in Milwaukee, Wis.).
The Trojans pulled to within three (48-45) on a 3-pointer by Chris Walker early in the second half, but Branson scored on a fastbreak layup the next time SEMO had the ball.
LR was down by six multiple times over the ensuing seven-plus minutes before Branson nailed a 3-pointer to put the Redhawks up nine, 62-53, with 7:45 to go.
The Trojans responded by making three-straight field goals and added two free throws by Palermo to make it a 64-62 game at the 5:05 mark.
Following a Chris Harris jumper, Chris Walker drained a 3-pointer on the other end to pull LR within a point (66-65).
Phillip Russell then scored a layup, was fouled and converted a 3-point play to extend its lead to 69-65.
Coming out of the final media timeout, CJ White made a 3-pointer to again get LR within a point. After a SEMO miss, the Trojans had a chance to take the lead, however, Deantoni Gordon's jumper fell short.
A big defensive rebound and layup by Kobe Clark put the Redhawks ahead by three and Russell was later fouled. He split two free throws as SEMO led, 72-68, with 32 seconds on the clock.
Russell then rebounded a missed 3-pointer by White and made two more free throws to put SEMO's seventh win on ice.
SEMO forced 11 turnovers and led for over 17 minutes in the first half en route to its 36-33 edge at the intermission.
Harris scored SEMO's first five points and seven of the Redhawks 11 in the opening five minutes to get SEMO an 11-5 lead.
LR answered with a 8-0 run and went ahead, 13-11, on a layup by Nigel John with 11:27 remaining.
A 13-2 SEMO run followed and the Redhawks pulled ahead by nine. The Redhawks scored eight fast break points during their surge which ended on a layup by Russell that gave SEMO a 24-15 lead at the 5:13 mark.
Nate Johnson's dunk off an assist by Russell ran SEMO's lead to 28-17 with a little under four minutes to play before the Redhawks headed into the locker room with their seventh halftime advantage of the season.
Branson, who scored double figures in three of his last four games, shot 7-of-12 from the field, knocked down a pair of threes and hit 3-of-5 free throws.
Harris made 7-of-13 field goals and grabbed seven rebounds, while Russell shot 5-of-14 from the floor and a near-perfect 5-of-6 at the free throw line.
Both teams shot 43.9 percent from the field and SEMO outrebounded the Trojans, 39-35. LR turned the ball over 17 times and missed 12 layups.
SIUE 69, SOUTHERN INDIANA 62
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - SIUE's first meeting with Southern Indiana since 2008 proved to be a classic. The former Division II conference rivals met for the first time as Division I conference rivals Saturday with SIUE picking up a hard-earned 69-62 win on the road.
The Cougars handed the Screaming Eagles their first home loss this season and improved to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The 12 wins equals SIUE's most at the Division I level. The win is just the fifth for the Cougars in 30 all-time contests at Southern Indiana.
Damarco Minor enjoyed a career-night to lead the Cougars, scoring 27 points and hauling 11 rebounds. It was his second straight double-double. Minor was 3-10 overall, 2-7 from three-point range and a perfect 15-15 at the free throw line.
USI (8-9, 1-3) came out firing from long range and hit five three-pointers early in the game. Tyler Henry's three with 11:48 to play put the Screaming Eagles up 19-15. SIUE took over with a 10-0 run to lead 25-19 after a pair of free throws from Ray'Sean Taylor with 8:38 left in the half.
The Cougars held the Screaming Eagles to just one more three in the first half and led by six at the break.
SIUE built as much as a 15-point lead in the second half before USI forged a comeback. After Terrance Thompson made it 57-42 with 8:30 left in the game, USI used an 11-2 run to trim the lead to six with 4:50 left. The Cougars pushed the lead back to 64-54, but Southern Indiana used an 8-2 spurt to get it 66-62 with 1:24 left.
Isaiah Swope had a chance to cut the lead to two, but missed a jumper with 55 seconds to play. Minor grabbed the rebound and SIUE was able to run the clock inside of 20 seconds before USI got the ball back. Jelani Simmons missed a three for the Eagles with 14 seconds left and DeeJuan Pruitt was fouled after grabbing the rebound. He hit one of two to extend SIUE's lead to five.
Pruitt blocked Swope's running layup attempt with eight seconds left and Minor drew a foul chasing down the rebound. Minor sank both for the seven-point final.
Pruitt finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Taylor scored 12 points and was 4-5 at the free throw line. SIUE was 25-30 (83 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Cougars forced USI into 16 turnovers and capitalized for 28 points. SIUE also scored 24 points in the paint.
After the early success from long-range, USI was just 2-12 from three-point range in the second half and just 8-28 in the game.