WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast MissourI 95, Harris-Stowe 45
@Western Illinois 80, Coe College 58
Purdue Fort Wayne 70,
@Southern Indiana 57
@SIUE 78, Green Bay 69
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 95, HARRIS-STOWE 45
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Rob Martin and Adam Larson each dropped in 19 points and Southeast Missouri (3-6) shot 50 percent with a season-best 12 three-pointers in a 95-45 win over Harris-Stowe (3-10) Wednesday night.
SEMO posted its largest margin of victory in 10 years. The 50-point drubbing was the biggest since the Redhawks beat Central Baptist, 118-56 (+62), on Nov. 11, 2023.
It didn't take long at all for SEMO to put the game out of reach.
The Redhawks heated up to shoot 52.8 percent from the field and buried eight 3-pointers to open a big lead in the first 20 minutes.
Ahead, 9-7, SEMO went on a 30-4 run to take a 28-point advantage. Martin scored 11 of his team's first 16 points of the contest to get the Redhawks going. Nine of those points came from long range.
While HSSU couldn't score for over six-and-a-half minutes, SEMO capitalized. Seven other Redhawks contributed with Larson (8) and Aquan Smart (7) combining to match Martin's team-high 15 first-half points.
Smart's 3-pointer extended the Redhawks margin to 42-12 with 5:31 remaining and Evan Eursher's two free throws gave SEMO a commanding 50-20 lead at the half.
The 50 points marked SEMO's most in any half of basketball this season.
SEMO didn't let up in the second half outscoring the Hornets, 45-25.
Marques Bell's layup on a fast break gave the Redhawks their biggest lead at 95-42 before they put their second-straight win on ice.
SEMO had everything clicking tonight.
Martin shot 8-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range to go along with five assists and six rebounds. His 19 points are a season-high.
Larson also knocked down three 3-pointers and made 7-of-14 from the field. It was his team-high sixth double-digit game of the year.
Smart chipped in 10 points and a career-high eight assists. He finished with double figures in the scoring column for the third time in a row.
Additionally, David Idada had nine points and seven rebounds.
As a team, SEMO finished at 35-of-70 from the floor for its season-high .500 field goal percentage. The Redhawks overpowered the Hornets on the boards, 47-25 (+22).
WESTERN ILLINOIS 80, COE COLLEGE 58
MACOMB, Ill. - It was a good night for the Leatherneck men as Western Illinois closed out their three-game homestand with an 80-58 victory over Coe on Wednesday.
It was another big night on the glass for Drew Cisse, as he followed last Sunday's 20-rebound effort with 18 boards on Wednesday. The big man from San Diego added eight points, just missing a double-double.
Successfully getting a double-double, was Jesiah West. West finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, earning his second double-double of the season. James Dent Jr. and De'Meiko Anderson came off the bench to lead the team in scoring, finishing with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
No other Leatherneck scored in double digits, but 13 different players did finish with 13 points.
Western Illinois led 10-9 near the midway point of the first half, but a 25-14 run over the final 14:21 gave the Leathernecks a 35-22 lead at intermission.
The Leathernecks opened things up in the second half, going on a 23-10 spurt out of the gates to put away the game. The advantage grew to as large as 27 as Western Illinois improves to 4-6 overall.
Western Illinois went 33-68 from the field, 6-21 from three and 8-14 from the line. The Leathernecks outrebounded Coe 53-29 and blocked seven shots.
PURDUE FORT WAYNE 70, SOUTHERN INDIANA 57
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball started fast, but lost momentum in falling to Purdue University Fort Wayne, 70-57, Wednesday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles slide to 2-8 after tonight's action, while the Mastodons are 9-1 this season.
The Eagles exploded out of the gate, building a 12-point, 17-5 lead before seven minutes were gone in the contest. USI sophomore forward Kiyron Powell (Evansville, Indiana) and junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) led the charge with six points and five points, respectively, during the run.
In addition to starting fast offensively, USI stood tall on the defensive end by holding Purdue Fort Wayne to 22.2 percent (4-18) from the field through the first 12 minutes.
The Mastodons' offense kicked into gear after the under-eight time out and knotted game at 24-24 with 4:57 left in the half after a 16-4 run. USI regained the lead, 28-24, on buckets by Hernandez and junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois), but a 7-2 surge by Purdue Fort Wayne gave the Mastodons a 31-30 lead with 1:25 to play in the first half.
USI would rally in the final minute and sent the game into halftime tied, 34-34. Powell knotted the score in the final second with a crushing slam dunk.
For the half, Hernandez and Powell led the Eagles with 12 points and eight points, respectively.
USI quickly regained the advantage to start the second half with a 10-4 run, led by an eight-point outburst by sophomore guard AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois). Purdue Fort Wayne, however, would battle back with a 13-4 run of its own to take back the lead, 51-48 with 11:21 to play.
The Mastodons expanded the lead to nine points with eight minutes to play, 59-50, before methodically increasing the margin to double-digits to 63-53 with 2:41 remaining. The remainder of the game would be played at the free throw line as Purdue Fort Wayne sealed its win by hitting eight-of-11 charity shots for the 70-57 final.
Individually for USI, Hernandez added two points in the second half and finished the game with a team-high 15 points. Smith followed with 12 points and recorded his fourth double-double of the year with 15 rebounds.
Powell rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points and posted his second-straight double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds. He also blocked a season-high four shots.
SIUE 78, GREEN BAY 69
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE men's basketball led nearly wire to wire on its way to a 78-69 win over Green Bay Wednesday night at First Community Arena.
The Cougars improved to 6-4 overall and 4-0 at home. Green Bay is 4-5. Green Bay is the seventh opponent in 10 games that SIUE has kept under 70 points.
Green Bay scored the first basket of the game, but SIUE responded with the next seven points and never trailed in the game again. A Ray'Sean Taylor basket with 8:20 to go before half made it a seven-point lead for the Cougars, but Green Bay trimmed it back to two (26-24) at 4:42. Damarco Minor's three-pointer with 34 seconds to play before the break gave SIUE a 33-27 lead at half.
The Cougars opened the second half on a 13-3 burst to push the lead to 16 points with 15:49 left in the game. The Phoenix got as close as eight on two separate occasions, but never any closer.
SIUE shot 43 percent (22-51) from the field but went 28-39 (72 percent) at the free throw line.
SIUE turned the ball over just eight times, while forcing 14 turnovers by Green Bay. Six of those came from leading scorer Noah Reynolds.
Taylor led SIUE with a season-high 23 points. He was 6-12 from the field and 8-9 at the free throw line. Taylor now has 997 points in his SIUE career. Minor pitched in 18 points. He was 4-11 from the field and also was 8-9 at the free throw line. Lamar (15) and Shamar (10) Wright also scored in double figures for the Cougars. Lamar added two blocks and Shamar grabbed four steals. Terrance Thompson scored six points and hauled in a game-high nine rebounds. He added two assists and a steal.
Reynolds paced Green Bay with 20 points.