SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 71, Lindenwood 58
UT Martin 100, @Tennessee Tech 91
@Little Rock 81, Eastern Illinois 77 (OT)
@Tennessee State 100, SIUE 85
@Southeast Missouri 85, Southern Indiana 80
MOREHEAD STATE 71, LINDENWOOD 58
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball team knocked down 12 attempts from beyond the arc, shooting 48 percent from deep in a 71-58 win against the Lindenwood Lions at home Saturday as MSU secured at least a share of its first OVC regular-season title since 2002-03.
The Eagles (19-10, 12-4 OVC) can clinch the title outright and the No. 1 seed in the tournament with one more victory in their final two games.
MSU had three players score in double figures, led by Drew Thelwell, who had 19 points. Alex Gross added 13 points and three blocks and Kalil Thomas helped out with 11 points.
Morehead State did an excellent job taking care of the basketball, dishing out 17 assists while turning the ball over just five times - a season low for mistakes. Individually, Mark Freeman lent a helping hand the most for the Eagles with six assists.
Morehead State's defense held Lindenwood to only 38 percent shooting from the field. The Lions did not have much luck cleaning up their misses on the offensive glass either, as they finished with seven offensive rebounds and managed nine second chance points while Morehead State cleared 23 defensive rebounds.
After falling behind 3-2, Morehead State went on a 9-0 run with 17:10 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Gross, to take an 11-3 lead. The Eagles then added seven points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 38-23 advantage. Morehead State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down seven shots to account for 21 of its 38 points.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Branden Maughmer's three, to grow the lead to 51-35 with 13:21 to go in the contest. The Lions narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 71-58 win. Morehead State shot well from three-point range in the half, hitting five shots from deep to score 15 of its 33 points.
UT MARTIN 100, TENNESSEE TECH 91
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - For the first time in nine years, the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team poured in triple digits on the scoreboard against an Ohio Valley Conference opponent as the Skyhawks put on an offensive clinic in a 100-91 victory at Tennessee Tech.
Today's result was UT Martin's first 100-plus point game against a NCAA Division I opponent since a 104-79 win at Northwestern State on March 19, 2015 in the first round of CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. It was the program's first 100-plus point performance in OVC play since a 100-81 triumph over Tennessee State on Jan. 13, 2014.
The Skyhawks also accomplished a rare individual scoring feat today as three players scored at least 20 points for the first time since Jan. 11, 2020. Parker Stewart shot 8-of-9 from three-point range on his way to a 32-point outing, just two point shy of his career-best tally set against McNeese earlier this season. KJ Simon posted his third double-double of the season with 22 points, 10 rebounds while also adding a career-best six assists and two blocks. Chris Nix was also huge in the post, piling up 20 points (on 9-of-12 shooting) with five rebounds and a career-best four assists.
Jordan Sears rounded out UT Martin's double-digit scorers with 12 points and a career-high eight assists. The Skyhawks established season-highs in field goal percentage (.593, 35-of-59) and three-point field goal percentage (.667, 10-for-15) – the latter of which is a school record in a game with double-digit makes. UT Martin also shot 87 percent (20-of-23) from the free throw line, improving to 18-11 overall and 10-6 in OVC play (tied for the third-most OVC wins in school history).
Tennessee Tech (13-16, 9-7 OVC) produced four scorers in double figures as Jaylen Sebree's 25 points and 10 rebounds led the way. Brett Thompson chipped in 24 points while Jayvis Harvey and Ty Perry finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Golden Eagles.
Simon boasted the hot hand early, scoring 11 of UT Martin's first 15 points through the first 5:52. However, the Golden Eagles were able to take an eight-point advantage (26-18) into the under-12-minute media timeout.
Stewart then caught fire, reeling off 11 straight Skyhawk points to get UT Martin back in the game. Moments later, the Skyhawks went on an 18-3 run that included eight more points out of Stewart. Sears put the finishing touches on the run with four consecutive points to boost UT Martin's lead out to 52-40.
With only four seconds remaining in the first half, Sears drove the lane and found Nix for an open layup to make the score 56-44 at the break – the most Skyhawk first-half points against a NCAA Division I opponent this season.
Stewart already tossed in 19 points in the first half while Simon had 16 points of his own for UT Martin, who shot 63.3 percent (19-of-30) overall and splashed seven of its nine attempts from three-point land. Sebree (13 points) and Thompson (10) led Tennessee Tech in the opening 20 minutes.
The Golden Eagles started the second half on a 6-2 run but Stewart delivered a pair of trifectas in a 63-second span to halt the Tennessee Tech momentum.
With 11:45 to go, the Golden Eagles pulled within seven points at 70-63 but it was Stewart once again who splashed a dagger three-pointer less than a minute later to nudge the Skyhawk lead back out to double figures.
UT Martin soon used an 8-0 run to double its lead from eight to 16 after a Simon left-handed take to the rim resulted in a 83-67 Skyhawk lead with 6:47 left to play.
A fadeaway jumper by Stewart at the 2:54 mark gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the day at 95-78. Desmond Williams knocked down a free throw with 49 seconds remaining to get the Skyhawks to the century mark for the fourth time this season..
LITTLE ROCK 81, EASTERN ILLINOIS 77 (OT)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Call Little Rock’s D.J. Smith “Mr. Clutch.”
The sophomore from North Little Rock came up with a clutch steal, free throws and layup in the final 12 seconds of overtime to help push Little Rock (9-20, 5-11 Ohio Valley) to an 81-77 win to keep the Trojans’ postseason hopes alive.
Smith finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and four steals and was a critical 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
Two of those free throws came with 16 seconds left in regulation to push the Trojan lead to three at 69-66 before Eastern Illinois (9-20, 5-11) added five extra minutes to the clock thanks to a 3-pointer from Cameron Haffner with three seconds left in regulation.
Then in overtime Smith grabbed a steal as the game was tied at 77-77 with 12 seconds left. Immediately fouled, Smith sank two more free throws to push Little Rock a head, 79-77. Just 10 seconds later, Smith grabbed a critical offensive rebound and got the put-back to seal the win in Little Rock’s final home game of the season.
Now tied with Eastern Illinois for the final qualifying spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, Saturday’s win even the season series with the Panthers. Barring an EIU upset over Morehead State on Thursday, the Trojans would win the potential tiebreaker over Eastern Illinois.
Smith’s 20 points led the way while DeAntoni Gordon tallied his fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds with 14 of those points coming in the second half. Gordon also recorded a career-high four blocks and his 12 boards tied a career-best mark. Isaiah Palermo tallied 17 points, scoring 11 before halftime.
Both teams shot over 40% but the difference maker came in Little Rock’s 43-37 rebounding advantage and in forcing 19 Panther turnovers, turning those into 25 points. Of those 19 turnovers, 10 came from Little Rock steals with Palermo recording a career-best seven by himself and is the most an OVC player has recorded in a game this season.
TENNESSEE STATE 100, SIUE 85
NASHVILLE - Jr. Clay scored a career-best 40 points to help lead the Tennessee State men's basketball team over the SIUE 100-85 at the Gentry Center on Saturday afternoon.
Clay added eight rebounds and four assists to his 40-point game to lead the Tigers (17-12, 9-7 OVC). Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. helped out with 18 points, six rebounds and two steals and Dedric Boyd chipped in with 13 points.
The Tennessee State offense was very productive from deep, pouring in nine threes on 21 attempts. Boyd was the most prolific shooter for the Tigers, draining three treys in the contest.
Tennessee State forced 17 SIUE turnovers while committing 16 themselves in Saturday's game. The Tigers turned those takeaways into 23 points on the offensive end of the floor. Christian Brown led the way individually with two steals.
After jumping out to a 12-11 advantage, Tennessee State went on a 13-0 run with 14:53 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Boyd, to increase its lead to 25-11. The Tigers then added six points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 57-37 advantage. Tennessee State capitalized on 11 SIUE turnovers in the period, turning them into 18 points on the other end of the floor.
Tennessee State kept its lead intact before going on a 9-0 run, finished off by Boyd's three, to grow the lead to 80-58 with 6:59 to go in the contest. The Cougars narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Tigers still cruised the rest of the way for the 100-85 win. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 24 of its 43 points in the lane.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 85, SOUTHERN INDIANA 80
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Chris Harris scored 20 points and went over 1,000 points in his career to lead Southeast Missouri (15-14, 10-6) to an 85-80 win over Southern Indiana (15-14, 8-8) Saturday at the Show Me Center.
With 17.7 seconds left, USI's Tyler Henry collapsed due to a medical incident on the sideline next to the Screaming Eagles' bench. In accordance with the NCAA Rulebook (Section 4), both teams agreed to end the game at the point of interruption and declare SEMO the winner.
Because the contest had reached "a reasonable point of conclusion" (at least 30 minutes for basketball), the statistics will count for both teams.
Harris, who scored 15 of his points in the second half alone, became the 25th member of SEMO's 1,000-point club in the final home game of his career.
SEMO started fast scoring the game's first eight points with six coming on a pair of 3-pointers by Israel Barnes. A 3-pointer by Phillip Russell later put the Redhawks ahead, 14-5, with 14:01 left to play in the first half.
USI answered with a 10-0 run to grab its first lead of the game. Trevor Lakes buried a pair of 3-pointers with his second giving the Screaming Eagles a 15-14 edge with 11:14 to play.
Tyler Henry made a 3-pointer at the top of the arc, was fouled and completed his 4-point play to regain a 21-18 advantage for USI.
Henry knocked down two more threes to widen USI's lead to 27-20 with 5:32 remaining.
The 3-pointers kept falling for the Screaming Eagles who buried two more, including another by both Lakes and Henry to increase their lead to nine (33-24) at the 3:39 mark.
Isaiah Swopes' two free throws handed USI its first double-digit lead and finished off an 8-0 run for the Screaming Eagles.
SEMO responded by scoring the next 11 points to tie the game at 35-35. Dylan Branson stole the ball and went in for a layup for the game-tying make with 1:08 on the clock.
A technical foul by Russell resulted in a four-point swing as USI headed into the intermission ahead, 39-36.
Branson led SEMO with 12 points in the game's opening 20 minutes.
Tied, 42-42, with 17:34 to go, SEMO put together an 11-4 run to get back a seven-point lead. Branson, Chris Harris, Russell, Aquan Smart and Adam Larson contributed during that stretch that ended on Larson's tip-in that put the Redhawks ahead, 53-46, with 13:52 left.
Larson splashed in a pair of big 3-pointers to stretch SEMO's lead to double-digits, 63-52, at the 11:13 mark. Those buckets came in a quick 33 seconds.
Harris officially cleared 1,000 points in his career with a layup that gave SEMO a 70-68 lead with 5:19 on the clock. Harris then nailed a 3-pointer with just under four minutes to go giving the Redhawks a nine-point advantage.
Two free throws by Swopes narrowed SEMO's lead to 77-74 with 1:36 left, but Harris answered with two free throws of his own.
After Lakes knocked down a 3-pointer to get the Screaming Eagles within two (79-77) 15 seconds later, Harris drew a foul with less than five seconds on the shot clock. Harris was shooting a 3-pointer and then made three huge free throws to put the Redhawks ahead, 82-77, with 35.8 seconds.
Evan Eursher was fouled on SEMO's ensuing possession and split two free throws as SEMO held an 83-79 lead. Jelani Simmons then split his two free throws at the other end making it an 83-80 game with 23 seconds on the clock.
On the inbounds pass, Eursher was immediately fouled and headed to the free throw line again. This time, he made both of his attempts extending SEMO's lead to 85-80.
Harris made 11-of-13 free throws, made four field goals and buried a 3-pointer. He helped SEMO outscore USI, 31-21, at the charity stripe for the game.
Three others including Branson (16), Barnes (12) and Russell (10) followed with double figures in the scoring column.
The Redhawks shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the field and hit 31-of-40 free throws.
USI, which was led by Swope and Henry, shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the floor. Swope had a game-high 27 points and Henry added 20.