SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 72, UT Martin 58
@Lindenwood 97, Little Rock 96 (OT)
Tennessee Tech 75, @Eastern Illinois 66
Southern Indiana 93, @Tennessee State 81
@SIUE 93, Southeast Missouri 78
MOREHEAD STATE 72, UT MARTIN 58
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State big man Alex Gross exerted his force with 16 points and career-highs of 17 rebounds and seven blocked shots as the men's basketball team wrapped up the regular season with a 72-58 victory over the UT Martin Skyhawks at home Saturday.
The Eagles (21-10, 14-4 OVC) had four players score in double figures, led by Jake Wolfe, who had 17 points. Drew Thelwell helped out with 15 points and six assists. Mark Freeman also had a nice day with 13 points and seven assists.
The Eagles finished the OVC with a 14-4 mark and will be the No. 1 seed in this week's OVC Tournament in Evansville, Ind. Their first game will be Friday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNU in the semifinals, with a double bye.
Morehead State shared the ball well in Saturday's game, racking up 18 assists on 27 made field goals. Morehead State did a great job disrupting UT Martin shots in the contest, coming away with 10 blocks. Gross' seven rejections led the way individually for the Eagles.
After jumping out to a 13-10 advantage, Morehead State went on an 8-0 run with 11:22 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Gross, to increase its lead to 21-10. The Eagles then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 32-24 advantage. Morehead State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 16 of its 32 points close to the basket.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Wolfe's three, to grow the lead to 54-44 with 9:46 to go in the contest. The Eagles kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 72-58 win. Morehead State shot well from three-point range in the half, hitting six shots from deep to score 18 of its 40 points.
LINDENWOOD 97, LITTLE ROCK 96 (OT)
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - In a win or go home game, Kevin Caldwell Jr. kept the season alive by hitting a buzzer-beater in a 97-96 overtime win for Lindenwood men's basketball (11-20, 6-12 OVC) over Little Rock (10-21, 6-12 OVC) on Saturday from Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The Lions will move on to the OVC Championship to take on Southeast Missouri in the first round starting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1 in Evansville, Ind.
The first few minutes saw quality defense by both teams, as the Lions took an 8-6 lead at the 14:58 mark. After the Trojans held a one-point advantage, Keenon Cole knocked down back-to-back three pointers to put the Lions up 14-11. Lindenwood went on to take a 31-25 lead after a long-range shot by Chris Childs with 4:32 to go in the half. Little Rock closed out the opening frame on a strong note, taking a 41-39 lead.
Both squads shot 50 percent or higher from the field, and each team made four shot from behind the arc through 20 minutes of play. Little Rock pounded the paint, as DeAntoni Gordon generated 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor. Cole collected 11 points, while Cam Burrell and Childs each had eight points in the first half.
The Trojans slowly built on to their lead, as the 11:49 mark saw Little Rock up by a score of 65-54. With 4:54 left in regulation, the Trojans were up by 17 points. Like the previous meeting in Little Rock, Ark., the Lions were not out. Caldwell Jr. nailed a three-point bucket, and Burrell threw down a dunk to cut the deficit to 12 points with four minutes to go in the second half.
After Burrell hit two free throws, Caldwell Jr. knocked down another shot from deep, bringing the Lions within an 81-74 margin. With two minutes remaining, Burrell registered two more from the charity stripe. Lindenwood forced a tough shot, and Cole returned down the offensive end to drain a three pointer to make it a two-point game. The Lions played quality defense again to force a bad shot, and Brandon Trimble got the free-throw line with 25 seconds remaining in regulation. After hitting both, the Lions got one more stop to send the game to overtime.
The overtime period saw the lead change hands multiple times, as the Trojans held a 92-91 lead at the halfway point. Little Rock tallied two free throws with 1:42 to go in the game, taking a 94-91 advantage. Caldwell Jr. tied the game just 20 seconds later to tie the game at 94-94. The Trojans made a tough shot in the paint to regain a two-point lead with just 12.9 left on the clock. Lindenwood came down the court, and the ball stayed in the hands of Caldwell Jr. The senior from Alton, Ill. made a move to generate space and hit the game-winner to give the Lions a 97-96 win.
The last-second bucket gave the Lions their ticket to the OVC Championship as the No 8 seed. After posting just five points in the opening half, Caldwell Jr. ended the game with a team-high 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including 6-of-10 from three-point range. Burrell posted 23 quality points on 8-of-14 shooting, as he pulled down a team-best nine boards. Childs made four shots from behind the arc, as he collected 20 points with four rebounds. Cole was 3-of-4 from three-point range to post 19 points.
Lindenwood forced Little Rock into 15 turnovers, which led to 21 fast-break points, including 16 points off turnovers. The Lions canceled out a 17-point deficit to earn the sixth OVC win of the season. The Lions won the tiebreaker over Little Rock, after going 2-0 in the season series. Lindenwood was outstanding from behind the arc, making 14-of-27 (51.9%) including 3-of-3 in the overtime period.
TENNESSEE TECH 75, EASTERN ILLINOIS 66
CHARLESTON, Ill. (AP) - Jayvis Harvey's 17 points helped Tennessee Tech defeat Eastern Illinois 75-66 on Saturday night.
Harvey was 7 of 14 shooting, including 2 for 7 from distance, and went 1 for 3 from the line for the Golden Eagles (15-16, 11-7 Ohio Valley Conference). Grant Strong shot 5 for 6, including 2 for 3 from beyond the arc to add 14 points. Jaylen Sebree shot 4 for 9 (2 for 4 from 3-point range) and 3 of 4 from the free throw line to finish with 13 points, while adding 10 rebounds.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 93, TENNESSEE STATE 81
NASHVILLE - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) and sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) combined for 50 points in leading the Screaming Eagles over Tennessee State University, 93-81, Saturday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee. The Eagles go to 16-15 overall and 9-9 in the OVC, while the Tigers are 18-13, 10-8 OVC.
With the victory, USI finishes its first NCAA Division I regular season over .500 and its first season in the Ohio Valley Conference at the .500 mark.
In a game that saw only five Eagles post points in the scoring column, Lakes and Swope led the way. Lakes score his 25 points on red hot seven-of-11 from the field, five-of-nine from beyond the arc, and a perfect six-of-six from the line for this third highest point total of the season.
Swope ended the game eight-of-18 from the field, including a pair of three-point field goals, and a perfect seven-of-seven from the stripe for his 10th 20-point game of the season and his fourth straight. The sophomore guard is averaging 24.8 points per contest in the last four outings.
USI senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) followed Lakes and Swope with 16 points, including his 1,000-career point as a Screaming Eagle. Simmons ties Chad Gilbert (1994-96) for 21st all-time at USI with 1,011 career points as an Eagle and has 1,441 career points in his collegiate career (1,011 at USI; 430 at Youngstown State University). He is the 23rd Eagle all-time to reach 1,000 points in a USI uniform.
USI sophomore guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) and senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) rounded out the USI offense in the contest with 15 points and 12 points, respectively. Polakovich also grabbed 15 rebounds to complete his 14th double-double of the season and his 20th double-figure rebounding game of the year.
In the contest, USI had to battle back from a nine-point deficit in the first half to tie the game before halftime, 37-37. Hernandez and Polakovich led the push to tie that game at the intermission with four points each as USI went on a 13-4 run to conclude the half.
The second half started with the Tigers outscoring the Eagles, 8-4, to top off the final 20 minutes and take a 45-41 lead. The Eagles responded with a 12-2 run to push in front, 53-47, when Swope connected on a three-point field goal with 13:27 to play.
TSU, however, was not done as it would re-take the lead, 56-55, with just under 11 minutes to play. That would be the last time USI would trail as the Eagles began to methodically pull away, extending the lead to a game-best 13 points, 80-67, with 2:43 to play.
USI and TSU would trade points in the final three minutes as the Eagles closed out the 93-81 victory. The 93 points were the second-highest point total of the season for USI.
SIUE 93, SOUTHEAST MISSOUR 78
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Bolstered by strong shooting and a huge first-half run, SIUE rolled over Southeast Missouri 93-78 Saturday in the regular season finale at First Community Arena.
The Cougars snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 18-13 overall and 9-9 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Both win totals are program highs at the Division I level.
SIUE will open play at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Wednesday night as the No. 6 seed. The Cougars will face No. 7 Southern Indian.
SIUE used a 23-1 run over a near six-minute stretch in the first half to take control. It was 26-23 Southeast Missouri when the Cougars started on their run. SIUE led 46-28 at the under four media timeout and 52-35 at the break.
SIUE extended its lead to as many as 26 in the second half. The Cougars shot 55 percent from the field, connecting on 35-64 shots. The 35 field goals are second most in a game this season, while the 55 percent shooting marks the third best shooting night of the season.
Damarco Minor got out to a fast start and scored 17 first-half points. He finished with a game-high 25 points.
Ray'Sean Taylor scored 16 points and added seven rebounds and six assists.
Shamar Wright moved into the top 10 in career scoring at SIUE. He scored 12 points and now has 1,085 career points, which is 10th all-time.
Jalen Hodge and DeeJuan Pruitt added nine points apiece. Pruitt led the Cougars with eight rebounds. Jonathan Kurtas scored eight points and added five rebounds.
Chris Harris led Southeast Missouri with 20 points. Aquan Smart added 13 points and Phillip Russell scored 13 points.
SEMO hit 40 percent (27-67) of its shots for the game. The Redhawks (15-15, 10-8) will be the fifth seed in the OVC Tournament.
The Cougars outrebounded the Redhawks 43-32 and scored 42 points in the paint.