THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Little Rock 72, Morehead State 68
SIUE 63, @Lindenwood 58
@Eastern Illinois 77, UT Martin 75
@Tennessee Tech 84, Southern Indiana 69
@Tennessee State 85, Southeast Missouri 65
LITTLE ROCK 72, MOREHEAD STATE 68
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Facing a 10-point deficit in the second half, Little Rock once again staged a furious rally to get back in the game late. But this time, the Trojans were able to get over the hump, outscoring Morehead State 24-10 over a 10-minute span to knock off the Ohio Valley Conference leaders 72-68 at the Jack Stephens Center.
Five Trojans finished in double figures, tying a season-high for Little Rock, as six Trojans combined for 69 of Little Rock's 72 points on the night. That was led by a 15-point, nine-rebound performance for CJ White, who scored 12 of his 15 in the second half, including two big threes and going 6-for-6 from the line, to help spark the Little Rock rally.
Myron Gardner finished with his OVC-leading 14th double-double, fittingly scoring 14 points with 14 rebounds. He also was a key spark for Little Rock in the second half, scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds with three assists over the final 20 minutes.
DeAntoni Gordon and D.J. Smith both finished with 11 points for Little Rock as Gordon was 5-of-6 from the floor with six rebounds. Smith was 4-of-8 with a pair of rebounds and three assists.
The final member of the double-figure club was Nigel John, adding 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Isaiah Palermo added eight points with three rebounds, a steal and a crucial block to end the first half.
For the game, Little Rock shot 41.9%, knocking down 26-of-62, and struggled from three point range, going just 3-for-12. But Morehead State had a cold shooting night as well, shooting 38.3% and was just 5-of-20 (25.0%) from three point range as both teams shot in the low 70%s from the free throw line.
Little Rock outrebounded Morehead State 43-38, including a 23-17 edge in the second half. The two teams were even in nearly all the specialty categories with the Trojans holding a slight edge in points off turnovers, points in the paint and second chance points.
Welcoming Morehead State to the Jack Stephens Center, the Trojans and Eagles exchanged baskets in the early going with Little Rock getting to within two on five separate occasions. Morehead State held the Trojans without a basket for nearly five minutes, using a 6-1 run to build a seven-point cushion at 16-9 before a White three broke the scoring drought.
Trailing by seven at 23-16 with 7:10 to play, Little Rock put together an 11-2 run spanning two and a half minutes, highlighted by an 8-0 spurt, flipping the script to build its first lead of the game at 27-25 behind four points from Gardner and five from Gordon.
Morehead State used its free throw shooting to finish the half on a 5-2 run but the Trojans held the Eagles without a field goal for the final 4:49 of the first half, trailing 30-29 lead into the break on the Trojans. Palermo had a key block to end the half and White hit a three-quarter court shot, but let it go after the buzzer.
Both teams struggled from the field in the opening 20 minutes as Little Rock shot 36.7% from the floor, compared to 37.0% for Morehead State. All eight Trojans that saw action in the first half scored at least one point, led by seven from Gordon while Smith, Palermo, Gardner and John each had four, including six boards for Gardner.
A sluggish start by the Trojans in the second half helped Morehead State extend its lead to 10 at 41-31 behind a 9-0 run. But that was quickly answered by a Little Rock 8-0 run, including a pair from John, pulling the Trojans to within one at 41-39 at the 15:02 mark.
That run was answered by another 7-0 surge for the Eagles, pulling back in front by nine at 48-39 two minutes later. The Eagles had an eight point lead at 50-42 with 11:02 remaining, but a White three sparked a 15-3 Trojan run, including a 10-0 spurt to take a 57-53 lead with 5:55 remaining.
Following a Morehead State basket, back-to-back baskets at the rim from Myron gave Little Rock its largest lead of the game – 61-55 with 3:18 to play. The Eagles pulled to within one at 61-60, but a key three and then a pair of free throws for White pushed the lead back to six at 66-60 with just over a minute to play.
Free throw shooting would be key for the Trojans as Little Rock made its final eight free throw attempts over the final 1:07, leading by as much as seven on a pair of occasions including at 72-65 with 10 seconds left before a late Morehead State three trimmed the final margin.
Little Rock shot 46.9% in the second half, including 2-of-5 from three point range (40.0%) and went 11-of-12 (91.7%) from the free throw line, led by the combined 22 points for Gardner and White.
SIUE 63, LINDENWOOD 58
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - SIUE erased an early lead and won for just the second time after trailing at halftime, downing Lindenwood 63-58 Thursday night at Hyland Arena.
The Cougars have won three straight games to improve to 17-9 overall and 8-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The eight OVC wins match the most SIUE has earned in the conference. The Cougars also improved to 7-6 on the road to set a new program high in road wins at the Division I level.
The Lions got off to a 12-2 start and pushed the lead to 16-5 just nine minutes into the game.
Lindenwood matched its largest lead at 25-14 with just more than six minutes to play before halftime. From there, the Cougars finished the first half on a 14-5 run to cut the LU lead to 30-28 at the break.
DeeJuan Pruitt scored a driving layup to tie the score in the first minute of the second half.
A forceful two-hand dunk by Pruitt off a feed from Ray'Sean Taylor gave SIUE its first lead of the night at 38-36 with 16:21 to play. SIUE never trailed in the game again and pushed its lead to as many as eight twice.
Pruitt, who didn't have a point in the first half, finished the game with 11 points and 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the year. Damarco Minor collected his fourth double-double with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Lindenwood trimmed the Cougars' lead down to just two with 34 seconds left, but the Cougars sealed the win with a pair of free throws from Ray'Sean Taylor and another by Minor.
Taylor finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Terrance Thompson finished with seven points, two rebounds and a block. Lamar Wright scored seven points and added four rebounds and a block.
The Cougars outrebounded Lindenwood 45-36, matching their second-most rebounds in a single game this year.
Kevin Caldwell Jr. scored 13 points to lead three Lindenwood players in double figures. Jacob Tracey scored 12 and Cam Burrell added 10.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 77, UT MARTIN 75
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois led by as many as 16 points early in the second half but had to watch a 3-pointer by UT Martin at buzzer fall short as the Panthers snapped a six-game losing streak with a 77-75 win on Thursday night at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena.
EIU had a balanced scoring effort with four players finishing in double figures on the night.
The Panthers led 43-32 at the half using an 11-2 run late in the first half to give themselves some breathing room. Cameron Haffner scored four points during the run as he scored 12.
EIU went up by 16 points twice early in the second half. The first time on a lay-up by Kinyon Hodges, the second on free throws by Kyle Thomas. Hodges led EIU with 14 points while Thomas scored ten to go with a team high seven rebounds.
UT Martin chipped away at the lead cutting it to single digits with 14:28 to play on a Parker Stewart 3-pointer. Stewart had 18 points as the Skyhawks also finished the night with four players in double figures. Jordan Sears led all scorers with 20.
After a 3-pointer by Jalen Myers cut the lead to 3-points, EIU appeared to once again have grabbed control pulling out to a twelve point lead with 6:35 remaining on a Dan Luers 3-pointer from the corner.
Sears would carry the Skyhawks in the final 56 seconds scoring on a three-point play, a jumper and a pair of free throws that cut EIU’s lead to two points with seven seconds remaining.
EIU turned the ball over near midcourt working to break the press but UT Martin’s shot to win the game came up short as Yaakema Rose Jr., secured the rebound and the win.
CJ Lane was the fourth Panther in double figures with 11 points off the bench including a 3-of-3 night from 3-point range.
KJ Simon had 12 points with Myers posting a double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds for UTM
EIU moved to 8-18 overall, 4-9 in the OVC. UT Martin fell to 15-11 overall, 7-6 in the OVC.
TENNESSEE TECH 84, SOUTHERN INDIANA 69
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Stellar shooting and ball movement in the first 26 minutes of Thursday night's Ohio Valley Conference showdown between the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team and Southern Indiana led the Golden Eagles to a huge victory over its newest league foe, an 84-69 triumph in the Hooper Eblen Center.
A 3-pointer from graduate guard Ty Perry lifted Tech (12-14, 8-5) ahead of Southern Indiana (13-13, 6-7) for good less than two minutes in the contest, backed behind an eye-popping first half that saw the home squad wow the nearly 2,000 fans with lights-out shooting.
The Golden Eagles shot 60 percent from the floor and 81.8 percent from the charity stripe, but it was the team's performance from beyond the arc that truly shined bright. Tech used a scorching 8-for-13 showing from distance (61.5 percent) to take a 47-36 lead into the break.
The second half saw the purple and gold somehow improve its efficiency on offense over the opening six minutes, thanks to a nearly unconscious 10-for-14 start from the floor. The 71.4 percent performance propelled Tech to a 23-7 run that pushed the Cookeville crew's lead to 27 and force USI to call its second timeout of the half.
Tech kept the Screaming Eagles at bay for another six minutes, maintaining the massive advantage until the offense finally cooled down over the final stretch of the ball game. USI ended the evening on a 14-2 run of its own, but the Golden Eagles still comfortably walked away with the 15-point victory.
Junior guard Brett Thompson and graduate forward Jaylen Sebree led the charge for the Golden Eagles on the night, combining for nearly half of the team's offensive production and taking over the ball game early and often. Thompson dropped a career-high 21 points while tying for the team lead with five assists, hitting 7-of-12 tries from the floor and 4-for-8 attempts from downtown.
Sebree continued his torrid run over the past two weeks, delivering 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting and four rebounds. The transfer from Morehead State has averaged 21.5 points on 61.3 shooting over the team's last five games. Perry joined the double-digit club for the night, shooting 50 percent from the field for 10 points while also adding four boards.
Junior guard Jayvis Harvey and junior center Nolan Causwell tied for the team lead with six rebounds each. Harvey also tied Sebree with a team-best five assists while Causwell paced the Golden Eagles with a career-high three blocks. Local Sparta native Grant Slatten chipped in nine points off the bench while junior guard Diante Wood turned in nine points as well in his second straight start.
The Screaming Eagles were led by forward Jacob Polakovich, who delivered a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Guard Isaiah Swope notched a team-high 15 points with three makes from downtown.
TENNESSEE STATE 85, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 65
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men's basketball team held Southeast Missouri State to just 16 percent from deep in a 4-for-25 shooting performance on the way to an 85-65 victory against the Redhawks at home Thursday.
The Tigers (15-11, 7-6) had five players score in double figures, led by Jr. Clay, who had 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Christian Brown tacked on 13 points off the bench, and Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. chipped in with 12 points.
David Acosta pulled down six offensive rebounds to lead the Tennessee State offense which grabbed 12 boards and turned them into 19 second-chance points.
Tennessee State's defense held Southeast Missouri State to only 16 percent shooting from beyond the arc and 38.2 percent from the field. The Tigers also limited Chris Harris to 1-of-8 shooting from downtown in the game. The Redhawks did not have much luck cleaning up their misses on the offensive glass either, as they finished with eight offensive rebounds and managed 10 second-chance points while Tennessee State cleared 32 defensive rebounds.
After jumping out to a 26-24 advantage, Tennessee State went on a 10-0 run with 7:15 left in the first half to increase its lead to 36-24. The Tigers then maintained that lead and entered halftime with a 47-35 advantage. Tennessee State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down eight shots to account for 24 of its 47 points.
Following intermission, Tennessee State kept widening that lead, expanding it to 59-46 before going on a 10-0 run to grow the lead to 69-46 with 8:30 to go in the contest. The Redhawks narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Tigers still cruised for the 85-65 win. Tennessee State got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 13 of its 38 total points.