2023 OVC Men's Basketball Championship - Semifinals

3/3/2023 10:18:18 AM

#5 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 65, #1 MOREHEAD STATE 58
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - #5 Southeast Missouri (18-16) outscored #1 Morehead State (21-11) 20-7 in the final 8:43 to pull off a stunning 65-58 win Friday night in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals.

SEMO, which has won three games in three days, heads to its first OVC Tournament Championship matchup in 23 years. The Redhawks last appeared in the OVC Tournament title game in 1999-2000, the year SEMO won its only crown and made its only NCAA Tournament to date.

Down, 51-45, the Redhawks used a 12-0 run to grab their first lead of the night.

After Israel Barnes splashed in a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game (51-50), Dylan Branson was fouled and made two free throws to put SEMO up, 52-51, with 4:45 remaining.

Josh Earley followed that up with a layup to push the lead to 54-51 ahead of the game's final media timeout at the 3:44 mark.

Russell later added two free throws to widen the Redhawks margin to 61-53 with 1:12 on the clock.

Drew Thelwell answered with a 3-pointer and Jake Wolfe was fouled and made two free throws to make it a 61-58 game with 50 seconds to go.

On SEMO's next possession, Russell drilled a stepback 3-pointer with 21 seconds to bury MSU for good.

The Redhawks outscored the Eagles, 36-24, in the second half to polish off their massive come-from-behind victory. SEMO, after turning the ball over nine times in the first half, committed just two in the final 20 minutes and that was huge in the end.

SEMO trailed by 11 multiple times in the first half and got within five (34-29) at the intermission.

Chris Harris led four Redhawks in double figures with 15 points and seven rebounds. Earley registered a double-double 11 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Russell contributed 14 points and Barnes finished with 10. Russell is now 20 points away from getting 1,000 in his career.

SEMO outrebounded the Eagles, 41-33, for the game and shot 48 percent (13-of-27) in the second half.

OVC Player of the Year Mark Freeman led MSU with a game-high 21 points.

At one time, MSU was scoreless for over six minutes late in the second half.

SEMO upended a #1 seed for just the second time in program history. The Redhawks, then-seeded #2 the year they last won the tournament in 2000, knocked off #1 Murray State in the title game.

The Redhawks are the first #5 seed to make the OVC Tournament title game since 2005 (Austin Peay).

#2 TENNESSEE TECH 73, #3 UT MARTIN 68
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A resurgent second half sent the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team and the purple and gold faithful at the Ford Center into a frenzy Friday evening, as the No. 2 seeded Golden Eagles (16-16) took down No. 3 UT Martin (19-14), 78-63, in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The win clinched the Cookeville crew its first trip to the OVC Tournament Championship game since 2011 and just the fourth in program history. Tech will square off with the No. 5 ranked Southeast Missouri Redhawks, who downed No. 1 seeded Morehead State earlier in the day, 65-58.

The Golden Eagles and Skyhawks slogged through a tough first half offensively, working a 26-26 stalemate as both sides entered their respective locker rooms looking for a spark. The purple and gold found not one, not two, but three.

Playing all 20 minutes of the second half, Jaylen Sebree and Brett Thompson combined for 40 of the team's 52 points in the final stanza, lifting the Tech squad to its highest height since 2011. Sebree produced 21 of his career-high-tying 28 points in the second half alone, shooting 7-for-12 with three triples. The graduate forward from Morehead State also tied his career-high of 14 rebounds, securing his fourth-straight double-double and the eighth of his career, and dished out four assists.

Thompson dropped all 19 of his points in the second half, knocking down three of his four tries from distance and 8-of-11 attempts at the charity stripe. He added five boards on the night as well.

Diante Wood chipped in seven points in just eight and a half minutes while battling foul trouble, but just his presence on the court was more than enough to give the team a lift. The veteran guard made his first return to the hardwood since suffering a frightening injury at Tennessee State on Feb. 11. In his return, Wood contributed nine key points, four rebounds, and two steals in 15 minutes off the bench.

Graduate guard Ty Perry turned in nine points and six boards while Jayvis Harvey led the team with six assists and corralled four rebounds. The Golden Eagles earned a 45-35 advantage on the glass during the contest and shot a remarkable 57.1 percent from the floor in the second half, including a 7-for-14 showing from downtown.

Tech will now look to take home its first-ever OVC Postseason Tournament title, suffering losses in its three previous trips to the championship game in 2002, 2003, and 2011. Should the Golden Eagles capture the crown this season, it would also snap a 60-year NCAA drought for the Cookeville crew, the second-longest span in the country. While Tech's last visit to the Big Dance came in 1963, Dartmouth's most recent appearance was back in 1959.