THURSDAY'S SCORES
Lindenwood 74, @Southeast Missouri 68
Western Illinois 73, @UT Martin 64
Morehead State 78, @Eastern Illinois 52
@SIUE 67, Southern Indiana 64
LINDENWOOD 74, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 68
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Lindenwood men's basketball (7-9, 1-2 OVC) earned their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season on Thursday at Southeast Missouri (6-11, 1-3 OVC) by a final score of 74-68. Keenon Cole posted a career-high 42 points while grabbing 11 rebounds to push the Lions past the Redhawks at the Show Me Center.
Cole's 42 points are the most scored by a Lindenwood men's basketball player since TJ Crockett during the 2020-21 season. He becomes the first OVC player to score 40 points since Tennessee State's Jr Clay last season on February 28 and becomes the first OVC player since Austin Peay's Terry Taylor to score 42 points in a game.
Darius Beane also had 20 points for the Lions marking his fourth game this season where he has scored over 20 points. Beane and Cole combined for 62 points and 16 rebounds for the Lions in their win over SEMO.
The Redhawks started the evening off on a 6-2 run where the Lions started 1-6 from the field and 0-3 from deep. Both offenses struggled early as the game was tied 6-6 for nearly three minutes. SEMO went 0-7 in that stretch.
Midway through the first half, both teams were shooting the ball under 30.0% from the field. Cole started to turn on the gas towards the end of the first half giving the Lionsa five-point lead with just over six minutes to play. It was part of a 7-0 run by the Lions to go up 18-13.
Defensive transition points would be a key factor in the win as Lindenwood created turnovers which led the multiple baskets. With 2:45 left in the first half, Cole stole the ball at the top of the key and raced down the floor for an easy dunk. LU had 17 points off turnovers compared to just 11 by SEMO.
The final minute of the second half saw SEMO's Braxton Stacker score five points in the matter of 30 seconds to cut the Lions' lead to one. Cole was then fouled which sent him to the line where he made both. Beane then stole the ball at half court and was fouled which gave him two free throws. LU went into halftime leading 34-29.
Lindenwood jumped out to a 7-0 run to start the second half including layups from Jaylon McDaniel, Cole and Beane. Josh Earley for the Redhawks finally ended the scoring drought with a and-one. Isaac Ondekane got into the action with an offensive rebound and put-back which put LU up 43-32.
Back-to-back steals by Colin Ruffin and Cole led the easy transition points for the Lions and helped them on a 6-0 and put them up 51-36. Lindenwood had 10 steals on the night, marking only the second time that has happened this season.
SEMO kept creeping back in late getting it under double digits with a Rob Martin jumper with under 6:00 minutes remaining. Both teams would trade baskets before SEMO cut it to seven with just over a minute of action.
Lindenwood's leading scorer Keenon Cole would ice the game late en route to his career-day. It also marked the second double-double of the season for Cole and the second time both Cole and Beane have scored over 20 points in the same game (vs. Hannibal-LaGrange).
As a team, Lindenwood shot 51.0% from the field and 30.8% from long range. The Lions also made 18-28 from the foul line. Lindenwood also did a lot of their work in the paint registering 32 points down on the blocks. Cole and Beane combined for 22 made field goals in the win.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 73, UT MARTIN 64
MARTIN, Tenn. - When you're hot, you're hot and now, it is hard to find a squad that may be hotter than the Western Illinois men's basketball team.
The Leathernecks extended their winning streak to eight games in a row and improved to 4-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 11-6 overall, winning on the road at UT Martin, 73-64 on Thursday night.
The Leathernecks played to their identity, outrebounding the Skyhawks 48-31 and held UT Martin 20 points below their season average.
Overall, UT Martin shot 38 percent from the floor, struggling against a bigger, more physical Leatherneck squad.
On the offensive end, it was not always pretty, but whenever the Skyhawks threatened Western Illinois' lead, the Leathernecks responded.
JJ Kalakon had another big offensive night, scoring a career-high 17 points while Ryan Myers added 16, Quinlan Bennett totaled 11 and James Dent Jr. added 15 off the bench.
Drew Cisse added nine points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Kalakon added eight rebounds and Bennett pulled down seven.
Second-chance points proved a big stat for Western Illinois as the Leathernecks outscored the Skyhawks 19-4 off misses.
UT Martin open the game strong, leading 10-3, but a 20-3 run by Western Illinois gave the Leathernecks the lead for good.
The eight-game win streak and 4-0 league start is the best for the program since the 2012-13 season when Western Illinois won 11 straight and started 4-0 in league play. Western Illinois has not started a conference season 4-0 since a 6-0 start in 2012-13.
The Leathernecks led 35-30 at the half, but UT Martin immediately cut the deficit to two, 37-35. But Western Illinois immediately responded, going on an 11-2 run.
The Skyhawks later cut the deficit to three, 58-55, but Western Illinois responded with a 9-3 run, closing the door for good.
Western Illinois shot 39 percent (24-61) from the floor while holding Martin to 38 percent (21-55). The Leathernecks went 6-15 (40 percent) from three. The Skyhawks were 5-18 (28 percent) beyond the arc.
MOREHEAD STATE 78, EASTERN ILLINOIS 52
CHARLESTON, Ill. - - Riley Minix scored 27 points and Jordan Lathon added 20 as the Morehead State men's basketball team pulled away late and knocked off the Eastern Illinois Panthers 78-52 on the road Thursday.
Minix and Lathon's stellar scoring performances led the Eagles (13-4, 4-0 OVC) in the contest. Minix tacked on seven rebounds and two blocks and Lathon added 13 rebounds (tying his career high) and three assists. Eddie Ricks III added nine points off the bench. Drew Thelwell led the team with nine assists, upping his season total to an OVC-best 106.
The Eagles have now won six straight against EIU (8-9, 2-2 OVC) and have won 11 of their last 12 games this season. MSU is 27-3 in January games in the past three seasons.
MSU led by just seven with eight minutes to play but outscored the Panthers 25-6 in the final 8:12. Minix scored 20 of his game-high points in the second half, while Lathon had 18 points and 10 rebounds by halftime.
Morehead State did a great job disrupting Eastern Illinois shots in the contest, coming away with five blocks. Minix's two rejections led the way individually for the Eagles.
Tiger Booker paced the home team with 20 points, while Kyndall Davis got 15 in the scoring book.
After jumping out to a 24-21 advantage, Morehead State went on an 8-0 run with 4:31 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Ricks, to increase its lead to 32-21. The Eagles then added two points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 36-23 advantage. Morehead State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down six shots to account for 18 of its 36 points.
Following intermission, Morehead State kept widening that lead, expanding it to 67-52 before going on an 11-0 run, finished off by Jerone Morton's three, to grow the lead to the final margin. EIU scored just two field goals in the final 8:42.
SIUE 67, SOUTHERN INDIANA 64
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE men's basketball withstood a late push from Southern Indiana to come away with a 67-64 Thursday win at First Community Arena.
SIUE improved to 2-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 9-8 overall. Southern Indiana dropped to 2-3 in the OVC and 5-13 overall.
SIUE opened with a 7-0 start and never trailed in the first half, taking a 33-26 lead into the break.
Southern Indiana opened the second half on an 11-2 run to lead 37-35 at the first media timeout of the second half.
The Cougars followed with a 7-0 run and USI countered with a 9-0 run to lead 46-42.
SIUE then made a 17-2 run to open an 11-point lead (59-48) with 3:11 left. Southern Indiana got the game back with one at 65-64 with 14 seconds left, but a pair of Ray'Sean Taylor free throws pushed the lead to three.
Southern Indiana had the ball back with 10 seconds left, but A.J. Smith missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.
The Cougars limited USI to just 36 percent shooting (20-56). The Screaming Eagles were 6-19 (32 percent) from three-point range. The game marked the 10th time this season SIUE has held an opponent to 70 points or less.
Damarco Minor and Shamar Wright each scored 16 points to lead the Cougars. Minor was 9-10 at the free throw line and also grabbed nine rebounds. Desmond Polk finished with 10 points off the bench, marking the second consecutive game he has scored in double figures.
A.J. Smith scored 20 points and added 12 rebounds for USI. Jeremiah Hernandez scored 15 points.