SATURDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 61, Morehead State 48
@Tennessee Tech 70, Southeast Missouri 59
Western Illinois 63, @Eastern Illinois 60
@Tennessee State 75, Lindenwood 60
@UT Martin 77, Little Rock 72
SIUE 61, MOREHEAD STATE 48
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE men's basketball used its strongest defensive effort of the year to hand league-leading Morehead State its first Ohio Valley Conference loss. The Cougars won their second straight OVC game, winning 61-48 Saturday at First Community Arena.
The 48 points marked the fewest allowed by SIUE this year, and the fewest scored by Morehead State, which came in averaging nearly 80 points per game for the season.
The Cougars have won two straight to improve to 10-8 overall and 3-2 in the OVC. Morehead State is 13-5 overall and 4-1 in the league.
SIUE also ran its home court record to 8-1.
MSU was limited to just 20 first-half points and were 0-11 from three-point range in the first half. The Cougars built as much as 12-point lead in the period before taking a 28-20 lead into halftime.
SIUE never trailed after halftime, but Morehead State trimmed the lead to two on two different occasions.
The Eagles' Jordan Lathon cut the SIUE lead to 52-48, but that proved to be MSU's last basket. The Cougars held Morehead State scoreless for the final 4:09 and finished off the game on a 9-0 run.
Damarco Minor led the charge for SIUE. Minor turned in his sixth double-double of the year, the second-most in the OVC, scoring a game-high 24 points and adding 13 rebounds.
Ray'Sean Taylor turned 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Taylor stressed the importance of a team win.
SIUE connected on 41 percent (24-58) from the field for the game. The Cougars were 3-15 from three-point territory and knocked down 10 of 11 free throws.
Both teams finished with 39 rebounds.
The Cougars forced 11 turnovers, while only turning the ball over eight times themselves. Both the Eagles and the Cougars finished with seven steals.
MSU was just 19-62 (31 percent) from the field and 3-27 (11 percent) from three-point range.
Riley Minix scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the Eagles. Lathon finished with 12 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 70, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 59
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Hard-nosed defense in the second half was enough for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball to pull away from Southeast Missouri and secure its second straight Ohio Valley Conference victory Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles downed the visiting Redhawks in the Hooper Eblen Center, 70-59.
The two sides traded strong offensive blows in the opening half, with the Golden Eagles (7-11, 2-3) shooting 60 percent from the floor and 6-of-9 from downtown while SEMO (6-12, 1-4) fired at a 58.3 percent clip and 6-for-11 showing from distance. Heading into the locker room, the contest was all square at 37-37.
Tech took command early in the second half but was unable to pull away by more than a couple of buckets until down the stretch. Up by two with just over eight minutes to play, the Cookeville crew combined its stingy, second-half defense with a clutch play on offense to produce a 9-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes.
The Redhawks never got closer than seven the rest of the way, despite turning in a decisive advantage on the glass. Southeast Missouri hauled in 32 boards, including 13 on the offensive side alone, topping Tech's total of 22 overall and one offensive rebound.
Despite losing the battle of the boards, the Golden Eagle defense never allowed the SEMO offense to get comfortable in the second half, holding the visitors from Cape Girardeau, Mo. to just 28.1 percent efficiency from the floor and a 2-for-12 effort from 3-point range.
The Golden Eagles outscored the Redhawks 33-22 in the second stanza, continuing its frugal attack to the tune of a 52.4 field goal percentage. Tech also finished 9-for-11 from the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes, not to mention 16-of-19 for the game.
Sophomore forward Daniel Egbuniwe produced his third double-double of the season in the win, scoring 14 points while pacing the purple and gold with 10 rebounds and five assists. He finished 5-for-9 from the floor while playing 35 minutes.
Senior guard Jayvis Harvey led the scoring effort on the day, finishing a perfect 8-for-8 from the line and 3-of-4 from deep on his way to 19 points. He also turned in a team-high three steals. Fellow senior guard Diante Wood chipped in 13 points, five rebounds, and three dimes, sinking five of his eight tries from the charity stripe.
Sophomore guard Josiah Davis concluded his day 6-of-9 from the floor for 13 points. Making his first career start, rookie guard Kyle Layton added three points and a pair of steals to the mix while playing 32 minutes. Fellow freshman Rylee Samons buried both of his tries from beyond the arc to add six points.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 63, EASTERN ILLINOIS 60
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Nine-straight wins. A 5-0 start in Ohio Valley Conference play. And now, alone in first place.
The Western Illinois men came up big at both ends down the stretch topping instate-rival Eastern Illinois 63-60 on Saturday afternoon, extending their win streak to nine, improving to 5-0 in conference play and taking sole possession of first place in league play.
Jesiah West's layup with 29 seconds left gave the Leathernecks a 62-60 lead, then a block shot by Drew Cisse with two seconds left saved the day, giving Western Illinois (12-6, 5-0) the win. James Dent Jr. split a pair of free throws, providing the final margin.
The Leathernecks are next in action on Saturday, hosting Tennessee State at 3:30 p.m.
The game featured six ties and ten lead changes as the Panthers tried to rally from a second-half deficit as large as nine but came up short.
Western Illinois committed 19 turnovers and was outscored 20-1 off turnovers, but 58.5 percent (24-41) shooting from the field, including 53.5 (7-13) from three, allowed the Leathernecks to overcome their miscues.
Ryan Myers led the way, scoring 14 points. Quinlan Bennett and Jesiah West each finished with 12.
James Dent Jr. added nine and JJ Kalakon and Drew Cisse each scored six. Cisse added a team-high 12 rebounds and five blocks. Kalakon had a team-high five assists and three steals.
The first half was played close to even, with WIU's 6-1 lead being the largest. The teams traded stops and baskets in the first 20 minutes with the Leathernecks leading 33-32 at the break.
The teams went back and forth to open the second half, forging a 39-39 tie at the 16:11 mark.
Western Illinois then went on a 10-2 run, taking an eight-point lead, 49-41, with 12:31 to go in the game.
The Panthers never led in the second half, but hung around, tying the game, 60-60 with 1:37 remaining.
After a scoreless possession by both teams, Kalakon found West cutting to the basket for the eventual game-winning score with 29 seconds left.
TENNESSEE STATE 75, LINDENWOOD 60
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men's basketball team went into the half tied with Lindenwood 30-30, but took control in the second half to beat the Lions 75-60 at home Saturday.
The Tigers (9-9, 2-3) had four players score in double figures, led by Christian Brown, who had 22 points and six rebounds. Jason Jitoboh tacked on 13 points and two blocks and Jaylen Jones chipped in as well with 12 points off the bench.
Tennessee State's defense held Lindenwood to only 36.2 percent shooting from the field, including 7.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Lions did not have much luck cleaning up their misses on the offensive glass either, as they finished with eight offensive rebounds and managed five second chance points.
After falling behind 2-1, Tennessee State went on a 6-0 run with 18:59 left in the first half to take a 7-2 lead. Lindenwood then responded to tie things up at 30-30 heading into halftime. Tennessee State got the job done in the paint in the first half, scoring 16 of its 30 points close to the basket.
After intermission, Tennessee State grabbed a 39-37 lead before going on a 10-0 run, finished off by Jones' jumper, to grow its advantage to 49-37 with 13:53 to go in the contest. The Tigers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 75-60 win. Tennessee State got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 26 of its 45 total points.
UT MARTIN 77, LITTLE ROCK 72
MARTIN, Tenn. - For the second game in a row, Jacob Crews carried the University of Tennessee at Martin as the 6-8 junior poured in a career-best 35 points to help the Skyhawks claim a 77-72 win over Little Rock in Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball action.
Hailing from Hilliard, Fla., Crews was 9-of-17 from the floor and 4-for-8 from three-point range. He knocked down 13 of 16 attempts from the free throw line on the way to the highest scoring tally by any UT Martin player this season (passing Jordan Sears’ 34 points against North Alabama on Nov. 22). The Daytona State College transfer also added seven rebounds as the Skyhawks improved to 10-8 overall and 3-2 in the OVC standings.
Sears produced a stat line of 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals for UT Martin, who also received 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds out of Issa Muhammad. The Skyhawks won the rebounding battle (42-34), held a 26-10 advantage in points in the paint, led for 26:42 of clock time and knocked down 27 of its 32 free throw tries (84.4 percent).
The Trojans (8-10, 2-3 OVC) were paced by Jamir Chaplin’s 22 points while KK Robinson and Bradley Douglas added 19 and 18 points, respectively. The UT Martin defense limited Little Rock to 33.3 percent (11-for-33) shooting over the final 20 minutes.
Muhammad scored the first four UT Martin points of the contest before Crews pumped in the next 11 points, which included a trio of three-pointers. An old-fashioned three-point play by Sears at the 12:39 mark gave the Skyhawks their biggest lead of the day at 20-11.
Little Rock responded with 12 unanswered points and eventually led by as many as six points before UT Martin closed out the half strong. The Skyhawks went on a 13-3 run over a 4:06 span, keyed by five points off the bench from Jalen Myers.
A Trojan three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer led to a 41-40 UT Martin advantage at the break. Crews’ 16 points (on 5-of-6 shooting) led all scorers while Douglas (12 points) and Robinson (10) both scored in double figures for Little Rock in the first 20 minutes.
A 10-2 Trojan run in the early stages of the second half resulted in a 52-47 Skyhawk deficit but UT Martin replied with 14 consecutive points. Crews was responsible for 10 of those points – seven of which came from the charity stripe. His final free throw during the surge provided the Skyhawks with a 61-52 lead with 9:26 remaining.
Little Rock briefly took a one-point lead with 4:50 left to play but Crews came right back with UT Martin’s next four points. The Skyhawk defense took over from there as the Trojans only converted one field goal over the final 3:29.
UT Martin heads to defending OVC regular season champion Morehead State for its next outing, taking on the Eagles on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 6:30 CT.