SATURDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee State 58, @Western Illinois 57
Eastern Illinois 78, @Lindenwood 68
Morehead State 81, @Southern Indiana 70
@Southeast Missouri 52, SIUE 47
TENNESSEE STATE 58, WESTERN ILLINOIS 57
MACOMB, Ill. - Jason Jitoboh knocked down a buzzer-beating shot with just three seconds left in the game to lead the Tennessee State men's basketball team past the Western Illinois Leathernecks 58-57 on the road Saturday.
The Tigers (11-9, 4-3) had three players score in double figures, led by Kinyon Hodges, who had 13 points and two steals. Jitoboh added 12 points and Christian Brown chipped in as well with 11 points.
Tennessee State's defense held Western Illinois to only 38.2 percent shooting from the field. The Tigers also limited James Dent Jr. to 4-of-15 shooting in the game.
Tennessee State struggled out of the gate, falling behind 28-21 heading into halftime.
Tennessee State narrowed its deficit to 30-25 before going on a 7-0 run to seize a 32-30 lead with 16:26 to go in the contest. The Leathernecks narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Tigers still held on for the 58-57 win. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 22 of its 37 points in the lane.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 78, LINDENWOOD 68
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Eastern Illinois closed the game much the same way the Panthers opened it as they picked up a 78-68 win on Saturday at Lindenwood.
Nakyel Shelton opened the game with 11 straight points as EIU opened with an 11-0 run. The Panthers would hold a 43-39 lead at the half as both teams shot well in the opening half.
EIU shot 48 percent in the first half including 8-of-13 from 3-point range in that span. Lindenwood matched EIU from outside going 8-of-13 as well from outside and connecting at 55 percent from the field in the opening half.
Colin Ruffin tied the game for Lindenwood early in the second half and Jaylon McDaniel gave the Lions their first lead at 47-45 with 15:16 to play. Keith Haymon gave Lindenwood its biggest lead of the day with a 3-pointer with 9:46 left in the game putting Lindenwood up 57-54. Haymon scored 16 points off the bench, one of three Lions in double figures.
Corey Sawyer Jr tied the game on the next possession and the two teams went back-and-forth for the next five minutes.
Ruffin tied the game at 63-63 before Tiger Booker took over down the stretch for EIU. Booker scored 10 of the Panthers final 14 points. He hit four straight free throws to put EIU up 67-63. Booker had 16 points going 10-of-10 at the foul line.
Haymon closed the game to 67-66 with his fifth 3-pointer of the day with 4:38 remaining. EIU closed the game on an 11-2 run to improve to 9-10 overall, 3-3 in the OVC.
Shelton had 16 points and was joined in double figures for EIU by Kyndall Davis with 16 and Dan Luers with 11.
Lindenwood was led by Keenon Cole with 21 points as the Lions fell to 7-11 overall, 1-4 in the OVC.
MOREHEAD STATE 81, SOUTHERN INDIANA 70
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Riley Minix scored 26 points and three other Eagles reached double figures in the point column too to help lead the Morehead State men's basketball team past the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles 81-70 on the road Saturday.
The Eagles (15-5, 6-1 OVC) were led by Minix, who had 26 points, six rebounds and two steals. Minix now has seven 20-point games in his first Eagle season. Kalil Thomas tacked on 14 points and Eddie Ricks III chipped in as well with 11 points off the bench. Drew Thelwell scored in double digits (11) for the first time in the past 11 games.
Morehead State out-rebounded Southern Indiana 34-30 in Saturday's game, paced by Dieonte Miles' six boards. The Eagles also grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and scored 14 second-chance points.
Morehead State forced 16 Southern Indiana turnovers while committing 14 themselves in Saturday's game. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 14 points on the offensive end of the floor.
After jumping out to a 9-7 advantage, Morehead State went on an 8-0 run with 14:34 left in the first half to increase its lead to 17-7. The Eagles then added four points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 42-28 advantage. Morehead State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down six shots to account for 18 of its 42 points.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run, finished off by Ricks' layup, to grow the lead to 78-62 with 1:57 to go in the contest. The Screaming Eagles narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 81-70 win. Morehead State got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 10 of its 39 total points.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 52, SIUE 47
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Josh Earley scored 16 points and Southeast Missouri (7-12, 2-4) made six free throws in the final 21 seconds to upend SIU Edwardsville (11-9, 4-3), 52-47, Saturday at the Show Me Center.
SEMO overcame an eight-point deficit and buried six of its seven second-half free throws in the final seconds to pick up its seventh win of the season.
SEMO and SIUE played a tight first half that featured five ties and eight lead changes.
Both teams went scoreless for over four minutes until Earley and Damarco Minor traded baskets giving the game a 15-15 deadlock with 7:19 remaining.
Adam Larson later put SEMO ahead, 19-15, with under five minutes to go.
Then, after both SIUE (0-of-8) and SEMO (0-of-5) went a combined 0-of-13 from 3-point range, Shamar Wright hit the game's first shot from beyond the arc. Evan Eursher buried a three of his own on the Redhawks next possession giving SEMO a 22-18 advantage with 4:07 left.
Terrance Thompson's hookshot regained a 25-24 edge for SIUE and Minor followed with a stepback 3-pointer at the buzzer sending the Cougars into the intermission with a 28-24 cushion.
The Redhawks at one point missed nine-straight field goals and went over five minutes without scoring in the second half.
Rob Martin ended that lengthy stretch when he made a jumper, was fouled and added a free throw to cut SIUE's lead to 38-33 with 10:11 remaining.
Earley scored the next four points on second chance baskets to get SEMO within two (39-37) at the 8:22 mark.
Then, after SIUE missed nine field goals in a row, Shamar Wright pulled up for a jumper just ahead of a media timeout.
SEMO came up empty on 11 of 12 three-pointers before Eursher connected for the second time from distance making it a one-point game, 41-40, with just under six minutes on the clock.
After Martin fed Earley for a layup, Martin drove in for a basket to put the Redhawks up, 44-43, their first lead since the 1:12 mark of the opening stanza.
Martin came up big again on SEMO's ensuing possession, this time burying a jumper to increase the Redhawks margin to three.
Wright answered with a second-chance layup to trim SEMO's lead to one and the Redhawks turned the ball over on their next time down the floor.
Earley blocked Lamar Wright's layup and SEMO regained possession.
Braxton Stacker was fouled and made two free throws to grab the Redhawks a 48-45 lead with 22.4 seconds left.
Minor's game-tying 3-point attempt came off the rim and SEMO pulled down the rebound Stacker was then fouled again and sunk two more free throws.
Larson was the last Redhawk to get to the free throw line and made both of his attempts to polish off the victory.
Earley, who scored double figures for the fourth-straight game, shot 7-of-15 from the field and led SEMO with eight rebounds. Martin followed with 10 points and a game-high five assists.
Minor led all scorers with 21 points for SIUE.