THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Little Rock 80, Lindenwood 66
@Eastern Illinois 68, Tennessee Tech 59
@UT Martin 84, Southeast Missouri 58
Western Illinois 73, @Southern Indiana 68
LITTLE ROCK 80, LINDENWOOD 66
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Little Rock Men's Basketball team returned back to The Jack Stephens Center on Thursday and won their second-straight Ohio Valley Conference contest 80-66 against Lindenwood. Four Trojans scored in double-digits with Jamir Chaplin leading the team with 22 points.
Chaplin went 9-of-13 from the field, 2-of-2 from the arc, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line to record his sixth-straight double-digit scoring game and seventh 20-plus scoring game of the season. He also led the team in rebounds with seven.
DeAntoni Gordon contributed 17 points, his 12th double-digit scoring game of the year. Bradley Douglas and Makhel Mitchell both came off the bench to score a combined 27 points with Douglas knocking down 16, his 12th double-digit scoring game of the season, and Mitchell recorded a season-high 11 points.
A three-pointer by Chaplin sparked a 9-0 run for the Trojans to start the first half. Lindenwood scored their first points off a jumper at the 16:40 mark.
After a three-pointer by Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, the Lions scored four-straight points to bring the score to 12-6 in the Little Rock's favor.
A dunk by Mitchell from Douglas sparked 5-2 run, before a three-pointer by Lindenwood cut the Trojan lead to 17-11.
With 7:31 left in the half, a jumper by Gordon started a 13-2 run including nine points from Douglas for the 37-17 advantage.
Both teams exchanged points to end the half, with Chaplin and Mitchell each contributing layups, and the Lions scoring the last four points to bring the Trojan lead to 41-26.
Lindenwood opened the first half with a layup, before a jumper by Gordon put the first points in the half up on the board for Little Rock.
With 16:49 remaining, a steal from KK Robinson followed by a dunk and one by Gordon brought the Trojan lead to 50-32.
At the 14:34 mark, the Lions scored eight-straight points to cut the Little Rock lead to 56-40.
Over the next two minutes, Lindenwood outscored the Trojans 9-4 with all of their points coming from behind the arc to bring the score to 60-49 in Little Rock's favor.
After a three-pointer by Robinson with 6:24 left, the Lions scord six-straight points to cut into the Trojan lead 67-57.
Lindenwood knocked down the final five points of the game with Little Rock holding on to the 80-66 victory.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 68, TENNESSEE TECH 59
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Defense led to offense on Thursday night for Eastern Illinois as the Panthers converted 18 Tennessee Tech turnovers into 17 points as the Panthers moved back over .500 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 68-59 win at Groniger Arena.
The Panthers finished with a 17-2 points off turnovers margin as EIU had 12 steals helping lead to those 17 points. Tiger Booker, the OVC leader in steals per game, added three to his season tally to go along with a game-high 26 points. EIU helped its own cause by only committing six turnovers in the game.
Nakyel Shelton carried the offense in the first half scoring all 12 his points during the opening 20-minutes as EIU led 31-27 at the half.
Booker came alive in the second half scoring 24 of his 26 in the final 20-minutes including 8-of-10 from the foul line. EIU would go 12-of-18 from the line in the second half and finish at 16-of-24 for the game.
Rodolfo Bolis provided a lift off the bench for the Panthers pulling down 11 of the team’s 31 rebounds. TTU would win the overall battle on the glass by a 33-31 margin with Rodney Johnson Jr hauling in ten.
EIU extended its halftime lead out to double figures early in the second as Dan Luers jumper with 17:54 to play put the Panthers up 37-27.
TTU would cut the lead down to two on a Johnson lay-up with 15:16 to play and climbed to within one point with 8:18 remaining as Jayvis Harvey drained a 3-pointer to make it 54-53. Harvey finished with 11 points, one of four Golden Eagles in double figures.
EIU responded to the final TTU run with an 11-2 run, Bookers scoring eight of the Panthers points. Kyndall Davis was the final EIU player in double figures with 12 points as EIU improved to 10-10 on the year, 4-3 in the OVC.
Johnson had a double-double for TTU with 13 points to go with his 10 rebounds. Diante Wood had 12 and Daniel Egbuniwe ten points for the Golden Eagles as they fall to 7-13 overall, 2-5 in the OVC.
UT MARTIN 84, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 58
MARTIN, Tenn. - A trio of University of Tennessee at Martin players had big outings this evening as the Skyhawk men’s basketball team rolled to an 84-58 triumph over defending Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion Southeast Missouri.
UT Martin won its sixth consecutive game against the visiting Redhawks in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center, using a stingy defensive effort to improve to 11-9 (4-3 OVC). The 58 points allowed were the fewest by any Skyhawk NCAA Division I opponent in 2023-24 as Southeast Missouri shot 36.9 percent (24-for-65) – including a 3-of-19 effort (15.8 percent – lowest by any NCAA Division I opponent this year) from the free throw line.
Jordan Sears led all scorers with 20 points – his 10th game with at least 20 points in 2023-24. Jacob Crews tossed in 19 points with seven rebounds while Issa Muhammad (14 points, game-high 11 rebounds) hauled in his fourth double-double of the season for UT Martin, who never trailed throughout the entire game.
Koby Jeffries added nine points and a game-high three assists as the Skyhawks held a 48-26 edge in points in the paint while outrebounding the Redhawks by a 44-31 margin.
Southeast Missouri (7-13, 2-5 OVC) received 14 points out of Josh Earley and 10 points from Rob Martin.
Desmond Williams got the Skyhawks cranked up early, scoring on a pair of driving layups to help UT Martin go on top by an 8-4 margin a little over three minutes into the contest.
The Skyhawk advantage hovered at a single possession for nearly seven minutes of clock time before UT Martin went on a 19-1 run to gain all momentum. Koby Jeffries poured in seven points while Sears manufactured back-to-back old-fashioned three-point plays during the Skyhawk spurt.
UT Martin’s defense did not concede a Redhawk made field goal for a 7:22 stretch, eventually extending its lead out to 41-16 after a Crews dunk with 3:28 to go in the opening half.
By the halftime break, the Skyhawks doubled up Southeast Missouri by a 44-22 margin. Sears’ 12 points were a game-high tally in the first 20 minutes while Adam Larson’s six points led the way for the Redhawks.
Southeast Missouri wouldn’t get any closer than 18 points in the second half. UT Martin’s duo of Crews (12) and Sears (seven) combined to score 19 out of 21 Skyhawk points during one stretch before Muhammad had back-to-back buckets to boost UT Martin’s lead out to 71-48 at the under-8-minute media timeout.
David Kamwanga converted a tough and-1 layup at the 4:11 mark as his free throw completed a three-point play that pushed the Skyhawks ahead by 25 points (75-50). A little over a minute later, Jalen Myers knocked down a pair of free throws to give UT Martin its biggest lead of the night at 80-52 with 2:57 remaining.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 73, SOUTHERN INDIANA 68
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Western Illinois men's basketball team proved it is ready for prime time, picking up a win in front of a nationally televised audience on Thursday, topping Southern Indiana 73-68 in Evansville, Indiana.
The win is the 10th in 11 games for the Leathernecks (13-7, 6-1), who move into a first-place tie in the Ohio Valley Conference with Morehead State. It is the 14th straight game Western Illinois has held an opponent to 71 or fewer points. Western Illinois visits Morehead State on Saturday afternoon in a showdown for first.
The Leathernecks had a slow start, falling behind 9-2 in the game's first 3:45, but Western Illinois clawed back into the game, grabbing a 37-35 lead at the break.
The Leathernecks came out firing in the second half, building an 11-point lead, 56-45 with 12:32 to go.
But foul trouble plagued Western Illinois, allowing Southern Indiana to get back into the game at the foul line. The Screaming Eagles shot 20 free throws in the second half, making 17.
The advantage at the line saw Southern Indiana cut the Leatherneck lead to two, 64-62 with 2:47 to go. The game remained a two-point game until the final 34 seconds when James Dent Jr. (14 points) took over, scoring the last five WIU points to turn a two-point lead into a five-point win.
Ryan Myers led the way for the Leathernecks, scoring a team-high 23 points on 8-15 shooting. Drew Cisse contributed 12 points and eight rebounds. Tay Knox provided a spark off the bench, adding seven points. Jesiah West and JJ Kalakon each finished with six points.
Western Illinois went 27-56 from the field (14-27 in the second half), 5-18 from three, and 14-22 from the line. Southern Indiana went 20-50 from the field, 6-17 from three, and 22-27 from the line.
Bench points were a huge factor as Knox and Dent Jr. outscored USI's reserves, 21-4. Points in the paint were also important, with WIU holding a 36-24 advantage.