SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 78, Tennessee State 68
Eastern Illinois 90, @Little Rock 88
@Western Illinois 68, Lindenwood 57
Tennessee Tech 73, @Southern Indiana 59
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Southeast Missouri 71, Bethel 61
MOREHEAD STATE 78, TENNESSEE STATE 68
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Already with a 30-point game to his credit, Morehead State's Jordan Lathon eclipsed that Saturday as he scored a career-high 31 points to help lead the Eagle men's basketball team over the Tennessee State Tigers 78-68 at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles (12-4, 3-0 OVC) had three players score in double figures, led by Lathon, who also had six rebounds and five steals. Lathon was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line. Kalil Thomas added 15 points, all in the first half, and two steals. Riley Minix shook off some foul trouble and still helped out with 12 points and three steals.
MSU has now won 14 straight home games and now won seven straight in the series with the Tigers (8-9, 1-3 OVC).
The Morehead State defense caused its share of mistakes in Saturday's game, forcing 16 Tennessee State turnovers while committing just seven. Those takeaways turned into 19 points on the other end of the floor.
TSU placed four in double digit scoring, led by Justin Williams with 14. The Tigers also out-rebounded MSU 37-32. MSU entered as the league leader in rebound margin.
After falling behind 2-0, Morehead State went on a 7-0 run with 19:15 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Minix, to take a 7-2 lead. The Eagles then added six points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 42-31 advantage. Morehead State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 22 of its 42 points close to the basket.
Morehead State only led 59=-58 with 6:29 remaining, but a 10-2 run pushed MSU into a comfortable margin to win. Drew Thelwell scored seven straight Eagle points as MSU went up 69-60 with 2:39 left in the game. TSU was able to trim its deficit back to four (72-68) with 40 ticks left, but Lathon hit all six of his free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 90, LITTLE ROCK 88
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Tiger Booker scored Eastern Illinois final six points at the free throw line as the Panthers rallied from several double-digit deficits on Saturday afternoon to beat Little Rock 90-88.
EIU trailed in the first half 43-31 following back-to-back 3-pointers by Bradley Douglas and a basket by KK Robinson. The Trojans held the lead at the half 48-41 in a game that both teams shot the ball well. Little Rock shot 60 percent in the first half, 55 percent for the game. EIU shot 53 percent in the second half and 52 percent for the game.
With 13:44 left in the game Little Rock again pushed its lead to double figures leading 64-53, with DeAntoni Gordon scoring.
The Panthers responded with an 11-0 run started by Tiger Booker with a jumper and Kyndall Davis finishing the run with back-to-back baskets. Davis scored 17 points, one of three Panthers in double figures. Davis basket with 10:49 tied the game at 64-64.
After another quick Little Rock run, EIU tied the game 74-74 with a Tiger Booker lay-up. Booker scored 17 points for the Panthers in the final 6:24 of the game finishing with a career high 31 points.
Nakyel Shelton gave the Panthers the lead at 78-77 with 2:55 remaining on a put-back basket, one of eight offensive rebounds grabbed in the game by EIU. Corey Sawyer Jr scored on the next possession pushing the Panthers lead to three and they never looked back.
Booker hit six free throws in the final 30 seconds Sawyer joined Booker and Davis in double figures with 19 points as EIU moved to 8-8 overall, 2-1 in the OVC.
Little Rock had four players in double figures led by Jamir Chaplin with 19 points. Douglas had 18 points off the bench hitting six 3-pointers. Robinson also had 18 points for the Trojans who are now 8-9 overall, 2-2 in the OVC.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 68, LINDENWOOD 57
MACOMB, Ill. - When it comes to owning the glass, there aren't many teams better at it than the Western Illinois men's basketball team.
The Leathernecks flexed their muscles again, outrebounding Lindenwood 50-23 to run their winning streak to seven games, topping the Lions 68-57 on Saturday.
Western Illinois came out slow but began pulling away midway through the first half, improving to 10-6 overall and 3-0 in conference play. The 3-0 start is the best conference start for the program since the 2012-13 season, the last time WIU won a conference regular season title. The seven-game win streak is also the longest since an 11-game stretch in 2012-13.
Playing their second game in a week, the Leathernecks did have a slow start against Lindenwood, which was playing for the first time this week.
The Lions took a 21-11 lead with 9:19 to go in the first half.
The Leathernecks punched back , closing the half on a 23-7 run to lead 34-28 at the half.
After the break, Western Illinois was in control, never trailing and leading by 15.
For the game, WIU went 26-62 (41.9 percent) from the floor, 6-17 from three (35.3) and 10-15 (66.7) from the line. Lindenwood went 24-53 (45.3), from the field, 2-8 (25.0) from three, and 7-14 (50.0) from the line.
Western Illinois' 24 offensive rebounds led to 17 second-chance points.
TENNESSEE TECH 73, SOUTHERN INDIANA 59
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Strong defense and a spectacular showing at the charity stripe lifted the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to its first Ohio Valley Conference victory of the season Saturday evening, as the Golden Eagles bested Southern Indiana, 73-59, at Screaming Eagles Arena in Evansville, Ind.
Tech (6-11, 1-3) finished the evening an impressive 27-of-32 from the free-throw line, taking advantage of the physical play of the night and keeping its distance from the Screaming Eagles (5-12, 2-2) down the stretch. It was a close battle for much of the first half, with the home squad leading the purple and gold 20-19 with just under five minutes to go.
The Golden Eagles responded with an 11-2 run to end the half, highlighted by a 3-pointer at the buzzer from senior guard Jayvis Harvey. The big shot provided the Cookeville crew a 30-22 advantage heading into the locker room, one they would protect for much of the second half.
Up nine a little over six minutes into the second stanza, USI mounted a comeback bid, using a 13-2 run to take its first lead of the second half at 49-47. The Screaming Eagle edge didn't last long, as junior guard David Early buried back-to-back triples to push Tech back on top for good.
An old-fashioned three-point play by senior guard Diante Wood pushed the Golden Eagle advantage to eight before yet another 3-pointer from Early all but ended Southern Indiana's hopes at salvaging a win. The third make from beyond the arc over a three-minute span gave the visitors a double-digit lead that would last until the final buzzer, thanks in large part to spectacular shooting at the stripe.
The purple and gold sunk 10 of its final 12 free-throw attempts over the closing two minutes, securing the team's first league win of the year.
Early led a relatively balanced Tech offensive attack, producing 18 points with four makes from downtown and a 4-for-5 showing from the line. Harvey chipped in 16 points with team-highs of six assists and four steals, all while finishing the evening 10-for-10 on free-throw tries.
Sophomore guard Josiah Davis was efficient with his chances, tallying a 6-for-8 showing from the floor on his way to 15 points. Wood tacked 11 points with three dimes and a 7-for-8 performance at the charity stripe.
Just missing out on double figures, junior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. turned in eight points, tied for the team lead with seven rebounds, and swatted away four USI shot attempts. Sophomore guard Daniel Egbuniwe also secured seven boards while scoring five points.
Screaming Eagle guard Jeremiah Hernandez led his squad with 18 points and four steals. Jack Campion added 12 points while AJ Smith contributed 12 points.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 71, BETHEL 61
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Josh Earley scored 14 points and Evan Eursher tied a career-high 13 to lead Southeast Missouri (6-10) to a 71-61 win over Bethel (Tenn.) (10-5) Saturday afternoon at the Show Me Center.
SEMO stepped out of conference play to host the Wildcats in its final non-league matchup of the season. With the win, the Redhawks finished off a 4-0 record against non-Division I teams this year and ran its winning streak to 37-straight against schools below the Division I level.
Both teams were hot out of the gate, each shooting over 54 percent from the field in the first half.
Down, 11-9, Bethel went on an 8-0 run to grab a six-point advantage less than seven minutes into the contest.
The Wildcats extended their lead to eight on two occasions before SEMO battled back to take a one-point edge at the intermission.
Earley's hookshot narrowed Bethel's margin to 25-22 and Rob Martin's pullup jumper later made it a two-point game at 30-28 with 3:57 to go.
In the last 2:38, SEMO finished strong by scoring six of the final eight points.
TJ Biel's layup off a turnover came after Adam Larson nailed a 3-pointer. A driving layup by Eursher off another Wildcats miscue trimmed Bethel's lead to one. Martin then drove in for a layup with three seconds on the clock to put the Redhawks ahead.
The Redhawks shot 54.8 percent hitting 17-of-31 field goals in the opening stanza. Bethel, meanwhile, shot 56.7 percent on 17-of-30 attempts.
Tied, 41-41, early in the second half, SEMO went on a 9-0 run and didn't relinquish its lead from that point on.
Eursher keyed the surge with seven of the points. His third jumper in that stretch gave the Redhawks a 50-41 advantage at the 13:49 mark.
SEMO continued to pick apart the Wildcats outscoring them 20-7 to build a 61-48 lead since the 16:46 mark. Braxton Stacker and Dylan Branson each made a layup to finish off an 8-0 jaunt and get the Redhawks their first double-digit lead.
Bethel put together a 7-0 run to make it a two-possession game (61-55) with just over five minutes remaining. That, however, was as close as the Wildcats would get.
Earley shot 7-of-11 from the field and scored double figures in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Eursher, who also played well defensively, made 5-of-9 field goals and dished out four assists in 25 minutes off the bench.
Martin pitched in 12 points for the Redhawks, as well. Additionally, Biel just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
SEMO shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) for the game and scored 22 points off 15 Bethel turnovers.
Querrion Gadson turned in a double-double 18 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Wildcats.