WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee Tech 90, Presbyterian 75
@#6 Tennessee 78,
UT Martin 35
NJIT 78,
Morehead State 69 (Cleveland, Ohio)
UIW 86,
Western Illinois 75
@Missouri 81,
Lindenwood 61
@Little Rock 78, UMES 59
TENNESSEE TECH 90, PRESBYTERIAN 75
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - An elite offensive showing and solid rebounding lifted the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to a huge home victory in the Hooper Eblen Center Wednesday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles blitzed past visiting Presbyterian in a 90-75 affair.
The purple and gold (4-3) fired away from distance at a red-hot clip of 46.7 percent, sinking 14-of-30 attempts. For the game, the Tech offense shot 50 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Blue Hose (5-4) 39-26.
It was a seesaw battle for the opening 10 minutes of the contest, with both sides trading the lead five times with a trio of ties. The Golden Eagles caught fire over the second half of the opening stanza, closing things out on an 11-0 run over the final 2:26.
The star of the day, junior guard Jaylon Johnson, put an exclamation point on the half, corralling an offensive board and launching a try to beat the buzzer and give Tech a 45-29 lead heading into the locker room.
The Cookeville crew pushed its advantage all the way out to 26 with under seven minutes to play, using the distance to pick up a massive, 15-point win over a Presbyterian team that had just won the Axe'Em Classic last week with three straight wins.
Johnson led the way for the purple and gold flirting with a triple-double and settling for a good, old-fashioned double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He mixed in a game-high eight assists while sinking five of his eight tries from distance.
Sophomore guard Kyle Layton matched his teammate's efforts from beyond the arc, also draining 5-of-8 attempts from downtown on his way to 15 points, five assists, and two steals. Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe turned in 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block.
Senior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. was particularly efficient on the day, connecting on seven of his eight field goal attempts. The big man scored 14 points with three dimes and two boards in just 21 minutes of action. Senior guard Mekhi Cameron chipped in 13 points and four rebounds as well.
In 19 minutes off the bench, junior forward Ola Ajiboye ended the day 3-for-4 with six points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
#6 TENNESSEE 78, UT MARTIN 35
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team received 15 points out of Josué Grullon this afternoon but No. 6 Tennessee was too much for the Skyhawks, posting a 78-35 win in front of 17,314 fans at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Today’s performance was the sixth time in seven games that Grullon has scored at least 15 points to begin his UT Martin career. The junior guard from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic was the only Skyhawk in double figures scoring as he was followed by Stefano Faloppa (seven points) and Matija Žužic (six points). Vladimer Salaridze was responsible for a team-best four assists and a game-high three steals for UT Martin (2-5).
Three Volunteers registered double-digit scoring days, led by Chaz Lanier’s 18 points. Felix Okpara had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds with four blocks while Zakai Zeigler narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine assists. Igor Milicic, Jr. added a game-high 13 rebounds as Tennessee improved to 7-0.
A Žužic trifecta at the 18:01 mark got UT Martin on the scoreboard and also evened the score at 3-all. Grullon scored the Skyhawks’ next five points to shave UT Martin’s deficit to 12-8 at the 14:34 mark before the Volunteers pushed their advantage out to double figures with 9:49 remaining before the halftime break.
Grullon and Faloppa hit back-to-back three-pointers to help the Skyhawks stay within 10 points (30-20) with two minutes remaining in the opening half. Tennessee then scored the final five points of the half to take a 35-20 halftime advantage. Grullon (10 points) and Lanier (11) led their respective squads in scoring as UT Martin held the Volunteers to 27.3 percent (6-for-22) from three-point range in the initial 20 minutes.
Tennessee scored the first nine points of the second half before Žužic canned a trey with 15:36 remaining. Carlos Cortijo (floater in the paint) and Grullon (three-pointer) followed with buckets on back-to-back Skyhawk possessions but the Volunteers scored 21 of the next 24 points over the next seven-plus minutes.
Grullon snapped UT Martin’s field goal drought with a jumper in the paint at the 4:02 mark while Filip Radakovic followed with a pair of free throws. However, Tennessee concluded the contest with 11 unanswered points in the final 3:15.
NJIT 78, MOREHEAD STATE 69
CLEVELAND, Ohio - A career scoring day by Kenny White Jr., couldn't overcome a cold finish for Morehead State, as the Eagles fell to NJIT 78-69 in Woodling Gymnasium in Cleveland, Ohio at the Cleveland State Thanksgiving Throwback Tournament.
White Jr., ended with a career-high 34 points, shooting 13-21 from the floor, including one of two from three-point range. He went 7-13 from the free throw line. The senior also led the Eagles with seven rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes.
Senior Kade Ruegsegger finished with a season-high 11 points, for Morehead State (2-4) all in the second half.
White Jr., carried the Eagles in the first half with 19 points on 6-10 shooting from the floor, including 1-2 from three-point range. He also hit six of seven from the free throw line. The Eagles had two scoring droughts in the half totaling 6:57 of game action. NJIT outscored MSU 15-0 during those two dry spells. For the half, MSU hit 37% from the floor, while NJIT shot for 38%. MSU led at the intermission 32-31.
Both teams revved up the offense in the second half. The teams traded leads, and NJIT went up 61-56 after a 7-0 run with 7:06 to play. The Eagles regained the lead 64-63 with a George Marshall three-pointer at the 4:49 mark.
However, another dry spell hit. Morehead State went four minutes without scoring, with Ruegsegger breaking the ice with a three-pointer with 49 seconds to go to trim the deficit 74-67.
NJIT (1-7) was led by Tariq Francis with 23 points and Sebastian Robinson with 21. Tim Moore, Jr., added 16 for the Highlanders.
UIW 86, WESTERN ILLINOIS 75
MOBILE, Ala. - Western Illinois Men's Basketball fell in the final game of the Jaguar Classic in a matchup against Incarnate Word by a score of 86-75. The Leathernecks showcased some strong moments but struggled to keep pace with UIW's offensive efficiency, particularly in the second half.
The first half was competitive, with WIU keeping the game within reach, trailing 35-32 at the break. Marko Maletic, Ryan Myers, and Kayden Carter all had eight points each in the first half to lead the way offensively. However, the second half saw UIW surge ahead, outscoring Western Illinois 51-43. The Leathernecks struggled defensively, allowing 44 points in the paint and 22 points off turnovers, which proved costly.
Maletic led the Leathernecks with a game-high 23 points, showcasing his shooting range by hitting three three-pointers and converting 10 of 11 free-throw attempts. Carter added 13 points and was a presence in the paint, contributing seven rebounds, while Julius Rollins chipped in with 11 points. Bench contributions were notable, accounting for 30 points coming from Maletic and Trey Deveaux who finished with six points and Kiyron Powell who added a free throw.
Defensively, Western Illinois managed to grab 30 rebounds, with Carter and Tay Knox combining for key boards. Knox also contributed defensively with three blocks, but the team's 17 turnovers and foul trouble, including Sean Smith fouling out, hindered their overall effectiveness.
Despite the loss, the Leathernecks displayed resilience and flashes of potential, particularly in their ability to draw fouls and convert at the free-throw line (24-of-28).
MISSOURI 81, LINDENWOOD 61
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Lindenwood men's basketball (2-5, 0-0 OVC) falls to SEC opponent Missouri (6-1, 0-0 SEC) by a final score of 81-61. The Lions were held to 35.6% shooting from the floor after going 12-31 during the first half (38.7 FG%). Missouri shot 53.8% in the second half to close out the victory.
"It means something for our guys that are from in-state to come and get a chance to play at the University of Missouri," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman. "I liked the way we competed and the way we played tonight. I was pleased with how we played over 40 minutes."
Markeith Browning II scored a season-high 21 points after shooting 7-16 from the floor while going a perfect 6-6 from the foul line. Browning was active all over the floor grabbing five rebounds and adding a team-high four steals. Lindenwood created 13 total turnovers while causing Mizzou to turn the ball over 20 times (season-high for Mizzou).
Freshman Jadis Jones scored 14 points in the loss marking the sixth time this season he has scored in double-figures. Jones shot 6-9 from the field while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. He has posted at least five rebounds in six games this season. The Lions were out-rebounded 46-25 on Wednesday including 15 offensive rebounds by the Tigers.
Anias Futrell shot 2-10 from the floor against the Tigers scoring eight points while adding two steals. The St. Louis native went 4-7 from the foul line as the Lions as a team shot 76.2% from the charity stripe. Missouri went 22-29 at the foul line. MU was led by Tony Perkins with 18 points while Marques Warrick added 17.
Lindenwood started the game hot shooting 7-15 from the floor including six early points from Browning and five from Jordan Wildy off the bench. Lindenwood trailed by two points (17-19) with 10:40 left in the first half. With 5:10 left to play in the half, Browning created a steal off the in-bound and scored a layup to cut the lead to 23-25.
Missouri capitalized on their rebounding at the end of the first half going on a 12-2 run to head into the locker room leading 37-27. Browning scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes of the ball game while Jones added six at the half. Missouri out-rebounded the Lions 25-14 in the first half while Lindenwood scored 13 points off turnovers and 20 in the paint.
After Missouri started off the second half strong go up by as many as 15 points, Jones cut the lead to 11 with 13:21 remaining after a layup in the paint. The Tigers went on a 14-5 run over the next five minutes to jump out to a 20 point lead with 8:40 left to play.
The Tigers lead would grow to as many as 24 points in the second half as Lindenwood could not crawl back into the game. Nathan Johnson Jr. ended the night with a three-point jumper with 20 second remaining as the Lions fell 61-81 in Columbia.
Lindenwood was held to 31.1% from the field in the second half shooting 9-28 from the floor. The Lions went 3-20 from long-range on Tuesday, but shot 14-15 from the foul line in the second half. LU's 16 made free-throws are the second most by the team this season.
LITTLE ROCK 78, UMES 59
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It's always good to be home. Especially, when you haven't been there for almost a month. The Little Rock men's basketball team took a 78-59 win over Maryland Eastern Shore Wednesday night at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans hadn't played a home game since a season-opening win against Arkansas Baptist Nov. 4.
Little Rock's Jonathan Lawson led all scorers with 16 points. He also added five assists. Tuongthack Gatkek, Mwani Wilkinson and Isaiah Lewis each added 13 points. Jordan Jefferson chipped in 11 and Ante Beljan 8.
Evan Johnson led the Hawks with 15 points.
The Trojans continue a six-game homestand with Central Arkansas on Wednesday, Dec 4.
Little Rock (4-4) led UMES by nine at halftime after a slow start, but the game didn't stay close long in the second half. Lawson capped an 8-0 with a bucket to put Little Rock up 48-33 with just under 17 minutes left.
Lewis' jumper with 14:45 to play in the game gave the Trojans a 53-36 advantage. Little Rock scored four more unanswered points to push the lead to 57-36 on Caleb Pennyfeather's shot inside with 13:04 remaining.
The Trojans led by as many as 22, and UMES (2-8) never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Little Rock shot 49.2% from the field, including 33.3% (8-of-24) from the three-point line.