FRIDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 71, @Cleveland State 69
@Eastern Illinois 72, Northern Illinois 59
@Vanderbilt 87,
Tennessee Tech 56
North Florida 78,
@SIUE 73
MOREHEAD STATE 71, CLEVELAND STATE 69
CLEVELAND - The Morehead State men's basketball team got out to an early lead and then had to hang on against a furious Cleveland State comeback to take a 71-69 victory over the Vikings in the Cleveland State Throwback Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
Morehead State (3-4) had four players in double figures, led by Jalen Breazeale with a season-high 14. Kenny White, Jr., and Tyler Brelsford had 12 points each. Anouar Mellouk set a season high with 11 points and led the Eagles with five rebounds.
After starting down 4-2, Morehead State went on a 12-4 run capped by Trent Scott's free throw at the12:56 mark.
Cleveland State (4-5) responded with a seven-point run of their own to cut the lead to 16-13.
At that point, Morehead State went on a long run, outscoring the Vikings 24-10 capped by Brelsford's two free throws with 3:24 left in half to make it 40-23. That 17-point margin was the largest lead of the game for MSU. The Eagles went into the intermission up 47-32.
In the first half, the Eagles went 16-22 (73%) from the field, including 7-10 from three-point range. MSU also hit eight of their 10 free throw attempts in the opening half.
Cleveland State got to within nine early in the second half, but MSU maintained a double-digit lead until a couple of CSU free throws made it 61-52 with 9:30 to play. A White, Jr., jumper at the 9:11 mark made it 63-52. Those were the last points the Eagles would score from the floor for the rest of the game.
The Eagles would only attempt two more shots from the floor for the rest of the game. In that time MSU would commit seven turnovers as Cleveland State chipped away at the margin. The Vikings took the lead 69-67 on two Tevin Smith free throws with 49 seconds to go.
On their next possession, White, Jr., driving from the right wing, fired a cross-court pass to Kade Ruegsegger in the left corner. His three-point attempt did not go down, but he was fouled on the shot. His three free throws to make it 70-68 proved to be the clincher for Morehead State. Ruegsegger finished the game with nine points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 72, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 59
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois shot 58 percent in the second half to extend a seven point halftime lead into a 13 point win as the Panthers closed out play in the DePaul MTE Classic on Friday afternoon with a 72-59 win over Northern Illinois at Groniger Arena.
EIU improved to 2-5 on the season while NIU dropped to 2-6 on the season.
Kooper Jacobi and Nakyel Shelton carried the Panthers offense for the second straight game as Jacobi scored 19 points with Shelton pouring in a game-high 26.
Jacobi also led a big rebounding day for the Panthers finishing with 16 rebounds for his second double-double this season. EIU finished the game with a 45-29 rebounding edge leading to a 19-0 margin in second chance points.
The teams went back-and-forth for much of the first half with NIU building a four point lead at 18-14 with 7:14 left to play in the first following a 3-pointer by James Dent Jr. Dent led NIU with 20 points just missing a double-double with nine rebounds.
EIU closed the first half with a 7-2 run to lead 31-24 at the break. Jacobi had ten of his 19 points at the half along with eight of his 16 rebounds.
Shelton scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half including a big night at the free throw line where he finished 11-of-14. Shelton's bucket with 18:06 to play in the second half gave the Panthers their first double digit lead of the game.
The Panthers would keep the margin near double figures for the remainder of the game. NIU closed to within six points on a 3-pointer by Dent with 15:48 to play.
EIU countered with baskets by Jacobi and Lazar Grbovic and the Huskies never threatened again in the game.
EIU's defense held NIU to 29 percent shooting in the game with 11 of their 16 made shots from 3-point range. Quentin Jones added 11 for NIU.
EIU did its damage inside with a 42-10 points in the paint margin and at the foul line going 17-of-22. Zion Fruster was the third Panther in double figures with 11 points.
VANDERBILT 87, TENNESSEE TECH 56
NASHVILLE - Sluggish offense and turnovers proved too costly for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to overcome in Nashville Friday afternoon, as Vanderbilt downed the Golden Eagles, 87-56, in Memorial Gymnasium.
The purple and gold (4-4) struggled to create opportunities in the paint throughout the day, a testament to a strong defensive performance by the Commodores (7-1). Tech made just 12 field goals from inside the 3-point arc, using five makes from distance in the opening half to stay in the fight.
Vanderbilt pulled away in the second half, answering Tech's two quick buckets to open the stanza with a 17-2 run. The Dores moved out by 20 with the run, but the Golden Eagles mounted one last rally.
Junior big man David Craig checked into the ball game and sparked the cold offense with a couple of buckets and an assist out to Ray Glasgow for a timely triple, cutting the Vandy lead by 25 percent.
The Commodores hit their stride down the stretch, driving their 3-point percentage up to 35.5 for the game with an 11-for-31 showing. Vanderbilt also forced Tech into 15 turnovers in the contest and earned a 48-35 advantage on the glass.
Senior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. led the Golden Eagles with 11 points on the day, finishing 5-for-9 from the floor in 23 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Kyle Layton contributed nine points with a pair of treys and a 3-for-3 showing at the charity stripe.
Junior guard Jaylon Johnson added nine points and a team-high three steals to the mix, tacking on five rebounds. Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe chipped in seven points, five boards, two dimes, three steals, and three blocks in just 21 minutes of play.
Glasgow provided seven points and three rebounds off the bench while Craig finished the day with a team-high six rebounds and six points. Junior guard Grant Slatten tallied five points off the bench as well.
NORTH FLORIDA 78, SIUE 73
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Four SIUE players scored in double figures, led by Desmond Polk's career-high 19 points, but it came in a losing effort as North Florida outlasted SIUE 78-73 Friday night at First Community Arena.
SIUE dipped to 5-4 with the loss. UNF improved to 5-2.
The teams traded blows in the first half, with both enjoying a 10-0 run in the period. It was 17-16 SIUE after Josh Harris hit a three for the Ospreys, before the Cougars ripped off the next 10 points. It was part of an overall 16-2 run by SIUE.
A Darrion Baker three pointer gave SIUE a 30-19 advantage at 8:33. The Cougars matched the lead after two free throws by Ray'Sean Taylor made it 34-23 at which point, UNF went on its own 10-0 run.
SIUE relinquished its lead after two free throws from Kamrin Oriol made it 42-41 North Florida with 15 second left before half.
Polk knocked down a corner three at the halftime buzzer to put SIUE up 44-42.
UNF took the lead back just a minute into the second half, but the advantage changed hands four times in the first five minutes of the second half.
Oriol sank another three-pointer with 12:47 to play to break a 54-all tie and the Ospreys never trailed in the game again. UNF pushed its lead to as many as nine (73-64) with 1:43 to play and the Cougars trimmed it back to five on several occasions.
Polk led the SIUE charge, shooting 8-15 from the field. Ring Malith and Brian Taylor II each scored 13 points. Malith added eight rebounds while Taylor added a career-high nine assists. Baker added 11 points including a pair of three-pointers.
SIUE connected on just 39 percent (28-72) of its shots after shooting 46 percent (17-37) in the first half. The Cougars were 7-23 from three-point range and 10-16 at the foul line.
UNF buried 14 of 37 (26 percent) and shot 42 percent (27-65) overall. Five players scored in double figures led by Josh Harris' 20 points. He was 9-11 from the field. He added nine rebounds. Jasai Miles scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
SIUE outrebounded North Florida 48-44 and the Cougars finished with 20 assists and just 12 turnovers.