SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 69, Eastern Illinois 57
UT Martin 62, @Western Illinois 59
Tennessee State 77, @Southeast Missouri 74
Tennessee Tech 62, @Lindenwood 53 (OT)
@Southern Indiana 84, SIUE 67
MOREHEAD STATE 69, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Senior point guard Drew Thelwell became the winningest individual player in Morehead State men's basketball history as the Eagles fought to a 69-57 victory over Eastern Illinois Saturday at Johnson Arena.
The Orlando, Fla., native had seven assists as he passed former Eagle Terrance Hill, who was a part of 87 wins from 2008-09 until 2011-12. Morehead State also secured its 20th victory of the season, marking the first time in program history MSU has put together four consecutive 20+ win campaigns.
Riley Minix secured his OVC-best 12th double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds. With the win, the Eagles hammered down their 18th consecutive home win.
In addition to Minix's impressive output, the Eagles (now 11-1 in the OVC) were led by Kalil Thomas, who had 14 points and seven rebounds. Zach Iyeyemi came off the bench to score a career high 12 points.
Morehead State grabbed 36 rebounds in Saturday's game compared to Eastern Illinois' 29, led by Minix's 10 boards.
Morehead State's defense held Eastern Illinois to only 39 percent shooting from the field, including just 14 percent from beyond the arc. The Eagles also limited Tiger Booker to 3-of-12 shooting and eight points in the game. The Panthers did not have much luck cleaning up their misses on the offensive glass either, as they finished with nine offensive rebounds and managed just six second chance points while Morehead State cleared 29 defensive rebounds.
Kyndall Davis notched a solid double-double for the Panthers with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
After jumping out to a 28-25 advantage, Morehead State went on a 5-0 run with 2:05 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Thelwell, to increase its lead to 33-25. The Eagles then maintained that lead and entered halftime with a 36-28 advantage. Morehead State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 24 of its 36 points close to the basket.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on an 8-0 run to grow the lead to 65-53 with 53 seconds to go in the contest. The Eagles held onto that lead for the rest of the game for the 69-57 win.
UT MARTIN 62, WESTERN ILLINOIS 59
MACOMB, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s hoops squad ended today’s contest on a 10-3 run to shock the Western Illinois Leathernecks in a tight 62-59 Ohio Valley Conference triumph.
In a contest where neither side led by more than six points at any point, the Skyhawks (15-10, 8-4 OVC) stayed the course and came through with clutch plays down the stretch. After trailing 56-52 with 4:58 left to play, Jordan Sears converted a tough old-fashioned three-point play to officially begin the comeback. A mid-range jumper from Koby Jeffries at the 3:35 mark gave UT Martin a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way. A pair of Sears free throws with eight seconds to go extended the Skyhawk advantage to three points and an off-balanced last-second Leatherneck heave was wide left.
Sears played the full 40 minutes, finishing with 16 points, eight assists (against zero turnovers) and five rebounds. Issa Muhammad generated his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds while Jacob Crews (12 points) rounded out UT Martin’s double-digit scorers. Jeffries also gave the Skyhawks a valuable 26 minutes off the bench as the junior from Memphis, Tenn. compiled five points, four rebounds, three assists and a game-high three steals.
Western Illinois (15-10, 8-4 OVC) was led by Jesiah West’s 19 points while JJ Kakalon and Quinlan Bennett finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Leathernecks were held to 25 percent shooting (3-of-12) from three-point land and made 53.3 percent (8-for-15) of their free throw attempts.
Muhammad opened the scoring on both sides with a tip-in at the 19:12 mark. That began a stretch of over 12 minutes where neither team would lead by more than two points.
Back-to-back buckets from Crews and a layup by David Kamwanga at the 4:03 mark put the Skyhawks back on top by a 20-19 margin. The Leathernecks briefly went back ahead by three points before a Muhammad dunk and a Sears layup on back-to-back possessions tilted the score back in favor of UT Martin at 24-23.
Western Illinois accounted for five straight points until a Jeffries floater in the lane whittled the Skyhawk deficit to 27-26 at the break.
Muhammad led UT Martin with six points and five rebounds while West (13 points) was responsible for nearly half of the Leatherneck points in the opening 20 minutes.
After Western Illinois began the second half with six of the first eight points, Desmond Williams splashed a three-pointer from the right wing to get the Skyhawks within two (33-31) with 17:21 remaining. However, the next two Leatherneck buckets were three-pointers as Western Illinois took a six-point advantage.
UT Martin soon went on a 10-2 surge over a stretch of 3:22, starting with a Crews triple from the left wing. A trailing three-pointer from Sears capped off the run and provided the Skyhawks with a 47-45 advantage at the 10:10 mark.
After UT Martin led by three, Western Illinois scored seven unanswered points to take its aforementioned four-point advantage with just under five minutes to play. The Skyhawks came right back with an 8-0 run of their own as part of their 10-2 surge that wrapped up the win.
TENNESSEE STATE 77, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Tennessee State men's basketball team shot 50 percent from beyond the arc on the way to a 77-74 win against the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks on the road Saturday.
The Tigers (15-10, 8-4) had three players score in double figures, led by Kinyon Hodges, who had 18 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Jason Jitoboh tacked on 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks and Justin Williams chipped in as well with 11 points.
Tennessee State out-rebounded Southeast Missouri State 34-25 in Saturday's game, paced by eight boards from Jaylen Jones.
After jumping out to a 4-3 advantage, Tennessee State went on a 6-0 run with 17:56 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Christian Brown, to increase its lead to 10-3. The Tigers then increased their lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 38-29 advantage. Tennessee State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 20 of its 38 points close to the basket, while Brown knocked down three threes.
The Tigers then held on for the victory in the second half. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 24 of its 39 points in the lane.
TENNESSEE TECH 62, LINDENWOOD 53 (OT)
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Grit, determination, and resolve were all on full display by the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles battled back from a double-digit deficit to defeat Lindenwood, 62-52, in overtime at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
Things looked bleak early on for the visitors from Cookeville, as the Lions (8-17, 2-10) erupted out of the gates for a 14-0 lead behind a 5-for-7 start from the floor. Tech (8-17, 3-9) struggled to get its footing during the opening five-minute stretch, shooting just 1-for-8 while looking for answers on both sides of the ball.
The Golden Eagles found what they were looking for on the defensive end, locking things down and finding ways to keep the damage to a minimum while the offense tried to light a spark. It took some time, but eventually, the purple and gold began to chip away.
Following the third media break of the opening stanza at the 7:48 mark, the Lions pushed back out front by 12, leading 23-11. Tech flipped the switch and completely broke apart the Lindenwood offense, holding it scoreless the rest of the half while delivering a 12-0 run to square things at 23-23.
The Cookeville crew limited Lindenwood to just 1-for-15 shooting down the stretch and 3-for-20 after its hot start, setting up a back-and-forth, all-out war in the second period. Tech quickly took its first lead of the contest out of the locker room, but was never able to pull away by more than five as the clock ticked down.
With the score knotted at 46-46 and just 25 seconds left on the clock, sophomore Josiah Davis junior drew a flagrant foul while attempting to corral an offensive rebound. The guard calmly sunk a pair of free throws to give Tech the edge and the ball.
Lindenwood fouled with the Golden Eagles only in the single bonus, and after a Tech miss, took its final timeout of the half to draw up a final play. Darius Beane ran it to perfection, dropping in a floater with just two seconds on the clock to tie the game and force overtime after a desperation heave from the other side fell short.
But when the purple and gold could have easily crumbled behind the disappointment in letting its late lead slip away, the squad responded in the complete opposite fashion. Plainly stated, the Golden Eagles pummeled the Lions in overtime, out-scoring the home team 14-5 behind clutch plays from a number of heroes.
Davis, who tied his career-high scoring output of 20 points for the second straight game, provided the bookends in the extra session, starting with a nifty layup to pave the way. He sunk one of two free throws to ice the game with 24 seconds to play.
Despite not scoring in regulation, senior guard Jayvis Harvey drilled arguably the biggest shot of the day, sinking a massive triple to push the Tech lead out to five midway through overtime. Junior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. scored six points in the five-minute swan song while sophomore guard Daniel Egbuniwe came away with a fast-break dunk for an exclamation point.
The Tech defense held the Lions to just 28.6 percent shooting in the tilt, including a 3-for-17 performance from distance. The Golden Eagles also beat Lindenwood on the glass, using a 43-41 edge to help snap the team's six-game skid.
To go along with his game-high 20 points, Davis also led the purple and gold with a career-high 13 rebounds for his second career double-double. The Kitchener, Ontario native ended the day 8-for-15 from the floor with a pair of assists.
Johnson flirted with his own double-double, settling for 17 points and eight boards behind 7-for-13 shooting. Egbuniwe added seven points, two rebounds, and a game-high four blocks to the mix while senior guard Diante Wood produced seven points, seven rebounds, and a team-high three assists.
Coming off a career-high-tying eight points at Southeast Missouri on Thursday, junior guard Bogdan Zimonjic played a huge factor in Tech staying in the contest in the first half. The Belgrade, Serbia native scored all seven of his points in the opening 20 minutes, leading Tech at the break.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 84, SIUE 67
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball blistered the nets in the second half and flew by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 84-67, on Homecoming Saturday in Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles rise to 7-18 overall and 4-8 in OVC play, while the Cougars are 13-12 overall, 6-6 OVC.
With the win, USI moves back into eighth in the league and the race to secure a spot in the OVC Tournament in March. The Eagles have a one game lead over Southeast Missouri State University, Tennessee Tech University, and Lindenwood University with six games to play in the 2023-24 season.
The top eight teams at the end of OVC play advance to the league tournament March 6-9 at the Ford Center in Evansville. USI has four games on the road before host the final weekend before the conference tournament.
The Eagles scored seven of the first nine points of the contest and had a 7-2 lead to start the game. SIUE would shrink the early USI lead as the Eagles and the Cougars traded baskets and mini offensive runs through most of the first half.
USI overcame a five-point deficit with 4:01 until halftime and took a 33-31 lead with a 9-2 run. Sophomore guard Jack Campion (Milton, Wisconsin) led USI through the dash with four of the nine points.
Eagles' sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) extended the run to 13-2 with a pair of free throws and a thunderous dunk to end the half, sending USI into the locker room with a 37-31 lead. Smith finished the opening half with 11 points and 10 rebound to record his 11th double-double of the season.
Smith continued the USI surge into the second half, hitting the first bucket to extend the run to 15-2 and a 39-31 advantage. The Eagles would increase the lead to as many as nine points three times in the first seven minutes of the final half.
USI would take a commanding lead at the 8:00 mark, 65-46, with a 12-1 run on a pair of three-pointers by junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois), a three from sophomore guard Ryan Hall (Kettering, Ohio) and an old fashioned three-point play by junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois). The lead would grow to a game-high 21, 81-59, with 1:55 to play on back-to-back three-pointers by Mielke and Hall and a free throw by junior guard Sam Mervis (Indianapolis, Indiana).
The Cougars cut the USI margin under 20 in the final minute before the Eagles sealed the 84-67 Homecoming victory.
In the game, USI was dominating offensively over the two halves. The Eagles posted a season-high 58.7 percent from the field (27-46), while shooting a blistering 66.7 percent from the outside (16-24) and beyond the arc (8-12) in the second half.
In the scoring column, Smith finished with a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds. The sophomore was a red-hot six-of-nine from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and three-of-four from the stripe.
Mielke and Hernandez followed with 15 points each, while Campion rounded out he double-figure scorers with 13 points. Mielke was a blistering five-of-six from downtown, including four-of-four in the second half.