THURSDAY'S SCORES
*Little Rock 69, Morehead State 68
*Eastern Illinois 75, Southeast Missouri 57
*SIUE 91, Lindenwood 63
*UT Martin 77, Southern Indiana 68
*Western Illinois 62,Tennessee Tech 55
LITTLE ROCK 69, MOREHEAD STATE 68
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Little Rock Men's Basketball team used a last second layup by Bradley Douglas as well as a blocked shot by Makhel Mitchell to secure a 69-68 victory over conference leader Morehead State Thursday at The Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans had three players in double-figures as Little Rock remains tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
KK Robinson was the top Trojan scorer knocking down 21 points going 6-of-18 from the field, 3-of-7 from the arc, and 6-fo-6 from the free throw line. Robinson also led the team in rebounds with seven and assits with three. Mitchell scored 12 points, brought down a team-high seven rebounds, and led the team in blocks with three. Jordan Jefferson scored 11 points in the win.
Morehead State (20-6, 11-2 OVC) was led by Riley Minix who led all scorers with 29 points and all rebounders with 15 boards.
The Trojans (15-11, 9-4) opened the first half on a 7-0 run with five points from Robinson and a steal and dunk from DeAntoni Gordon.
At the 16:51 mark, Morehead State went on a 7-2 run including back-to-back jumpers to bring the Little Rock lead to 9-7.
A dunk by Mitchell sparked an 8-0 run by the Trojans to gain a 17-7 lead with 12:04 remaining in the half. Over the next five minutes, Little Rock held the Eagles to five points while scoring seven-straight for the 25-12 advantage.
Both teams exchanged points, before Morehead State held the Trojans scoreless over the last 3:18 while scoring 11, including a last second three-pointer, to cut the Little Rock lead to 31-28 at the half.
Morehead State opened the second half with four-straight points, before Jefferson scored the Trojans first points on a jumper.
The lead changed hands three times, before the Eagles scored nine-straight for the 45-40 advantage with 11:34 on the clock.
Little Rock regained the lead at the 9:05 mark with six-straight points, before the Eagles answered back with five-straight for the 50-46 lead.
The Eagles extended the lead to five, before Robinson knocked down a three-pointer. After both teams knocked down baskets a three-pointer by Robinson with 3:44 remaining tied the score at 62.
Both teams exchanged points and leads, before a layup by Douglas with 24.2 left to go gave Little Rock the 69-68 advantage. A key block by Mitchell followed by a couple of defensive stops gave the Trojans the victory.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 75, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 57
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois shot 50 percent from the field with Kyndall Davis scoring a career-high 26 points as the Panthers picked up a 75-57 win over Southeast Missouri on Thursday night at Groniger Arena.
EIU had balanced scoring all night as they had three players finish in double figures improving to 12-14 overall, 6-7 in the OVC. SEMO fell to 8-18 overall, 3-10 in the OVC.
After trailing for the first two and half minutes of the contest, EIU went on a 9-0 run and the Panthers never trailed again after Corey Sawyer Jr's 3-pointer with 17:13 to play in the first.
Davis pushed the Panthers lead out to double figures with 12:03 to play. A basket and free throw by Josh Earley cut the lead back to single digits with 8:43 remaining in the first, but Sincere Malone answered with a lay-up to push the lead back to double figures and the Redhawks never got closer than 10 points the remainder of the game.
Davis just missed his third straight double-double pulling down nine rebounds to go with his 26 points. EIU owned the glass with a 43-30 rebounding margin.
The Panthers also forced 14 Redhawks turnovers leading to 16 points off turnovers.
EIU led 35-20 at the half and pushed the lead to as high as 24 points in the final four minutes on a three point play by Davis.
Sawyer scored 15 points and Tiger Booker rounded out the EIU double figure scorers with 11.
Marqueas Bell led SEMO with 17 points while Earley had 15 points and eight rebounds.
SIUE 91, LINDENWOOD 63
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE men's basketball used a powerful offensive attack on its way to a 91-63 victory over Lindenwood Thursday at First Community Arena.
SIUE put a stop to its three-game losing skid and improved to 14-12 overall and 7-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Cougars handed Lindenwood its fourth consecutive loss as the Lions fell to 8-18 overall and 2-11 in the OVC.
Lamar Wright led the Cougars with his second double-double of the season tallying a game high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Wright tied his career high with four made three-pointers on six attempts.
SIUE got off to a 10-point lead (15-5) on a Lamar Wright dunk 5:00 minutes into the game. A three-pointer by Lindenwood's Jeremiah Talton cut the SIUE lead to three (19-16) at the 10:48 mark in the first half.
The Cougars answered with a 15-0 run courtesy of four three-pointers by Lamar Wright mixed in with a Ray'Sean Taylor three-pointer. SIUE took a 46-31 lead into the halftime.
SIUE's second half lead would be trimmed to 11 but the Cougars' offense couldn't be stopped. SIUE saw its biggest lead of the game come from a three pointer by Dorion Staples which grew the lead to 31 with 2:04 left.
The Cougars managed to shoot 15-31 (49 percent) from the field in the second half and 4-12 (33 percent) from behind the three-point arc.
Junior guard Demarco Minor scored 15 points while dishing out a game high seven assists while not recording a turnover. Minor went 5-11 from the field and added two from the free-throw line.
Shamar Wright delivered 15 points which moved him into third in career scoring at SIUE with 1,469 points while Ray'Sean Taylor's nine points moved him into 7th on the career list at 1,194 points.
SIUE finished 31-64 (48 percent) for the game and 10-25 (40 percent) from three. The Cougars took advantage of the free throw line going 19-26 (73 percent)
Lindenwood was led by Keenon Cole who collected his fifth double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Lindenwood shot 18-55 (33 percent) from the field and connected on 5-20 (25 percent) three pointers. The Lions went 22-31 (71 percent) from the free-throw line.
SIUE finished with 15 assists compared to Lindenwood's 6.
The Cougars finished with 22 fast break points.
UT MARTIN 77, SOUTHERN INDIANA 68
MARTIN, Tenn. - Led by outstanding performances by University of Tennessee at Martin stars Jacob Crews, Issa Muhammad and Jordan Sears, the Skyhawk men's basketball squad posted their sixth win in the last seven tries with a 77-68 victory over Southern Indiana tonight.
Crews pumped in 28 of his game-high 32 points in the second half, also sinking all six of his three-pointers (in just eight attempts) over the final 20 minutes. Muhammad put together another monster performance with 14 points, a career-best 20 rebounds and three blocks to become the first UT Martin player since Quintin Dove (against SIUE on Feb. 27, 2020) to haul in at least 20 boards. Meanwhile, Sears flirted with a triple-double (19 points, career-best eight rebounds, game-high seven assists) and joined elite company this evening as the junior guard and two-time All-American Lester Hudson are the only players in school history to reach at least 500 points and 100 assists in a single season.
UT Martin improved to 16-10 with a 9-4 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play after winning the rebounding battle by a 51-37 margin. The Skyhawks overcame a 29-28 halftime deficit and at one point led by as many as 16 points in the second half in their first outing inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center in nearly three weeks.
Jeremiah Hernandez scored 25 points to lead the Screaming Eagles (7-19, 4-9 OVC) while AJ Smith and Ryan Hall tossed in 17 and 11 points, respectively. Southern Indiana was held to 37.5 percent (27-for-72) shooting and made just six of its 29 tries from three-point land (20.7 percent).
The Screaming Eagles scored seven of the first nine points of the ballgame but the Skyhawks responded with 13 unanswered points, capped off by a Koby Jeffries driving layup that gave UT Martin a 15-7 advantage at the 11:46 mark.
A Muhammad mid-range jumpshot with 7:31 left to play in the first half kept the Skyhawks on top by seven points but Southern Indiana went on a 10-0 run to lead for the remainder of the opening half. Sears scored UT Martin's final six points of the half – including a trey with 22 seconds to go which trimmed the Skyhawk deficit to one at the intermission.
Sears' eight points topped UT Martin at the break while Hernandez contributed 14 points for the Screaming Eagles.
After Sears (three-pointer) and Muhammad (pullup jumper) helped the Skyhawks even the score at all 33-all, Crews had the scorching hot hand. The junior from Hilliard, Fla. was responsible for 18 of the next 24 points over a stretch of 6:34. His final bucket during that surge – a trifecta with 8:48 left to play – ballooned the UT Martin lead out to 57-45.
Muhammad followed with four consecutive Skyhawk points as UT Martin extended its lead all the way out to 14 points (63-49) with 6:25 remaining.
Southern Indiana went on a 7-0 run over the next 70 seconds to get within seven points but the Skyhawks responded with nine straight points of their own. A driving layup by Sears at the 1:47 mark gave UT Martin its biggest advantage of the night (72-56) to help the Skyhawks move to 9-2 at home in 2023-24.
WESTERN ILLINIOS 62, TENNESSEE TECH 55
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - In conference play, it is never easy, especially on the road. But when the going gets tough, get the ball to your tough guy. That's what Western Illinois did Thursday night, winning 62-55 at Tennessee Tech.
The victory sees WIU improve to 16-10 overall and 9-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference, remaining in a tie for second place.
The Leathernecks led most of the way, but the Golden Eagles did not fade, hanging around and eventually taking their first lead, 50-49 with 5:12 to play. But on WIU's next possession, James Dent Jr. hit a three-pointer to put the Leathernecks ahead for good.
From there, WIU relied on their tough guy, Jesiah West (19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks, three steals) to bring home the win.
West delivered the goods, scoring six of Western Illinois' final 10 points, adding an assist, a steal, and a couple of rebounds in the final minutes to keep Western Illinois in second place in the OVC.
The win also improves WIU to 7-1 on the road in league play and gives the team nine road victories, the most since the 1996-97 season, and nine conference wins, the most since 2012-13.
Ryan Myers added 11 points. Dent Jr. scored eight and Quinlan Bennett chipped in with seven. Drew Cisse added six points, eight rebounds, and four assists. JJ Kalakon scored five points, grabbed six rebounds, handed out four assists, and blocked two shots.
Western Illinois heads to Nashville to take on Tennessee State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
The Leathernecks opened the game on the right foot, jumping to a 7-0 lead. But Tennessee Tech did not allow Western Illinois to run away with the game, staying within shouting distance to trail 27-21 at halftime. Western Illinois led by as many as seven in the second half, 33-26 before TTU went to work, tying the game at 38-38 with 12:28 left. The Leathernecks responded with a quick 5-0 run. The Golden Eagles responded with a 12-6 run to take their only lead.
The win snapped a brief two-game losing skid for the Leathernecks, their longest in league play.
As a team, Western Illinois went 26-55 from the floor (47 percent), 5-8 (63 percent) from the line and 5-21 (24 percent) from three. The Leathernecks outrebounded Tennessee Tech 36-27.