THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 79, SIUE 68
Eastern Illinois 81, @Southern Indiana 71
Tennessee State 65, @Lindenwood 55
Little Rock 63, @Western Illinois 60
@Southeast Missouri 88, Tennessee Tech 69
MOREHEAD STATE 79, SIUE 68
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Riley Minix collected 30 points and Drew Thelwell scored his most markers against a conference opponent (17) this season to help lead the Morehead State men's basketball team over the SIUE Cougars 79-68 at home Thursday.
The Eagles (19-5, 10-1 OVC) had three players score in double figures, led by Minix, who put together his OVC high 11th double-double with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Thelwell tacked on his 17 points and seven assists, and Kalil Thomas helped out with 15 points.
The Morehead State offense was impressive from beyond the arc, making 13 threes on 27 attempts. Minix hit four treys for the Eagles in the contest, while the Eagle defense forced the Cougars to hit only 3-of-21 from deep.
The Eagles' win marked their 17th consecutive home victory, tying for third in the nation. It also marked the Eagles' sixth straight win and 11th win in the last 12 games.
Thelwell was part of his 87th win since 2020-21, tying Terrence Hill for the most individual wins in program history.
Demarco Minor had 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Ray'Sean Taylor led the Cougars in scoring with 22.
After jumping out to a 23-19 advantage, Morehead State went on a 6-0 run with 4:56 left in the first half to increase its lead to 29-19. The Eagles then added one point to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 37-26 advantage. Morehead State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down eight shots to account for 24 of its 37 points.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by Minix's three, to grow the lead to 54-45 with 12:55 to go in the contest. SIUE trimmed the margin back to six (54-48) with 11:15 left, but that's as close as it got. The Eagles kept expanding the margin, leading by double digits for the 9:14, and coasted the rest of the way for the 79-68 win.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 81, SOUTHERN INDIANA 71
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Tiger Booker sank a big 25-foot 3-pointer with 50 seconds left and Eastern Illinois sank six free throws in the final 30 seconds as the Panthers picked up a road win, 81-71, on Thursday night at Southern Indiana.
Booker finished with 29 points with 23 coming in the second and many of them in the crucial final minutes as EIU improved to 11-13 overall, 5-6 in the OVC. USI fell to 6-18, 3-8 in the OVC.
EIU led 31-27 at the half only to see USI move out to a 50-42 lead with 11:42 to play following a pair of 3-pointers by Jack Campion. Campion led the Screaming Eagles with 20 points.
The Panthers responded with an 11-2 run to get back in the contest as the teams were tried 59-59 with 3:55 left in the contest.
EIU would take some control in the final minutes as they led 66-61 with 2:36 to play following a pair of jumpers by Booker and a three-point play by the senior guard.
Kyndall Davis was big throughout the game for EIU posting his first collegiate double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Sincere Malone had ten points off the bench joining Jermaine Hamlin who added eight points off the bench for EIU. The Panthers finished the night 27-of-35 at the line including make their final six attempts.
EIU held USI’s top scorer Jeremiah Hernandez to just six points. AJ Smith posted his tenth double-double this season with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Jack Mielke added 10.
TENNESSEE STATE 65, LINDENWOOD 55
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Tennessee State men's basketball team got a 36-point performance from the bench on the way to a 65-55 victory over the Lindenwood Lions on the road Thursday.
The Tigers (14-10, 7-4) had three players score in double figures, led by Ej Bellinger, who had 13 points and six rebounds. Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. tacked on 12 points from the bench and Kinyon Hodges chipped in as well with 10 points, nine rebounds and two steals.
Led by Michael Shanks' two offensive rebounds, Tennessee State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 11 boards that resulted in seven second-chance points.
Tennessee State did a great job disrupting Lindenwood shots in the contest, coming away with five blocks. Jason Jitoboh's four rejections led the way individually for the Tigers.
Tennessee State started off strong, putting together a 28-27 lead heading into halftime. Tennessee State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down five shots to account for 15 of its 28 points. Fitzgerald Jr. knocked down three first-half threes.
The Tigers coasted to the win from there, increasing their margin of victory by outscoring the Lions 37-28 in the second half. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 20 of its 37 points in the lane.
LITTLE ROCK 63, WESTERN ILLINOIS 60
MACOMB, Ill. - The Little Rock Men's Basketball team came back from a 12-point deficit in the beginning of the second half to defeat second place Western Illinois 63-60 on the road. The Trojans currently sit in third place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
KK Robinson led all scorers with 23 points, scoring 19 in the second half. Robinson went 10-of-16 from the field and knocked down two three-pointers to record his fifth 20+ scoring game of the season.
Jamir Chaplin recorded 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and Bradley Douglas each knocked down seven points.
Western Illinois opened the first half with two points, before Crocker-Johnson answered back with a jumper.
The Trojans took their first lead of the half at the 15:09 mark on a jump shot by DeAntoni Gordon. With 11:59 remaining, the Leathernecks regained the advantage 11-8 on a three-pointer.
Both teams exchanged points, before Western Illinois went on an 11-1 run at the 8:03 mark while holding the Trojans scoreless for over three minutes.
In the remaining 2:46, Little Rock scored six points, including four by Robinson, but the Leathernecks held the advantage including knocking down a three-pointer to end the half with a 33-23 advantage.
After both teams scored to open the second half, a three-pointer by Robinson sparked a 9-0 run including four points off of steals to cut the Western Illinois lead too 35-34.
Little Rock tied up the score twice on three-pointer by Jefferson and a jumper by Robinson, before the Leathernecks answered back with five-straight points for the 44-39 lead.
With 11:46 remaining, Crocker-Johnson scored five consecutive points including a layup and one to tie the score at 44.
The next three possession yielded three-pointers for each team with WIU scoring two and the Trojan's coming from Douglas. Western Illinois went on a 8-3 run with 9:26 remaining to extend their lead to 58-50.
After a steal by Chaplin, a layup and one by Robinson sparked a 11-0 run to regain the 61-58 lead for the Trojans.
Western Illinois missed two free throws at the 1:14 mark giving the Trojans the possession. Chaplin scored on a put back to advance the lead to 63-58.
With 34.6 second left in the game, the Leathernecks scored on a dunk to cut the lead to 63-60. The Trojans held on to win 63-60.
Western Illinois opened the first half with two points, before Crocker-Johnson answered back with a jumper.
The Trojans took their first lead of the half at the 15:09 mark on a jump shot by Gordon. With 11:59 remaining, the Leathernecks regained the advantage 11-8 on a three-pointer.
Both teams exchanged points, before Western Illinois went on an 11-1 run at the 8:03 mark while holding the Trojans scoreless for over three minutes.
In the remaining 2:46, Little Rock scored six points, including four by Robinson, but the Leathernecks held the advantage including knocking down a three-pointer to end the half with a 33-23 advantage.
After both teams scored to open the second half, a three-pointer by Robinson sparked a 9-0 run including four points off of steals to cut the Western Illinois lead too 35-34.
Little Rock tied up the score twice on three-pointer by Jefferson and a jumper by Robinson, before the Leathernecks answered back with five-straight points for the 44-39 lead.
With 11:46 remaining, Crocker-Johnson scored five consecutive points including a layup and one to tie the score at 44.
The next three possession yielded three-pointers for each team with WIU scoring two and the Trojan's coming from Douglas. Western Illinois went on a 8-3 run with 9:26 remaining to extend their lead to 58-50.
After a steal by Chaplin, a layup and one by Robinson sparked a 11-0 run to regain the 61-58 lead for the Trojans.
Western Illinois missed two free throws at the 1:14 mark giving the Trojans the possession. Chaplin scored on a put back to advance the lead to 63-58.
With 34.6 second left in the game, the Leathernecks scored on a dunk to cut the lead to 63-60. The Trojans held on to win 63-60.
TENNESSEE TECH 88, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 69
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Evan Eursher and Rob Martin each scored 16 points to lead five players in double figures as Southeast Missouri (8-16, 3-8) cruised to an 88-69 win over Tennessee Tech (7-17, 2-9) Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
SEMO shot a scorching season-high 59.3 percent from the field en route to its largest win in Ohio Valley Conference play this season. The Redhawks also snapped a four-game losing streak and handed TTU its seventh loss in its last eight trips to Cape Girardeau.
The Redhawks seized momentum from the start behind a 58.8 percent shooting effort in the first half alone.
SEMO stormed out to a 12-2 lead in the first 4:07 of play. The Redhawks scored the first six points before Eursher and Braxton Stacker buried a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to get SEMO its first double-digit lead.
With under two minutes to play, freshman BJ Ward nailed a 3-pointer to push the Redhawks lead to 20 at 44-24.
SEMO put an exclamation on their impressive first half when Adam Larson drove the baseline for an uncontested two-handed jam and Eursher followed with a long 3-pointer from just inside the mid-court line at the buzzer to get SEMO a comfortable 49-28 advantage at the intermission.
Stacker and Eursher both reached double figures in the game's first 20 minutes with 11 and 10 points, respectively. SEMO also knocked down five 3-pointers and scored 30 of its points in the paint.
SEMO picked up right where it left off scoring 10-straight points to take a 31-point lead.
Martin scored six points and Josh Earley added four while scoring on a hook shot to put the Redhawks up, 59-28, with 16:26 to go.
Martin dialed up a 3-pointer to give SEMO its biggest lead of the night at 79-47 with 8:50 on the clock before the Redhawks put their eighth home win on ice.
The Redhawks made 37-of-62 field goals and shot at a season-high 53.3 percent clip (8-of-15) from 3-point range. SEMO outrebounded TTU, 30-22, as well.
Eursher's career-high 16 points came on 6-of-8 field goals and a near-perfect 4-of-5 from downtown.
Martin shot 6-of-13 and made two threes of his own.
Earley followed with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Ward contributed 13 points and Stacker chipped in 11.
TTU fell to its sixth-straight loss and is presently on the longest losing streak of any OVC team.