SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 82, Lindenwood 65
Little Rock 77, @Tennessee Tech 71
@UT Martin 85, SIUE 82
@Southern Indiana 78, Western Illinois 66
@Tennessee State 84, Eastern Illinois 65
MOREHEAD STATE 82, LINDENWOOD 65
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State Men's Basketball shot 64 percent in the second half and had five players score in double figures - all in sequential order - as the Eagles used a big second half push to pull away and defeat Lindenwood 82-65 at Johnson Arena.
George Marshall (14 points), Dieonte Miles (13), Kenny White, Jr. (12), Jerone Morton (11), and Tyler Brelsford (10) all scored in double figures as the Eagles won their eighth game in the last nine. MSU also remained in first place in the OVC at 7-1 and improved to 12-7 overall. The Eagles are 4-0 all-time now versus the Lions' program. Lindenwood fell to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in the OVC.
MSU is still perfect at home (8-0) in 2024-25 and has won 22 of the last 23 games at Johnson Arena.
Leading just 40-38 at the half, the Eagles limited LU to only 31 percent shooting in the second half and never trailed by less than 10 in the final 10 minutes. MSU also had a solid day shooting from long distance, hitting 11 of 23, while holding the visitors to just 3-of-14. Marshall drilled four three-pointers.
On the rebounding forefront, the Eagles held the advantage too, 31-26. White led the production with eight boards. And Morehead State dished out 21 assists after having just two handouts Thursday against Western Illinois. Morton ended with seven assists to tie a career high, while White added five.
The Eagles' effort offset a monster day at the free throw line by the Lions as they got to the stripe 27 times and hit 24. Ranking second in the league in most free throws attempted, MSU only managed 13 tries today but hit 11.
Jadis Jones' 16 points, including 8-of-8 free throws, led all players and the Lions.
LITTLE ROCK 77, TENNESSEE TECH 71
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The final minutes of games have been interesting for Little Rock. A little too interesting for head coach Darrell Walker. The Trojans saw a late lead evaporate at Southeast Missouri State, but the Trojans (11-7, 5-2) held on for a last-second win.
On Saturday at Tennessee Tech, the Trojans protected the lead down the stretch and left the Eblen Center with a semi-comfortable 77-71 win.
The Trojans led by eight with 17 seconds left but after a three-pointer by Matthew Sells were forced to make free throws to secure the win. Jordan Jefferson hit a pair following Sells's three and after another Eagles' three-pointer by Daniel Egbuniwe, Johnathan Lawson hit a set to ice the game. The Trojans were 11-of-14 for the game from the line.
Ante Beljan led the Trojans with 22 points and seven rebounds. Mwani Wilkinson added 12 points and 10 boards. Lawson scored 12 points and dished out three assists. Tuongthach Gatkek chipped in 11 points and 4 assists. Jefferson hadn't played since a Nov. 27 win against Maryland-Eastern Shore after enduring a back injury. He also added 11 points and made all four of his free throws.
TTU led 35-34 at halftime, but a quick spurt that was capped off by an easy bucket in the paint, by Beljan the Trojans led 43-35 with 17:16 to play in the game. However, just a few minutes later, the Golden Eagles (9-10, 4-4) had taken a one-point lead.
The Trojans took it back on a Gatkek hoop at the 15:15 mark, and Little Rock never let go of the advantage the rest of the game. The lead swelled to 10 with just under seven minutes to play on a Wilkinson jumper.
The Trojans kept TTU at arm's length, and when the Golden Eagles cut the lead to six with 4:31 to play, Little Rock responded with a Gatkek hoop with 3:14 to play.
The lead jumped back to 10 on a Jefferson made jumper with 2:33 left. TTU made one final push and scored six straight points to cut the advantage to 69-65 on two Sells free throws.
However, Gatkek, who had missed the front end of a one-and-one earlier sank both free throws with 26 seconds left to move the lead to six.
The Trojans out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 38-28. Little Rock, who only committed 10 turnovers, shot 50.8% from the field and 50% (4-8) from the three-point line.
Kyle Layton scored 17 points to lead Tennessee Tech, who shot 41.2% from the field. TTU made eight three-pointers in the first half and made 7 in the second to finish 15-of-30 from beyond the arc.
UT MARTIN 85, SIUE 82
MARTIN, Tenn. - Yet another University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball decision came down to the wire today as the Skyhawks held on for an 85-82 victory over SIUE at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Today’s result was the 11th contest so far this season where UT Martin’s final score was within five points or went into overtime – including seven of the eight Ohio Valley Conference decisions. The Skyhawks clawed out of a 14-point first-half deficit to lead for the entire second half before crossing the finish line victorious.
Vladimer Salaridze topped UT Martin (9-10, 5-3 OVC) in scoring for the second straight game, tallying 16 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Josué Grullon added 14 points off the bench – including two big free throws with six seconds remaining – while Matija Žužic (12 points) and Tarence Guinyard (11 points, five rebounds, four assists) also cracked double figures in the scoring column.
The Skyhawks also received significant offensive contributions from the point guard duo of Carlos Cortijo and Afan Trnka, who both posted identical stat lines of nine points and a game-high five assists. Andrija Bukumirovic added eight points for a UT Martin squad that shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the floor – its highest output against a NCAA Division I opponent in 2024-25.
The Cougars (12-7, 5-3 OVC) were led by 23 points out of Ray’Sean Taylor as their five-game winning streak was snapped. He joined Brian Taylor II (19 points), Ring Malith (14) and Jordan Pickett (12) in double figures scoring but 14 SIUE turnovers led to 20 Skyhawk points.
The Cougars scored 16 of the first 21 points and eventually led by as many as 14 points (27-13) with 10:24 to go in the first half.
Bukumirovic then ignited a 19-3 run with back-to-back three-pointers from the left corner. Cortijo was then responsible for six points in a stretch of 1:13 – including a four-point play that tilted the score back in favor of the Skyhawks at 31-30 at the 6:14 mark.
SIUE briefly reclaimed the lead but Grullon scored five of UT Martin’s final seven points of the first half, including a buzzer-beating trifecta that gave the Skyhawks a 39-36 edge through 20 minutes. The trio of Guinyard, Cortijo and Bukumirovic each had team-highs of six points for UT Martin, who had seven players score at least four points in the opening half. Brian Taylor’s 10 points guided the Cougars in the first half.
Žužic connected on back-to-back three-pointers to begin the second half, leading to an 8-0 Skyhawk run. Grullon knocked down a triple with 12:45 left to play to extend UT Martin’s lead out to 59-45 – its biggest advantage of the day.
The Cougars pulled back within one possession (64-61) with eight minutes remaining and trimmed the Skyhawk lead to 73-72 with 3:30 to go. UT Martin stayed strong down the stretch, making all three of its field goal tries and adding six free throws over the last 2:37 to claim its fourth consecutive win over SIUE.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 78, WESTERN ILLINOIS 66
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana junior guard Damoni Harrison and graduate forward Jack Mielke led the Screaming Eagles to a 78-66 win over Western Illinois University Saturday at Liberty Arena. The Screaming Eagles are 8-10 overall and 3-5 in OVC action, while the Leathernecks are 8-11, 2-6 OVC.
USI owned the first 11 minutes of the contest, building a 23-9 lead by the 9:41 mark. The Eagles were a blistering five-of-eight from beyond the arc as Harrison led the way with six points on two of the three-point field goals.
WIU began to chip away at the USI advantage, closing the gap to one point, 33-32, before the Eagles closed out the half with back-to-back three-point bombs by Mielke for a 39-32 advantage. Mielke finished the half with a team-best 13 points.
In the second half, USI methodically pushed the margin to 11 points in the first six minutes, 53-42. The Eagles were seven-of-11 from the field during the run with sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi scoring six points.
The Leathernecks would rally to close the gap for a second time, pulling to within one point, 53-52, with 10:40 remaining on the clock.
USI, once again, methodically re-built the lead in the final 10 minutes, pulling out in front by eight, 68-60, with 3:07 to play before closing out the 78-66 final with the Eagles sinking six-straight free throws.
Harrison was on fire in the second half, scoring 18 of his season-high tying 26 points. The junior guard was 11-of-19 from the field, two-of-five from beyond the arc, and two-of-two from the stripe in the game.
Mielke followed Harrison in the scoring column with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. The graduate forward was four-of-seven from the field, including three from downtown, and six-of-six from the stripe. Mielke also grabbed 10 of his 11 rebounds on the defensive glass.
Junior guard Jayland Randall and Olowoniyi rounded out the double-digit USI scorers with 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
TENNESSEE STATE 84, EASTERN ILLINOIS 65
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men's basketball team got 20 points from Brandon Weston and led in most statistical categories to breeze by Eastern Illinois, 84-65, on Saturday afternoon at the Gentry Center.
got a 37-point performance from the bench on the way to an 84-65 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers at home Saturday.
The Tigers (7-12, 3-5) ot a 37-point performance from the bench and had four players score in double figures. Carlous Williams added 15 points off the bench and Antoine Lorick III helped out with 11 points and eight rebounds off of the bench.
Led by Ronald Jessamy's four offensive rebounds, Tennessee State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 11 boards that resulted in 18 second chance points.
Tennessee State forced 18 Eastern Illinois turnovers while committing 16 themselves in Saturday's game. The Tigers turned those takeaways into 21 points on the other end of the floor. Aaron Nkrumah led the way individually with three steals.
After falling behind 12-11, Tennessee State went on a 7-0 run with 14:06 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Antoine Lorick Iii, to take an 18-12 lead. The Tigers then added six points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 40-28 advantage. Tennessee State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 20 of its 40 points close to the basket.
Tennessee State kept its lead intact before going on a 7-0 run to grow the lead to 54-36 with 13:52 to go in the contest. The Tigers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 84-65 win. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 22 of its 44 points in the lane.