THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 78, Lindenwood 74 (OT)
Little Rock 57, @UT Martin 56
@Tennessee Tech 68, Southern Indiana 64
Southeast Missouri 67, @Tennessee State 65
@SIUE 77, Western Illinois 66
EASTERN ILLINOIS 78, LINDENWOOD 74 (OT)
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Obadiah Curtis hit the game tying shot with 2.6 seconds left in regulation and then scored six of Eastern Illinois points in the overtime session as the Panthers picked up their first OVC win of the year with a 78-74 win over Lindenwood.
EIU led by as many as 16 points in the second half before Lindenwood chipped away at the lead. The Panthers built a 35-27 at the half behind 20 first half points by Zion Fruster. Fruster led all scorers in the game with 29 points including four in overtime.
Kooper Jacobi hit a 3-pointer with 13:44 left to extend the Panthers lead to 48-32.
The Lions cut the deficit to single digits on the last of three straight free throws by Anias Futrell with 8:48 to play trimming the EIU lead to 50-41. Futrell was 10-of-12 at the line scoring 18 points off the bench.
Jalen Bouknight sank a 3-pointer with 1:23 to play in regulation to given Lindenwood its first lead since the five minute mark of the first half. A Futrell 3-pointer with 40 seconds left gave the Lions a three point lead at 63-60.
Artese Stapleton made two free throws on EIU’s next possession and after Lindenwood made just one of two free throws on its next possession, Curtis hit an off-balance shot from the left side of the basket to knot the game at 64-64 in regulation.
In the extra session EIU built a seven point lead on a basket by Rodolfo Bolis and then held on with several Curtis free throws in the final 30 seconds. Curtis finished with 11 points.
Jacobi had a double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds while Stapleton added 12 points.
Markeith Browning II led Lindenwood with 21 points with Jadis Jones the third Lion in double figures with ten.
EIU improved to 5-8 overall, 1-1 in the OVC. Lindenwood fell to 6-8 overall, 1-2 in the OVC.
LITTLE ROCK 57, UT MARTIN 56
MARTIN, Tenn. - Johnathan Lawson's floater on the right side of the lane with two seconds remaining gave the Little Rock men's basketball team a 57-56 win at the University of Tennessee at Martin Thursday night.
Little Rock hadn't held a lead in the game since 18:12 mark of the first half when they led 2-0, and only led for 12 seconds of the game. The Trojans also trailed by as many as 12 in the second half.
Little Rock (8-5, 2-0) held the Skyhawks (5-9, 1-2) to 29% shooting from the field and without a field goal for the final 13 minutes of the game. UT Martin was 1 of 14 from the three-point line in the second half. They also only made 15 of 23 (65.2%) free throws.
Lawson scored eight of his 14 points in the final 1:37. He also totaled six rebounds. Tuongthach Gatkek grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and scored 9 points, dished out 4 assists and nabbed 4 steals. Travonne Jackson scored 12 points off the bench.
Little Rock trailed 32-22 at halftime and fell behind 41-29 at the 15:40 mark of the second half.
The Trojans put together an 8-1 run to get back in the game. Gatkek hit a turnaround jumper to cap the spurt and cut the lead to 44-41 with 7:18 left.
Little Rock kept the pressure on UT Martin for the next few minutes and shaved the lead to two with Isaiah Lewis' layup with 5:23 remaining. Moments later, Jackson hit a three-pointer to make it a 48-47 game with 4:32 remaining.
However, UT Martin seemed to take control of the game over the next few minutes outscoring the Trojans 6-0, all on six free throws.
The Skyhawks led 54-47 with 1:50 to play when the Trojans began an improbable comeback. Jackson made two free throws with 1:49 to go to cut the advantage to five, and then Lawson hit a three-pointer to make it a 54-52 game with 1:37 remaining.
UTM's Tarance Guinyard made two free throws to push the lead to 56-52 at the 1:01 mark, but Lawson drilled another triple with 44 seconds left.
UTM drained the clock and Little Rock forced Guinyard to take a tough jumper that he missed with 18 seconds left. Gatkek cleared the rebound, and Little Rock set up a half-court play for Lawson.
He drove the right side of the lane and hit a floater over a Skyhawks defender.
Josue Grullon led UT Martin with 20 points, but the Trojans held Guinyard, the Skyhawks' leading scorer (16.7 ppg) to seven points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field.
TENNESSEE TECH 68, SOUTHERN INDIANA 64
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A complete team effort helped the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team fend off a pesky Southern Indiana squad in the Hooper Eblen Center Thursday evening, as the Golden Eagles edged the Screaming Eagles, 68-64.
The purple and gold led for much of the night, boasting an advantage for over 33 minutes in the tilt. Tech (7-7, 2-1) pushed out to as much as a 13-point lead in the opening half and held a steady advantage for the majority of the second half, eventually fending off a last-minute comeback bid by the visitors.
For the second straight game, Tech led the battle on the glass with a 47-42 advantage in the rebound department. The Golden Eagles knocked down nine more triples as well, making it all 14 games on the season with the team sinking at least eight 3-pointers.
Six different Golden Eagles scored at least eight points in the tilt, led by an impressive individual effort from junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe. The Memphis native delivered a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, rejecting a game-high three shots for good measure. He also chipped in two steals and a pair of assists.
Matching the scoring effort of Egbuniwe, senior guard Matthew Sells turned in a season-high 14 points with three assists, sinking 4-of-8 attempts from downtown. Junior forward Ola Ajiboye just missed a double-double of his own, ending the evening 5-for-5 from the floor with 10 points, nine boards, four dimes, and three steals.
Junior guard Jaylon Johnson mixed in nine points and five rebounds to the effort while Sparta native Grant Slatten chipped in nine points on 4-for-5 shooting. Junior guard Ray Glasgow added eight points and three assists off the bench.
The Cookeville crew held off a late push by the Screaming Eagles and a couple of 20-point efforts in the contest. Stephen Olowoniyi led all scorers with 26 points to go with 13 rebounds for a double-double. Damoni Harrison notched 20 points for his squad.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 67, TENNESSEE STATE 65
NASHVILLE - Teddy Washington, Jr. scored 11 points, had a season-high seven steals and made a big free throw with seven seconds left to give Southeast Missouri (8-6, 3-0) a close 67-65 win over Tennessee State (4-10, 0-3) Thursday night at the Gentry Center.
SEMO extended its winning streak to five games and moved to 3-0 to start Ohio Valley Conference play for the first time since 2011-12. The five game-winning streak is the longest under Head Coach Brad Korn and SEMO's first since 2013-14.
In a back-and-forth physical contest that featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes, the Redhawks prevailed in their first conference road victory of the season.
SEMO outscored TSU, 18-12, at the free throw line and made six of those in the final 2:44 of the game to hold off the Tigers.
Braxton Stacker regained a 63-62 edge for the Redhawks and Brendan Terry later tied the game at 65-65 on his two free throws with 1:30 to go after SEMO was down two.
TSU had a chance to take the lead on its next possession, but Justus Johnson missed a jumper and BJ Ward was fouled with 24 seconds left. Ward made the second of his two free throws to give SEMO a 66-65 cushion.
Washington, Jr. then stole the ball from Brandon Weston and went to the free throw line with seven seconds to go. Washington, Jr. also split two free throws with his first making the score 67-65.
The Tigers had the ball one last time and SEMO held on when Carlous Williams air balled a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
SEMO seized momentum early building a 10-0 lead in the opening 2:35 of the contest.
Terry split two free throws and Elliot Lowndes threw down a two-handed jam. Washington, Jr. followed with a 3-pointer, Rob Martin made a jumper, and Lowndes added another basket to grab the double-digit advantage.
TSU answered with a 12-2 run when the Redhawks missed seven of eight shots and did not score for a span of four-and-a-half minutes. Aaron Nkrumah's 3-pointer made it a 12-12 game with 10:21 remaining in the first half.
After Josh Ogundele's jumper gave the Tigers their first lead at 17-15, SEMO answered with an 8-0 surge. Troy Cole, Jr. tied things up on a layup, Ward scored the next four points and David Idada scored a layup putting SEMO ahead, 23-17, with 6:39 left.
The Redhawks took a six-point (29-23) lead again on Braxton Stacker's dunk and held a
31-27 lead at the half.
TSU used a 14-4 run to regain the lead, this time at 41-35. The Tigers pulled ahead on Ronald Jessamy's layup and capped that stretch on Ogudele's free throw with 15:45 to go.
Terry immediately responded with a dunk to ignite a seven-point jaunt that put the Redhawks up one (42-41). Washington, Jr. buried a 3-pointer and Martin made a layup after Terry's slam.
Cole, Jr.'s 3-pointer narrowed TSU's lead to two and Marqueas Bell then tied the game at 51-51 after getting a steal and scoring on a fast break layup. Bell was fouled on the play and missed the ensuing free throw.
Terry's layup later gave the game its sixth tie and SEMO went ahead, 55-53, when Washington, Jr. sunk two free throws with 8:19 on the clock.
The see-saw battle continued and the Redhawks went back up by a point. Lowndes got free for a dunk and Stacker made two free throws to give SEMO a 63-62 edge with 2:44 left to play.
As a team, SEMO shot 18-of-27 at the free throw line. Washington, Jr. (3-of-4), Terry (3-of-4), Ward (5-of-6) and Stacker (4-of-4) combined for 15 of the makes.
Martin, Terry and Cole, Jr. each added nine points apiece, while Lowndes chipped in eight.
Defensively, the Redhawks finished with 14 steals. SEMO also held the league's top scoring team to just 65 points. TSU entered the game averaging 80.2.
Ogundele led the Tigers with a game-high 17 points off the bench.
SIUE 77, WESTERN ILLINOIS 66
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Graduate guard Ray'Sean Taylor became SIUE's career leading scorer in Division I history Thursday as SIUE outlasted Western Illinois 77-66 in front of a season-high crowd of 1,989 Thursday at First Community Arena.
Taylor, who now has 1,558 career points, led the Cougars in scoring with 23 points and added four rebounds and two assists. It was the 28th time in his career that Ray'Sean Taylor has scored at least 20 in a game.
SIUE improved to 8-6 on the year and 1-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Western Illinois dropped to 7-7 and 1-2 in the OVC.
SIUE got off to a quick 9-0 run which was followed by a Western Illinois 7-0 run. A Brian Taylor three, a little less than halfway through the first half, made it 21-11 an additional three by Ray'Sean Taylor was part of a 10-0 run for the Cougars.
The Leathernecks were able to cut into the deficit late in the first half, but the Cougars led 42-30 at the break.
SIUE's biggest lead of the game came on a Ray'Sean Taylor layup which made it 51-32. The Leathernecks crawled back to cut the deficit to six on a three-pointer by Marko Maletic with 4:54 left.
The Cougars expanded their lead to 15 with 1:28 left to seal the conference home opener. SIUE never trailed in the game.
Brian Taylor finished with 19 points on 7-9 from the field and 5-6 from behind the three-point arc. The junior guard pulled down two rebounds to go along with three assists.
SIUE shot a season high in both field goal percentage (60 percent) and three-point percentage (62 percent).
The Cougars tallied 27 rebounds led by Ring Malith who finished with eight. SIUE finished with 14 assists and shot 9-14 from the free-throw line
Western Illinois was anchored by Marko Maletic who poured in a season high 28 points on 10-16 shooting from the field and 6-8 from three-point range.
The Leathernecks connected on 44 percent (24-55) of their shots from the field and 44 percent from behind the three-point arc.
Western Illinois grabbed 27 rebounds and assisted on 12 of its baskets.