SATURDAY'S SCORES
Southern Indiana 64, @Eastern Illinois 60
Southeast Missouri 72, @Western Illinois 51
@SIUE 65, Morehead State 54
Little Rock 78, @Lindenwood 46
Tennessee Tech 89, @UT Martin 85 (OT)
SOUTHERN INDIANA 64, EASTERN ILLINOIS 60
CHARLESTON, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball held off a second half surge by Eastern Illinois University to post a 64-60 win Saturday afternoon in Charleston, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles are 9-11 overall and 4-6 in OVC action, while the Panthers go to 5-15, 1-8 OVC.
USI spotted EIU a 7-0 lead to start the game before the Eagles' sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi posted a basket to cut the deficit to 7-2. The Panthers would get their lead to eight points, 10-2, before the Eagles started to close the gap.
The Eagles' deficit shrank to three points, 12-9, on a bucket by junior guard Jayland Randall with 13:22 on the clock. USI continued its push to a 15-13 lead after a three-point bomb by junior guard Braxton Jones capped off a 13-3 run at 9:51. Jones finished the half with a team-high six points on a pair of three-pointers.
The USI lead would continue to grow to 14 points, 30-16, with a 15-1 run and a shutdown defense that held EIU without a bucket for over 10 minutes (13:02-2:48). The Eagles finished the opening half with an 11-point margin, 30-19.
The 19 points by EIU was the first time USI had held an opponent under 20 points in a half since January 14, 2012 when it held Rockhurst University to 17 points in the first half and 14 points in the second.
The second half started with USI having the hot hand, hitting five-of-six from the field and increasing the halftime margin to 16 points, 42-26. The margin would grow to 20-points, 46-26, on a modest 9-0 run that saw the USI defense hold EIU without a point for another 5:37 (17:21 to 11:44).
EIU would make a push with a 13-4 run midway through the final half, cutting the USI advantage to 11 points, 50-39, with 6:21 to play. The Eagles pushed the lead back to 13 points, 57-43, but the Panthers clawed their way back to within four points with seven seconds left before USI could close out the 64-60 win.
Olowoniyi led the Eagles in the scoring column with 13 points. The sophomore forward was six-of-10 from the field and one-of-two from the stripe. Junior guard Sam Kodi and Jones followed Olowoniyi with nine points each.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72, WESTERN ILLINOIS 51
MACOMB, Ill. - Brendan Terry scored a career-high 19 points and Rob Martin added 16 to lead Southeast Missouri (11-10, 6-4) to a commanding 72-51 win over Western Illinois (8-13, 2-8) Saturday afternoon at Western Hall.
SEMO outscored WIU, 45-28, in the second half en route to dealing the Leathernecks their sixth-straight loss. The Redhawks shot 56.7 percent from the field and made a perfect 8-of-8 free throws in the game's final 20 minutes.
Teddy Washington, Jr. knocked down a 3-pointer shortly after dishing off to Terry for a layup to extend SEMO's lead to 32-25 just 1:32 into the second half.
The Redhawks went ahead by seven again, this time when BJ Ward scored on a layup to make it a 34-27 game with 17:47 remaining.
TJ Biel later drained a 3-pointer and followed a missed Washington, Jr. three with a dunk to give SEMO a 42-31 advantage, its first double-digit lead of the game.
Biel's burst keyed a 10-0 run for the Redhawks that ended on a tip-in by David Idada with a little over 13 minutes left.
A 3-point play by Rodrick Payne cut SEMO's lead to 50-41 before Washington, Jr. answered with a three putting the Redhawks ahead by 12 again.
Martin scored back-to-back baskets and Terry made two free throws to spring SEMO to a 58-44 with just under five minutes to go.
An alleyoop dunk by Biel off a pass from Martin stretched the lead to 15 (64-49) and the Redhawks never looked back.
Both teams traded baskets in a first half that saw neither SEMO or WIU lead by more than five points.
Martin made a jumper to give the Redhawks their first lead at 12-11 with 12:14 remaining.
He then regained a 23-22 edge for SEMO with another bucket at the 2:40 mark.
After Trey Deveaux hit a free throw to tie the game 20 seconds later, Martin added a free throw, and Braxton Stacker nailed a 3-pointer to get the Redhawks a 27-23 edge at halftime.
Terry and Martin each made 7-of-12 field goals and combined for seven of SEMO's 10 free throws made in the contest. For Terry, it was his 10th double-digit scoring game in 13 starts.
SEMO, which leads the Ohio Valley Conference in turnover margin, forced 13 turnovers. The Redhawks turned the ball over just seven times.
Biel added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Additionally, the Redhawks shot 50 percent (28-of-56) from the field for the game.
SIUE 65, MOREHEAD STATE 54
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - On a day where shots weren't falling, SIUE overcame a seven-point deficit in the second half to score a 65-54 win over conference-leader Morehead State in front of 1,818 fans at First Community Arena.
SIUE has won seven of its last eight games and improved to 7-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference, moving to within a game of the top spot in the league. The Cougars are 14-7 overall. SIUE also improved to 9-1 at home, including 5-0 in OVC home games.
Morehead State saw a five-game winning steak come to an end and dropped to 8-2 in the OVC and 13-8 overall.
SIUE led for much of the first half, but a late run gave the Eagles a 33-30 edge at the break. George Marshall converted a traditional three-point play to push Morehead State's lead to 40-33 with 13:42 left.
Then, after the Cougars missed their first 10 three-point attempts of the game, Ring Malith ended the drought with a three-pointer to cut the lead back to 40-36 and spurred SIUE on a 7-0 run to tie the score (40-40).
Morehead State briefly regained the lead with a free throw at the 7:24 mark, before the Cougars went on another 7-0 run to lead for good. The run was capped off by a Ray'Sean Taylor three-pointer, which was the first made field goal of the game for Taylor.
Another Taylor three-pointer gave SIUE a 52-43 lead with 3:34 to play and four consecutive free throws from Brian Taylor II pushed the SIUE advantage to 13 (56-43) with 2:23 left.
Ray'Sean Taylor led all scorers with 22 points. He finished 4-for-14 shooting but converted 12-13 at the free throw line. It was the fifth consecutive game he has scored at least 20 points. Malith finished with 14 points and Brian Taylor scored 12.
SIUE was just 17-47 (36 percent) shooting overall and just 3-18 (17 percent) from three-point range but made up for it by going 28-39 (72 percent) at the free throw line.
The Eagles got 18 points each from Tyler Brelsford and George Marshall.
Morehead State went 17-51 (33 percent) overall and 4-17 (24 percent) from three. The Eagles were 16-23 (70 percent) at the free throw line.
The Cougars held Morehead State to just 21 points in the second half. The win marked the sixth time this year that SIUE has trailed at halftime and come back to win the game.
LITTLE ROCK 78, LINDENWOOD 46
ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) - Mwani Wilkinson had 19 points in Little Rock's 78-46 victory over Lindenwood on Saturday night.
Wilkinson had 13 rebounds and three blocks for the Trojans (13-7, 7-2 Ohio Valley Conference). Johnathan Lawson added 17 points while finishing 5 of 7 from 3-point range while they also had seven assists. Tuongthach Gatkek finished 6 of 11 from the floor to finish with 13 points, while adding 14 rebounds and five blocks.
Jordan Wildy finished with 10 points for the Lions (9-12, 4-6). Clayton Jackson added nine points for Lindenwood. Markeith Browning II also had eight points and five assists.
TENNESSEE TECH 89, UT MARTIN 85 (OT)
MARTIN, Tenn. - Grit and tenaciousness were the name of the game for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles capped a double-digit comeback on the road with an 89-85 triumph over in-state rival UT Martin in overtime at the Elam Center.
A trio of monster efforts on the scoreboard and brilliant offensive play in the second half and extra session led the purple and gold (10-11, 5-5) to a much-needed win in Ohio Valley Conference play, snapping a four-game skid. Three Golden Eagles finished with at least 20 points, helping overcome a tough opening stanza on the offensive side of the ball.
In Tech's first overtime contest of the season, it was tough going for both sides early on, with the Skyhawks (9-12, 5-5) leading with a 38.9 field-goal percentage at the half. The Golden Eagles were converting below a 30 percent rate for much of the opening stanza, watching more than four-and-half minutes leave the clock without a Tech field goal.
The Cookeville crew built some important momentum down the stretch of the first half, closing things out 4-for-5 from the floor after trailing by 10. At the break, the Golden Eagles had just five field goals inside the arc while UT Martin took a 34-28 lead into the locker room.
The intensity in Tech's play clearly picked up in the second half, with the Golden Eagles attacking the rim with a ferocity that led to 14 trips to the charity stripe and another 10 in overtime. Behind the brilliant second-half play of sophomore forward JaJuan Nicholls, Tech mounted its rally with a 9-0 run to square the contest with a little over 12 minutes to play in regulation.
The Scranton, Pa. native led the charge with physical rebounding, especially on the offensive glass, and a relentless attack around the rim. Junior guards Ray Glasgow and Jaylon Johnson were critical as well, making huge shots and clutch free throws to assist with the turnaround.
Up until the final media break at 3:53 on the clock, the Cookeville crew shot a red-hot 63.6 percent from the floor in the second half to take as much as a six-point lead. A short dry spell by the Golden Eagles, one that saw them finish the final three minutes without a field goal, gave the Skyhawks just enough room to tie the contest with 34 seconds to play.
UT Martin's defense forced a shot-clock violation on Tech's final possession, leaving 4.4 seconds for its own final try to end the game. The Skyhawks' Carlos Cortijo raced the length of the court to attempt a game-winning layup at the buzzer, but junior forward Ola Ajiboye was there for a timely rejection to force the overtime period.
In the extra session, things seemed to be rolling UT Martin's way, as the home squad got out to a quick four-point advantage. Never deterred, the Golden Eagles flipped the script with a 10-0 run, sparked by a clutch triple from the corner by sophomore guard Kyle Layton.
Tech finished 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in the overtime period, holding off the Skyhawks' last efforts at getting back to even and picking up the big win. In the second half, the Golden Eagles shot 56 percent from the floor and 12-for-14 at the charity stripe.
For the night, the purple and gold finished 24-for-29 from the line while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from downtown.
Leading the Golden Eagle effort with a career-high 23 points, Nicholls also hauled in seven boards while finishing with 10 field goals on 16 attempts. The youngster corralled four huge offensive rebounds as well.
Ending the evening a perfect 12-for-12 at the charity stripe, Johnson tallied 21 points with a trio of makes from deep and a team-high four assists. Glasgow joined the group of scorers with a season-high 21 points of his own, sinking 7-of-11 tries from the floor and 5-of-6 attempts at the charity stripe. The junior also tied for the team lead with eight rebounds.
Nicholls, Johnson, and Glasgow became the first Tech trio to each score at least 20 points in a contest since Jayvis Harvey (22), Rodney Johnson Jr. (21), and David Early (20) accomplished the feat in the team's overtime victory at Presbyterian on Nov. 22, 2023.
Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe flirted with a double-double behind 12 points and eight boards, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. Layton chipped in six huge points, with four in the overtime period alone. Ajiboye ended the evening with three swats and three boards.