TUESDAY'S SCORE
Southeast Missouri 57, @Little Rock 45
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 57, LITTLE ROCK 45
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Rob Martin scored a game-high 17 points and Southeast Missouri (16-10, 11-4) made eight-straight free throws in the final 1:42 to finish off a 57-45 win over Little Rock (16-10, 10-5) Tuesday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
SEMO moved into sole possession of first in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with its sixth-straight victory. The Redhawks are on their longest winning streak in 20 years since the 2004-05 team won seven in a row (all OVC games) from Jan. 22-Feb. 12, 2005.
Jonathan Lawson, who made the game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds when these teams met in Cape Girardeau earlier this season, hit a jumper to cut SEMO's lead to 39-38 with 7:34 remaining in the contest.
That was as close as the Trojans would get from that point on as the Redhawks outscored LR, 19-6, the rest of the way.
Troy Cole, Jr. stuck a 3-pointer from the left corner right after Lawson made it a one-point contest.
Cole, Jr. later got a steal, was fouled and made two free throws to widen the Redhawks margin to 44-38 with just over five minutes left.
SEMO kept it a two-possession contest when Martin made a jumper just ahead of the game's final media timeout.
Cole, Jr. came up big again when he knocked down his second 3-pointer to extend the Redhawks lead to 49-42 with 2:20 on the clock.
Once Lawson coutered with a second-chance 3-pointer, SEMO went to the free throw line on its next two possessions.
Brendan Terry sunk two free throws and Martin added two more after a steal to push SEMO's lead to 53-45 at the 1:15 mark.
On LR's ensuing trip down the floor, Terry blocked Isaiah Lewis' shot. Stacker grabbed the rebound, was fouled and added two free throws of his own to push the Redhawks lead to double figures at 55-45.
More free throws followed with Martin hitting the last two to seal the victory for good.
SEMO once again dug deep to grind out yet another win, its seventh on the road this year.
The first half began with the Redhawks using a quick 9-0 run to take an 11-4 lead.
Teddy Washington, Jr. made a 3-pointer to put the Redhawks ahead for the first time, Terry followed with a dunk and BJ Ward made a jumper to send SEMO to its seven-point advantage with 13:17 remaining.
Defensively, SEMO swarmed LR into committing seven turnovers in an eight-minute stretch and kept the Trojans scoreless for over seven minutes.
While their defense was creating lots of havoc, the Redhawks offense had a hard time getting shots to fall following their early surge.
After Ward's jumper, SEMO missed 13-straight field goals and did not make a 3-pointer on nine consecutive attempts.
That resulted in a scoring drought that lasted over eight minutes until Martin buried two free throws to give the Redhawks a 13-12 edge with just under four minutes left to play.
Martin scored again, this time on a driving layup to regain another one-point lead for SEMO at 17-16. His layup was the Redhawks first field goal in over nine-and-a-half minutes.
Terry buried a mid-range jumper and Stacker drained a 3-pointer in the final 2:13 to give the Redhawks a 22-16 halftime lead.
LR's 16 points were the fewest by any opponent in the first half against SEMO this season. It was the first time the Redhawks held an OVC opponent under 20 points in the first half since Jan. 24, 2016 vs. UT Martin (15 points).
SEMO never trailed in the second half and led for the final 23:54 of the game.
Martin, who posted his 11th-consecutive double-digit performance, made 5-of-16 field goals to go along with a perfect 6-of-6 free throws. Eleven of Martin's points came in the second half.
Terry had 14 points, six rebounds, two blocks, four steals and made a flawless 6-of-6 free throws.
Meanwhile, Cole, Jr. finished with 10 points, including eight in the second half.
As a team, SEMO did not miss a free throw going 16-of-16 with 14 of those makes in the final 20 minutes of play.
In all, the Redhawks forced 18 turnovers and outrebounded the Trojans, 35-31.
SEMO's 11 OVC wins are the most in a season under Head Coach Brad Korn.