THURSDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 80, @Morehead State 62
Eastern Illinois 63, @Southern Indiana 54
Lindenwood 93, @Little Rock 92 (OT)
@Southeast Missouri 87, Western Illinois 66
@Tennessee Tech 71, UT Martin 66 (OT)
SIUE 80, MOREHEAD STATE 62
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Ray'Sean Taylor poured in a career-high 33 points as SIUE men's basketball opened its final regular season road trip with a convincing 82-60 win at Morehead State.
The win was the first for the Cougars in Morehead since the 2020-21 season and clinched the season sweep of Morehead for the first time ever.
SIUE tied its program high for wins in the Division I era as it improved to 19-9 overall and 12-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The win coupled with a Little Rock loss moves SIUE into sole possession of second place in the OVC.
Taylor was 8-for-12 shooting overall and 5-7 from three-point range. He was 12-12 at the free throw line. It is the third 30-point game of his career. Taylor also moved into second place all time in scoring at SIUE and now has 1,849 career points, leaving him exactly 100 points shy of the all-time scoring mark.
The Eagles led briefly in the first half, when a Dionte Miles layup made it 8-6 with 15:39 to play before half. A Kyle Thomas jumper knotted the score at 8 and a Myles Thompson offensive rebound and tip-in made it 10-8 Cougars and they never trailed again.
Taylor's buzzer-beating three-pointer gave SIUE a five-point lead (35-30) at halftime. The Cougars then scored the first six points of the second half, to go up 41-30 and force a Morehead State timeout with 16:26 left in the game.
Morehead State got as close as seven points (52-45) after a free throw from Miles at the 10:44 mark, but a Ray'Sean Taylor three pushed the lead back out to double digits.
Thomas (12 points), Thompson (11) and Ring Malith (11) all finished in double digits for the Cougars.
SIUE connected on 26-50 (52 percent) of its shots, including 15-26 (58 percent) in the second half. The Cougars were 8-16 from three-point range and 20-24 (83 percent) at the foul line.
SIUE also scored 32 points inside.
Morehead State was 25-60 (42 percent) from the field overall, 4-19 from three-point range and 8-17 at the free throw line.
Jerone Morton scored 21 points to lead the Eagles.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 63, SOUTHERN INDIANA 54
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Eastern Illinois had an all-around team effort on Thursday night as the Panthers picked up a 63-54 road win at Southern Indiana.
EIU had ten early points from both Nakyel Shelton and Artese Stapleton as they finished as two of three Panthers in double figures.
EIU led 30-27 at the half and held the lead for the entire second half.
Damoni Harrison trimmed the EIU lead to 52-51 with 4:02 to play on a 3-pointer followed by an offensive foul on the next EIU possession.
The Panthers turned to their defense, forcing turnovers on the next three USI possessions to finish with 12 steals in the game leading to 24 points off turnovers.
Shelton had a steal for EIU and converted one of two at the foul line after being fouled. He sank a big 3-pointer with just over two minutes left to play giving EIU the cushion it needed. Shelton finished with 18 points.
Stapleton had a steal and helped ice the game making three of four at the line in the final minute to finish with 17 points. Zion Fruster was the third Panther in double figures with 13 points.
EIU dominated play on the glass with a 45-33 advantage. Kooper Jacobi hauled in 11 rebounds. Rodolfo Bolis just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Harrison led USI with 20 points. Stephen Olowoniyi was 6-of-7 from the field finishing with 16 points as he slowly helped the Screaming Eagles climb back in the game early in the second half.
EIU is now 9-19 overall, 5-12 in the OVC. USI is 9-18 overall, 4-13 in the OVC.
LINDENWOOD 93, LITTLE ROCK 92 (OT)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Lindenwood men's basketball (14-14, 9-8 OVC) clinched their spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Championships after an overtime win at Little Rock ( 17-11, 11-6 OVC) by a final score of 93-92. This marked the first time since Lindenwood's inaugural season that they have made the OVC Tournament and have won back-to-back overtime games.
Five Lions scored in double-figures on Thursday at Little Rock including a team-high 19 points from Reggie Bass. With 2.9 seconds remaining, Bass was fouled on an attempted three to put him at the line where he made all three shots to give Lindenwood the one. This marked the second time this season Bass has ended a game making the final three free throws to give LU the win (52-51 win at UT Martin). Bass shot 6-16 from the field while making three threes.
The reigning OVC Freshman of the Week Jadis Jones has now scored in double-figures in six of his last seven games after scoring 18 points on 7-15 shooting. His freshman counter-part Aly Tounkara had his first career double-double after scoring a career-high 15 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. LU out-rebounded Little Rock 39-30 on Thursday. Of Tounkara's 11 rebounds, five were on the offensive glass. He was also a perfect 7-7 from the field.
Anias Futrell (17 points) and Markeith Browning II (16 points) combined to shoot 6-11 from long range as the Lions used the three-point shot to defeat Little Rock. Lindenwood shot 9-24 from long-range while Little Rock went 3-14. Both players also grabbed eight rebounds in the win.
Lindenwood shot 34-68 (50.0% FG) from the floor marking the eighth time this season the Lions have shot at least 50.0%. In those eight games, the Lions are a perfect 8-0. The Lions' nine made threes are the fifth most in a single game this season. LU's 93 points are also the most scored vs. an OVC opponent this season.
It was a quick start for the Trojans as the started the game with a quick 6-0 run before Bass got the scoring underway for Lindenwood with a three-pointer. After trailing by seven with 17:03 left, Lindenwood went on a stretch where they shot 10-11 from the floor including an 8-8 stretch as they took their first lead at the 11:22 mark after a Futrell three.
Lindenwood stretched out their lead to seven on three different occasions but the Trojans ended the half on a 6-2 run as the Lions led 41-38 at the break. It marked the most points that the Lions have scored in the first half since scoring 41 against SEMO earlier this season. Browning II led the way at the half with 12 points as LU scored 10 points off of six Trojan turnovers.
The Lions offense kept clicking in the second half as they built out a game-high 11 point lead with 11:57 remaining. Little Rock came storming back with a 15-3 run of their own to re-take the lead inside the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans led with 6:45 left by two.
After trailing by six with 3:08 left, Lindenwood kept the Little Rock offense quiet storming back to take the lead at 77-76 off a Tounkara tip-in layup. Browning II would make two free throws with 15 seconds left in regular to give LU a three-point lead but Isaiah Lewis snapped a 1-11 three-point shooting night for LR to force overtime.
Tounkara scored the first basket in regular with a tip-in layup, but the Trojans took advantage of a technical foul on Lindenwood and a basket on their next possession to take four-point lead with 3:11 remaining. Jones and Futrell then made back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 85-85.
With the Lions trailing by two with 12 second remaining, Bass took a three-pointer for the win but was fouled by Ante Beljan with 2.9 left on the clock. Bass then nailed all three free throws to help LU clinch a berth in the OVC C
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 87, WESTERN ILLINOIS 66
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Brendan Terry poured in a career-high 25 points and Southeast Missouri (18-10, 13-4) led wire-to-wire in an 87-66 win over Western Illinois (10-18, 4-13) Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
SEMO won its eighth-straight game and, as a result, set a program record for the longest winning streak in its NCAA Division I era.
The Redhawks picked up their league-leading 13th Ohio Valley Conference win as well. The 13 OVC wins are SEMO's third-most in a season behind the 1998-99 (15-3) and 1999-2000 (14-4) teams.
Terry set the tone early scoring SEMO's first 13 points of the contest and had 17 by halftime.
After Terry's second-chance layup put SEMO ahead, 13-6, BJ Ward followed with the next five points to grab the Redhawks a double-digit lead. Ward's 3-pointer widened SEMO's margin to 18-6 with 11:24 left to play in the first half.
Braxton Stacker's jumper capped an 11-0 run and pushed SEMO's lead to 20-6 before WIU ended a scoreless drought that lasted over six minutes with a jumper by Ryan Myers.
Stacker and Teddy Washington, Jr. each drained a 3-pointer in the final 58 seconds to put the Redhawks ahead, 35-21, at the half.
A six-point swing on back-to-back 3-pointers by Washington, Jr. put SEMO up 57-41 with 12:23 to go.
Stacker's alleyoop dunk off a turnover and two free throws by Terry pushed the Redhawks lead over 20 at 67-46 at the 7:04 mark.
SEMO then took its largest lead of the night when Rob Martin buried a 3-pointer to make it a 87-62 game with 1:10 left to play.
Another balanced scoring effort saw five Redhawks reach double figures.
Terry shot 9-of-15 from the field and 7-of-10 at the free throw line. He narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
Washington, Jr. followed with 19 points, Ward added 15, Stacker chipped in 12 and Martin finished with a double-double 10 points and career-best 11 assists.
As a team, SEMO assisted 22 of its 34 made field goals and matched a season-high 12 three-pointers.
SEMO beat WIU for the second time this season and completed its fourth home-and-home sweep in OVC action. The Redhawks also swept Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State and Southern Indiana.
Additionally, the Redhawks shot 50 percent from the field for the game and 58.3 percent in the second half.
TENNESSEE TECH 71, UT MARTIN 66 (OT)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It took an extra five minutes, but the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team finished off the season sweep of Ohio Valley Conference rival UT Martin Thursday evening, topping the visiting Skyhawks 71-66 in overtime in a thrilling finish at the Hooper Eblen Center.
Downing their in-state foe in an extra period for the second time this season, the Golden Eagles (14-14, 9-8) officially clinched a berth into the OVC Tournament in Evansville, Ind. from Mar. 5-8.
The purple and gold burst out of the gates to open the contest with a 17-3 run, limiting the Skyhawks (12-17, 8-10) to a 1-for-10 start from the field. UT Martin responded with a 10-0 run coming out of the under-12-minute media break, but the Golden Eagle defense locked back down to close the half.
Tech held the visitors from Martin to just 29.6 percent shooting and a 4-for-18 mark from distance over the opening 20 minutes of the night, taking an eight-point lead into the locker room at 33-25. The Skyhawks rebounded to the tune of 51.9 percent efficiency in the second half, opening the frame with three triples to cut the deficit to just three points.
Once again, the Cookeville crew responded in kind, producing a 10-3 run to push back out to a 50-39 advantage with 9:16 to play. That double-digit lead stayed in place until the 3:08 mark on the clock, with the Golden Eagles seemingly safe with a 58-48 edge.
UT Martin's Tarence Guinyard took over the contest to close regulation, scoring 17 of the Skyhawks' final 20 points while pulling his team to within three in the closing seconds. The visitors raced down the court, found Josue Grullon near the right wing, and prayed as the guard's 25-foot prayer found pay dirt with 0.8 seconds to play, squaring the ball game at 62-62.
The Skyhawks seemed to take all the momentum in the building, opening the overtime period on a 4-0 run while Guinyard launched his career night up to 26 points and 12 rebounds. Never deterred, the Golden Eagles used the final three minutes to build a 9-0 run and pick up a massive, 71-66 win.
Junior guard Jaylon Johnson earned a trip to the charity stripe, sinking both ends of a 1-&-1 to cut the deficit to two. Tech's next trek down the court resulted in a foul drawn by junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe, who calmly knocked down both of his attempts to knot the tilt once more.
After Guinyard missed a contested layup with two minutes to play, Johnson took his turn with the rock, drove into the lane, and drained a tough jumper off the glass to give the Golden Eagles the lead for good. The Tech defense came up with three consecutive stops on the defensive end of the floor, forcing a pair of turnovers and gathering another missed attempt in the paint by the Skyhawks.
Johnson converted three of his four tries from the free-throw line over the final 16 seconds of the night, pushing the lead out a 71-66 with eight seconds to play. Tech then wisely fouled the Skyhawks with two seconds to play, sending Carlos Cortijo to the line for a 1&1 attempt. The guard missed off the front edge of the rim and time ran out as Guinyard attempted one final trey after gathering the loose rebound.
Putting together a massive performance for the purple and gold, senior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. just missed a double-double while leading Tech with 18 points and nine rebounds. The veteran ended the night 7-for-14 from the floor and an impressive 4-for-8 from downtown, mixing in a career-high three steals.
Johnson tallied 16 points with a 9-for-10 showing at the stripe and seven boards. He paced the Cookeville crew with four assists and four steals as well. Local Rickman native Matthew Sells continued his hot shooting from beyond the arc, dropping 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting from distance while mixing in three dimes and a season-high six rebounds.
Sophomore forward JaJuan Nicholls was efficient with a 4-for-6 night from the field, tallying eight points with a pair of dimes. Egbuniwe hauled in eight rebounds while chipping in five points, two assists, and two steals.