SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 83, SIUE 68
EDWARDSVILLE, Mo. - Rob Martin dropped in a career-high 31 points and Teddy Washington, Jr. matched a career-best 28 as Southeast Missouri (20-10, 15-3) dismantled SIU Edwardsville (19-11, 12-7), 83-68, Thursday night at First Community Arena.
With its 10th-straight victory, SEMO clinched its first outright Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title and locked up the #1 seed in the OVC Tournament for the first time in program history.
The Redhawks are on a 10-game winning streak for the first time in 35 years since winning 11 in a row during the 1989-90 season when the program was NCAA Division II.
SEMO picked up its 15th OVC win tying the 1998-99 team (15-3) for the program record in most OVC wins in a season. The Redhawks also secured their first 20-win campaign with Brad Korn as their head coach and third season with 20 or more wins in the school's NCAA Division I history.
The Redhawks led for all but 37:09 of the contest in yet another dominating 40-minute effort.
SEMO immediately rallied behind the hot shooting of Washington, Jr. and Martin to build a double-digit halftime lead.
The Redhawks used a 9-0 run to and went ahead by double figures for the first time with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Martin buried a jumper and Washington, Jr. followed with a steal and breakaway dunk to put SEMO up, 30-18, with 7:15 left to play.
After SIUE pulled within six (33-27), Washington, Jr. scored eight of SEMO's next nine points. Washington, Jr. nailed a 3-pointer right after Brian Taylor completed a 3-point play.
Washington, Jr. then got a steal and a dunk before Martin split two free throws. Washington, Jr. followed that up with another 3-pointer giving SEMO a 42-27 advantage with 1:23 to play. Washington, Jr.'s eight-point surge came in just 1:33.
SEMO headed into the intermission with a 42-29 lead, marking the fifth-straight game the Redhawks led at the half.
Washington Jr. made four of the Redhawks first seven 3-pointers of the game and led all scorers with 20 points in the first half.
The Redhawks didn't let up in the second half, where it they went their fourth game in a row shooting 53.7 percent or better. SEMO shot 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the field in the game's final 20 minutes.
SEMO led by 15 on two more occasions when David Idada made a layup to make it a 44-29 game, and Braxton Stacker drained a 3-pointer to extend the Redhawks lead to 60-45 (12:55).
Ray'Sean Taylor made a layup, was fouled and added a free throw to narrow SEMO's margin to single digits at 68-59, but Martin answered with back-to-back baskets to grab the Redhawks a 72-59 advantage at the 6:33 mark.
Washington, Jr.'s jumper gave SEMO its largest lead of the night at 83-66 before the Redhawks put their fifth-consecutive road win on ice.
Martin shot 13-of-19 from the field and made two 3-pointers en route to the first 30-point game of his career. He also had three assists and scored double figures for the 15th-straight time.
Washington, Jr. shot 11-of-21 from the field, buried a game-high four threes, pulled down seven rebounds and had a game-high five steals.
As a team, SEMO shot 53.1 percent (34-of-64) for the night and outscored SIUE, 30-12, from 3-point range.
R. Taylor led SIUE with 30 points.
The Redhawks finished February undefeated at 8-0 and improved to 8-6 on the road to get their first winning record in true road games in 25 years.
TENNESSEE STATE 64, MOREHEAD STATE 55
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men's basketball team held Morehead State to just 11.8 percent from deep in a 2-for-17 shooting performance on the way to a 64-55 win against the Eagles at home Thursday.
The Tigers (15-15, 11-8 OVC) had two players score in double figures, led by Carlous Williams, who had 17 points. Knute Wood added 10 points off of the bench and Aaron Nkrumah added nine points, eight rebounds and two steals.
Tennessee State grabbed 32 rebounds in Thursday's game compared to Morehead State's 28, led by Nkrumah's eight boards.
After falling behind 8-4, Tennessee State went on a 10-0 run with 14:54 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Ahmir Langlais, to take a 14-8 lead. The Tigers then added one point to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 29-22 advantage. Tennessee State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 16 of its 29 points close to the basket.
Morehead State proceeded to take a 46-37 lead before Tennessee State went on an 11-0 run, finished off by Josh Ogundele's layup, to seize a 48-46 lead with 7:08 to go in the contest. The Tigers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 64-55 win. Tennessee State got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 11 of its 35 total points.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 71, LITTLE ROCK 60
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois men’s basketball continues its solid play to end the season as the Panthers won their third straight with a 71-60 win over Little Rock on Thursday night at Groniger Arena.
EIU’s defense helped set the tone for the Panthers finishing with 12 steals in the game as they set the school single season record for steals midway through the second half on a steal by Artese Stapleton. Stapleton and Nakyel Shelton each led the way with four steals with EIU’s defense limiting Little Rock to 38.5 percent shooting for the night.
The Panthers led 36-27 at the half jumping out early to a 12-3 lead on a jumper by Kooper Jacobi at the 12:26 mark of the opening half. Stapleton would give the Panthers their first double digit lead with a driving lay-up with 7:15 to play in the opening half as he was one of two Panthers over 20 points finishing with 23.
A put-back basket by Jacobi pushed the margin to 15 but Little Rock trimmed it down to as low as six points in the first half on a lay-up by Tuongthach Gatkek.
In the second half EIU was able to keep the margin around ten points most of the half with Little Rock getting as close as six points with 9:23 to play on a three-point play by Jordan Jefferson. Jefferson led the Trojans with 15 points, one of four Little Rock players in double figures. EIU countered with a 4-0 run on baskets by Stapleton and Obadiah Curtis with the Trojans not threatening again.
Shelton led EIU with 25 points. Jacobi added 12 points with nine rebounds while Curtis added nine points in his first start this season.
Mwani Wilkinson (13), Johnathan Lawson (12) and Ante Beljan (10) joined Jefferson in double figures for Little Rock.
UT MARTIN 79, SOUTHERN INDIANA 63
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin swept its fourth Ohio Valley Conference opponent this evening, achieving a 79-63 victory over Southern Indiana at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks (13-17, 9-10 OVC) held the lead for 39:33 of clock time and led by as many as 21 points late in the contest. UT Martin outscored the Screaming Eagles by a 40-16 margin in the paint, outrebounded Southern Indiana 51-30 and held the visitors to 36.2 percent (21-of-57) shooting.
Several Skyhawks accounted for significant contributions tonight as Tarence Guinyard’s 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting led all scorers. Andrija Bukumirovic (15 points) finished one point shy of his career-high tally while Matija Žužic and Afan Trnka also scored in double digits with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Lamine Niang hauled in a career-best 14 rebounds while Carlos Cortijo equaled a career-high with seven assists (against just one turnover).
The Screaming Eagles (10-19, 5-14 OVC) also saw four scorers land in double figures. Jayland Randall led the way with 15 points while Stephen Olowoniyi (13 points), Ryan Hall (11) and Jack Campion (10) also pitched in offensively.
Bukumirovic knocked down triples on back-to-back possessions early to give the Skyhawks a 12-5 advantage. Midway through the first half, Guinyard scored on a pair of layups as UT Martin opened up its first double-digit lead of the evening at 23-13.
Southern Indiana went on a 10-2 run to get within two points with 4:41 to go in the opening half but the Skyhawks tallied 11 of the next 13 points – sparked by a pair of Žužic three-pointers in a 35-second stretch – to take a comfortable 41-33 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.
The Screaming Eagles would not creep any closer than six points in the entire second half. An emphatic dunk by Bukumirovic and a driving layup from Guinyard helped UT Martin go back on top by double figures in the first four minutes of the final stanza.
Guinyard scored the final six points of an 8-0 run that gave the Skyhawks a 59-45 edge with 10 minutes left to play. Žužic splashed a trifecta at the 2:36 mark to give UT Martin its largest lead of the night (79-58) as the Skyhawks won going away.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 82, TENNESSEE TECH 69
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Western Illinois Men's Basketball closed out the regular season in style, riding a dominant performance from Trey Deveaux to an 82-69 road win over Tennessee Tech on Thursday night. Deveaux was unstoppable, torching the Golden Eagles for a game-high 29 points on near-flawless shooting.
The Senior forward was in complete control from start to finish, hitting 9-of-12 shots from the field, including three of his four attempts from beyond the arc. He was automatic at the free-throw line, sinking all eight of his attempts, and added six rebounds and two assists to his stat line in 36 minutes of action.
The Leathernecks (12-19, 6-14 OVC) wasted no time setting the tone, using hot shooting and strong rebounding to build an early lead. Deveaux got going early, knocking down a smooth jumper to push WIU ahead 11-8 at the 16:20 mark of the first half. Moments later, Ryan Myers hit his second three of the first half and WIU quickly went up 14-8 within the first four minutes of the game.
Tennessee Tech (15-15, 10-9 OVC) tried to keep pace behind a strong first half from Jaylon Johnson, but the Leathernecks continued to attack inside and control the boards. Deveaux's first three-pointer of the night came with 14:11 remaining in the second half, stretching WIU's lead to 57-39 and effectively putting the game out of reach.
Leading 38-30 at halftime, the Leathernecks turned it up another notch in the second half, outscoring Tennessee Tech 44-39. Deveaux continued to lead the charge, drilling all of his three pointers in the second half and converting a tough jumper in the lane to push WIU's advantage to double digits.
Julius Rollins (17 points) and Ryan Myers (16 points) chipped in with big buckets throughout the night, while the Leathernecks' defense held Tennessee Tech to just 35.8% shooting from the field. WIU also dominated the rebounding battle, outworking the Golden Eagles 42-32 on the glass.
Deveaux's 29-point explosion was his best scoring performance of the season and a much-needed spark for Western Illinois to finish their season out strong. His efficiency was off the charts, finishing with a 75% field goal percentage and perfect free-throw shooting, proving to be the difference in the game.