THURSDAY'S RESULTS
@Tennessee State 105, Morehead State 100 (OT)
Lindenwood 88, @Southeast Missouri 76
@Little Rock 74, Eastern Illinois 63
Southern Indiana 71, @Tennessee Tech 54
@UT Martin 65, SIUE 59
TENNESSEE STATE 105, MOREHEAD STATE 100 (OT)
NASHVILLE - Aaron Nkrumah scored 30 points and the Tennessee State men's basketball team used efficient perimeter shooting to defeat the Morehead State Eagles 105-100 in overtime Thursday night at the Gentry Center.
The Tigers (11-6, 5-2) placed four players in double figures, led by Nkrumah, who added seven rebounds and five assists. Carlous Williams provided a spark off the bench with 19 points, while Travis Harper II finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Antoine Lorick III contributed 14 points and anchored the defense with six blocks.
Tennessee State was highly effective from beyond the arc, connecting on 11 of 18 three-point attempts for a 61.1 percent clip. Williams led the way from long range, knocking down four 3-pointers, while Harper II added four of his own.
Defensively, the Tigers protected the paint, recording nine blocks as a team. Lorick III accounted for six of those rejections as Tennessee State limited second-chance opportunities and contested shots throughout the night.
After taking a narrow early lead, Tennessee State broke the game open late in the first half. The Tigers turned a 37-34 advantage into a 10-point cushion with a 7-0 run over the final two minutes, capped by a basket from Nkrumah, and carried a 46-36 lead into halftime. The Tennessee State bench was instrumental in the opening period, scoring 18 of the team's 46 points.
Morehead State battled back in the second half, trimming the deficit and eventually tying the game at 86-86 with 18 seconds remaining to force overtime. Prior to the rally, Tennessee State had stretched the lead to 57-50 following a 3-pointer from Harper II with 14:04 to play.
In overtime, Morehead State briefly grabbed a one-point lead, but Tennessee State responded with an 11-0 run to regain control. Harper II's 3-pointer highlighted the surge and gave the Tigers a 100-90 lead with 55 seconds left. The Eagles narrowed the margin late, but Tennessee State held on for the 105-100 victory.
LINDENWOOD 88, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 76
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Lindenwood Men's Basketball team (11-7, 5-2 OVC) snapped their two game losing streak on Thursday night with a statement win on the road at SEMO on the national stage with a 88-76 victory. Anias Futrell recorded his first double-double of the season and led all scorers with a game-high 28 points on 8-13 shooting and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Missouri natives Dontrez Williams and Jadis Jones also had great performances tonight in the win as Williams dropped 22 points and added seven steals while Jones picked up his sixth double-double of the season as he scored 20 points and grabbed 10 boards. Futrell, Williams, and Jones become the first trio to each score 20 or more points in the same game since Kevin Caldwell Jr., Cam Burrell, and Chris Childs all scored 20+ points against Little Rock on February 25, 2023.
After SEMO scored a bucket to put them up 5-4 with 17:40 to go in the opening half, the Lions settled in and took over the rest of the first half going on a 22-3 run over the next six minutes to take a commanding 26-7 lead with 11:47 left in the first half. Dontrez Williams recorded three steals during the big run with all three steals leading to layups and dunks on the other end for the Black and Gold. Jadis Jones scored 11 points during the run, followed closely by Williams who had six, and Anias Futrell who had five including a three pointer. The Lions defense didn't allow a basket for nearly seven minutes of game time and led 26-10 with just under nine minutes to play. Lindenwood used their second big run of the half to take a 45-18 lead into the locker room behind a 12-3 run that was sparked by Futrell who knocked down two more threes to finish the first half with 15 points on 4-6 shooting from the three point line. The Lions limited the Redhawks to 21.9% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play and forced nine turnovers that led to 10 points for the Black and Gold.
In the second half, Futrell scored five of the first six points for the Lions and converted on his fifth three pointer of the game as Lindenwood extended their lead to 29 at 51-22 with 17:48 to go in the contest. Following the Futrell three, Williams gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 53-22 after a made layup, but SEMO would begin to chip away at the deficit and cut the Lindenwood lead to 59-42 with 12:54 left in the second half following a 20-6 run that spanned over four minutes. However, a few possessions later Milos Nenadic found Williams on the right wing with two seconds to go on the shot clock and Williams buried the three pointer as the shot clock expired to give LU a 20 point lead at 62-42 with 12:01 left. Williams would connect from three point range less than a minute later to stop all momentum that the Redhawks had going, but SEMO still continued to fight back. The Redhawks eventually cut the Lion lead down to seven with 1:10 remaining in the game, but a technical foul was assessed to SEMO's Landren Blocker with 50 seconds remaining and Anias Futrell hit two big free throws to put the Lions back up by double digits for the final time as Lindenwood held on to defeat the Redhawks 88-76 and improve to 2-1 on the road in the OVC.
The Redhawks outscored the Lions 58-43 in the final twenty minutes of play, but the free throw shooting was crucial down the stretch as Lindenwood attempted 26 free throws in the second half and knocked down five of their final six free throw attempts over the last three minutes of the game to seal the win. With the victory tonight, Lindenwood improves to 5-2 in the OVC and is in a three way tie for second place in the Conference.
LITTLE ROCK 74, EASTERN ILLINOIS 63
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Little Rock put the game away in the final minutes Thursday night, using a late dunk and a three-pointer from Kachi Nzeh to seal a 74–63 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Eastern Illinois at the Jack Stephens Center.
After the Panthers cut the margin to single digits late, Nzeh knocked down a three and followed with a dunk in the final minute as the Trojans closed the game on a decisive run. The late push capped a dominant second half in which Little Rock outscored Eastern Illinois 44–26 after trailing by seven at the break.
The Trojans (8-10, 5-2 OVC) relied on relentless defensive pressure to fuel the comeback, forcing 17 turnovers and converting them into 31 points. Little Rock finished with eight steals and five blocks, limiting the Panthers (7-11, 4-4 OVC) to just 26 points over the final 20 minutes.
Little Rock seized momentum early in the second half when Tuongthach Gatkek finished a fast-break layup off a Johnathan Lawson assist just 47 seconds in. Lawson later buried a three-pointer at the 15:09 mark to give the Trojans the lead for good, as the home team steadily pulled away.
Eastern Illinois carried a 37–30 advantage into halftime after winning the battle on the offensive glass, but Little Rock flipped the script after the break, tightening defensively and controlling the tempo.
Four Trojans scored in double figures, led by Nzeh with 17 points, three three-pointers and two blocks. Lawson added 15 points, three triples and six assists, while Braxton Bayless finished with 14 points and two steals. Cameron Wallace posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 71, TENNESSEE TECH 54
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball dominated the last seven minutes, 23-6, and defeated Tennessee Tech, 71-54, Thursday evening at Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tennessee. The Screaming Eagles, which snapped an eight-game losing streak, go to 4-13 overall and 1-6 in the OVC, while the Golden Eagles are 7-11, 2-5 OVC.
USI started slow on the offensive end, hitting only seven-of-26 (26.9 percent) during the first 17 minutes of the contest and found themselves in a 27-19 hole. The Screaming Eagles rallied in the final three minutes of the first 20 minutes to knot the game at 27-27 in the intermission.
USI junior guard/forward Amaree Brown and junior forward Devin Curtis led the run with three points each, while senior guard Ismail Habib dropped in the tying two points to complete the run. Senior guard/forward Steven Clay led the Screaming Eagles in the opening frame with six of the 27 points.
The second half started in USI's favor as the Screaming Eagles continued their run to 15-0 and a 34-27 lead after Habib capped off the run with a pair of free throws and a pair of buckets during the surge. The seven-point lead was the largest of the game for USI at that point of the contest.
After the Golden Eagles put together a 7-0 run of their own to knot the score at 34-34, they extended the run to 11-0 and regained the advantage, 38-34, with 13:27 left. The TTU run was aided by a USI scoring drought of four minutes.
USI ended the drought with 12:55 to play and tied the score, 48-48, with 7:31 to play on a layup by Habib. The Screaming Eagles would go on to dominate the final seven minutes to get their first conference win of the year.
Over the final seven minutes, USI outscored TTU, 23-6, on a blistering 10-of-12 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers and free throws. Senior guard Cardell Bailey led the offensive explosion with 11 points, while Habib followed with 10 more.
The Screaming Eagles also did the job on the defensive end, holding the Golden Eagles to two-of-10 from the field in the final 7:20 of the game.
Individually in the USI scoring column, Habib led the Screaming Eagles with 21 points, 19 coming in the second half. He was eight-of-20 from the field, including two three-pointers, and three-of-four from the stripe.
Bailey joined Habib in the scoring column with 17 points, 14 in the second half and 11 points in the final seven.
UT MARTIN 65, SIUE 59
MARTIN, Tenn. - The staunch University of Tennessee at Martin defense once again showed out this evening as the Skyhawks picked up a 65-59 victory over SIUE in Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball action.
UT Martin (14-4, 6-1 OVC) ran its winning streak to six games tonight, holding the visiting Cougars to 17.4 percent (4-of-23) shooting from three-point range. The Skyhawks also outrebounded SIUE by a 47-34 margin and only trailed for 3:22 of clock time, moving to 8-0 on the season inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Filip Radakovic led UT Martin in scoring for the third time in the last five outings as the sophomore guard registered a game-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. The Skyhawk tandem of Andrija Bukumirovic (14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks) and Matas Deniusas (11 points, game-high 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks) also provided plenty of muscle as they became the first UT Martin duo to record double-doubles in the same game since Lamine Niang and Pedro Santos against Champion Christian on Dec. 14, 2025.
The Cougars (10-8, 3-4 OVC) featured balanced scoring as Darrion Baker paced the defending OVC Tournament champions with 15 points. Arnas Sakenis followed with 12 points while CJ Hall (11) and Tyler King (10) additionally tallied double digits in the points column.
Santos scored UT Martin’s first four points of the game as neither side led by more than three points for the first 14-plus minutes. Radakovic accounted for four points during an 8-0 Skyhawk run that resulted in a 22-16 UT Martin advantage with a little under five minutes remaining in the opening half.
The Cougars tallied the final four points of the first half but the Skyhawks were able to cling to a 28-27 lead at the halftime break. Radakovic garnered game-highs of nine points and seven rebounds while Baker’s eight points paced SIUE in the first 20 minutes.
A mid-range floater from the left baseline on the first possession of the second half gave the Cougars a 29-28 lead but UT Martin reclaimed the lead for good on a Deniusas jumper in the lane on the next trip down the floor. Four different Skyhawks (Radakovic driving layup, Deniusas trey, Afan Trnka trifecta and Bukumirovic leaner in the paint) managed points during a 10-2 UT Martin surge that opened up momentum.
SIUE pulled within four points (47-43) with 6:34 left to play but that was as close as it would get the rest of the way. The Skyhawks responded with three-pointers from Bukumirovic, Radakovic and Filip Petkovski in an 84-second span to take their biggest lead of the contest (56-45) with 4:46 to go.