SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 73, Southern Indiana 67
Morehead State 76, @Tennessee Tech 70
@Little Rock 86, Western Illinois 79
@UT Martin 69, Lindenwood 55
SIUE 68, @Southeast Missouri 55
TENNESSEE STATE 73, SOUTHERN INDIANA 67
NASHVILLE - Aaron Nkrumah nailed a dagger 3-pointer with 1:16 left in the fourth quarter to put Tennessee State ahead 73-64, and the Tigers earned a 73-67 win against the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles at home Saturday.
The Tigers (12-6, 6-2) had three players score in double figures, led by Nkrumah, who put together a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Antoine Lorick III tacked on 17 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks and Travis Harper II chipped in as well with 11 points.
Tennessee State did a great job taking care of the basketball, dishing out 12 assists while turning the ball over five times. Lorick III's five assists were the most for the Tigers.
Tennessee State did a great job disrupting Southern Indiana shots in the contest, coming away with five blocks. Lorick III's two rejections led the way individually for the Tigers.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 14-12 advantage, Tennessee State went on a 5-0 run with 11:25 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Antoine Lorick Iii, to increase its lead to 19-12. The Tigers then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 38-33 advantage. Tennessee State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 24 of its 38 points close to the basket.
Southern Indiana proceeded to take a 59-53 lead before Tennessee State went on a 9-0 run to seize a 62-59 lead with 4:54 to go in the contest. The Tigers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 73-67 win. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 18 of its 35 points in the lane.
MOREHEAD STATE 76, TENNESSEE TECH 70
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech made nine of its last 11 field goals, and the game got interesting and close late, but the Morehead State Men's Basketball team held off the Golden Eagles to win 76-70 Saturday at the Eblen Center.
MSU improved to 5-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference and to 9-10 overall, while TTU lost its fifth straight and fell to 7-12 overall and 2-6 in the conference.
MSU held a 15-point (65-50) lead with 6:12 left but Tech got hot and rallied. However, in the final minute, MSU got the rebounds it needed and made six free throws in the final minute.
"There is no cruising in the OVC, any night," said head coach Jonathan Mattox. "No matter if you are up 15 with a minute play, you have to finish the game so we just need to get our guys to realize that. But we did some good things tonight, and its tough to win on the road."
Anouar Mellouk posted his first double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-best 10 rebounds as MSU won the rebound war, 39-32. George Marshall scored a team-high 16 points and was 3-of-5 from three-point range. Davion Cunningham added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Josiah LeGree also nailed three triples and scored 13.
Morehead State separated itself in the first half with a 13-2 run. Leading just 22-21 with 7:27 remaining in the opening 20, Marshall dropped in a second-chance three-pointer. With 2:06 left, Cunningham finished the scoring shift with a layup to let the Eagles surge ahead 35-23. Tech cut it back to six (35-29), but Cunningham drained a high-arching triple from the near corner as time expired in the half as MSU led 38-29.
The MSU lead was double digits until Tech finally cut it to less than 10 with 3:21 left. The MSU cushion was cut to three (70-67) with 1:10 remaining.
Dani Pounds led the Golden Eagles with 15 points as Tech shot 55 percent in the final half.
MSU shot 42 percent for the game and hit eight three-pointers.
LITTLE ROCK 86, WESTERN ILLINOIS 79
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Little Rock (9-10, 6-2 OVC) used efficient shooting, perfect free-throw accuracy and timely defense to earn an 86-79 victory over Western Illinois (4-15, 0-8 OVC) on Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center.
The Trojans, who have won seven of their past eight games, led 50-41 at halftime and never relinquished control in the second half, going a perfect 15-for-15 at the free-throw line and knocking down 11 three-pointers. Western Illinois held a 42-32 rebounding advantage, but was unable to overcome Little Rock's offensive efficiency and late-game execution.
Little Rock shot well from the opening tip, as the teams traded leads early in a fast-paced first half. The Trojans moved the ball effectively, totaling 12 assists in the opening 20 minutes, while Johnathan Lawson connected on multiple three-pointers. Kachi Nzeh made his presence felt inside, contributing key rebounds and points in the paint.
Defensively, Little Rock recorded four steals and three blocks in the first half, limiting Western Illinois' transition opportunities. Cameron Wallace sparked the Trojans with defensive rebounds and fast-break finishes, helping Little Rock carry a nine-point advantage into the break.
The Trojans opened the second half with renewed energy, as Nzeh scored on an early dunk and jumper to extend the lead. At the 17:47 mark, Nzeh drilled a three-pointer to push the advantage to 57-43.
In the final minutes, the Trojans closed out the game at the line and with key baskets. Lawson buried a three-pointer with 3:30 remaining, Wallace added a fast-break layup at 1:36, and Bayless sealed the outcome with four consecutive free throws.
Lawson finished with 20 points, six three-pointers, four assists and two steals. Wallace led all scorers with 21 points and added eight rebounds, while making all five of his free-throw attempts. Nzeh recorded 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting with eight rebounds before fouling out. Bayless added nine points and six assists.
UT MARTIN 69, LINDENWOOD 55
MARTIN, Tenn. - Four University of Tennessee at Martin scorers reached double figures today while the Skyhawk defense shined once again in a 69-55 men’s basketball triumph over Ohio Valley Conference rival Lindenwood.
UT Martin led for 38:31 of clock time this afternoon, holding the Lions to 26 points below their season scoring average. The vaunted Skyhawk defense limited Lindenwood to 10.5 percent (2-of-19) shooting from three-point land and 34 percent (18-for-53) overall while forcing the Lions into 17 turnovers. That performance allowed UT Martin to improve to 15-4 overall and 7-1 atop the OVC standings while extending its win streak inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center to nine.
Afan Trnka set a season-high in scoring for the third time in the last five games, posting 17 points in a career-best 36 minutes. Matas Deniusas generated a stat line of 14 points, seven rebounds, career-high four blocks, three assists and career-best three steals. Andrija Bukumirovic (14 points, six rebounds) and Pedro Santos (11 points, seven rebounds) additionally helped lead the Skyhawks offensively while Vladimir Khryapa swiped a career-high five steals in just 22 minutes.
Lindenwood (11-8, 5-3 OVC) was led by Dontrez Williams’ 20 points, five rebounds and five steals. Anias Futrell added 10 points, five rebounds and three steals as the Lions, whose 55 points was their second-fewest of the season (only trailing 53 at Indiana on Nov. 20).
A Santos triple at the 16:45 mark of the first half started a 9-0 Skyhawk run and gave UT Martin a lead it would not surrender the rest of the way. Trnka splashed a three-pointer at the 8:39 mark to give the Skyhawks their first double-digit lead (25-15) of the day.
Another Trnka trifecta with 2:31 to go before the halftime break extended UT Martin’s advantage out to 35-18 before the Skyhawks settled for a 35-22 lead at the intermission. Santos and Trnka each managed a game-high nine points apiece while Williams’ eight points guided Lindenwood in the first 20 minutes.
Bukumirovic scored UT Martin’s first six points of the second half before the Lions scored nine unanswered points to get within single digits. The Skyhawks soon went on a 9-2 run midway through the second half, capped off by a Luca Colceag three-pointer that boosted UT Martin’s lead to 58-43 with a little under seven minutes remaining.
Lindenwood never threatened from that point forward as Deniusas canned a three-pointer from the right wing to give the Skyhawks their biggest lead of the day (67-47) with 2:19 to go.
SIUE 68, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 55
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Career nights by Arnas Sakenis and Tyler King and a dominant first half propelled SIUE men's basketball to a 68-55 win at Southeast Missouri State Saturday.
SIUE improved to 4-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 11-8 overall. SEMO dropped to 9-10 overall and 4-4 in the OVC.
The win is the first for the Cougars on the road at Southeast Missouri since January 2019.
Sakenis finished with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, blocked three shots and finished with two steals. King scored a career-best 16 points. He was 5-10 from the field and 3-5 from three-point range. Darrion Baker added 13 points for the Cougars. He was 3-4 from long range. Jack Campion scored nine points and added six assists and four steals.
The Cougars used a stifling defense in the first half to limit the Redhawks to just two field goals in their first 14 attempts.
SIUE, meanwhile, had a double-digit lead eight minutes into the game and extended the advantage out 23 on two different occasions. The Cougars led 43-21 at halftime. SIUE Shot 50 percent (14-28) overall and 64 percent (7-11) from three-point range in the first half.
The Cougars' lead swelled to as many as 26 in the second half following a dunk from Sakenis with 11 minutes to play.
The Cougars finished 24-51 (47 percent) overall shooting. SIUE finished with 26 points in the paint and outrebounded SEMO 31-25.
Luke Almodovar scored 14 points to lead Southeast Missouri.