SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 73, Eastern Illinois 68
@SIUE 62, Tennessee Tech 58
Tennessee State 96, @Lindenwood 86
MOREHEAD STATE 73, EASTERN ILLINOIS 68
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Point guard Chase Dawson hit a go-ahead jumper with 3:59 left and scored six of his team-high 18 points in that final four-minute segment as the Morehead State men's basketball team once again rallied for a victory, this time defeating visiting Eastern Illinois 73-68 at Johnson Arena on a snowy Saturday afternoon.
Dawson's jumper with 3:59 left gave his team a 65-64 lead it never gave up. He also dropped in another jumper almost two minutes later (2:08) as MSU pushed ahead by three (69-66). The Eagles held EIU to just one made field goal in the final 5:33 as they improved to 7-1 at home and now 6-0 this winter when they score 70-79 points.
MSU, which also got a second double-double of the season from Anouar Mellouk (12 points and career-high 11 rebounds), moved to 7-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference race and 11-10 overall. EIU, which had won five of its last six, fell to 9-12 and 5-5 in the league.
Dawson's total was just one short of his season high for points. Joining Dawson and Mellouk in the double-figure point producing club was George Marshall with 12 and Davion Cunningham with 10. Marshall posted his team-best 14th game of 10 or more.
Panther Presron Turner paced his team with 18 points, including hitting 4-of-5 triples. Kooper Jacobi registered 13 points. Both teams grabbed 30 rebounds, and the game was also tied on the scoreboard at halftime, 35-35. It marked MSU's first game this season being tied at the halftime intermission.
EIU surged ahead by five on two occasions midway through the final half, including a 60-55 cushion with 7:36 remaining. The Eagles led by as much as seven in the first half before the tables turned and EIU pushed ahead 28-22 with 7:02 left in the half. However, MSU erased that deficit with an 8-0 run to catapult back into the lead 30-28 before Zion Fruster hit a jumper at the buzzer to knot the game 35-all at the break.
Morehead State managed to hit 52 percent (24-of-46), and the program now boasts 53 consecutive wins when it shoots 50 percent or better. EIU was held to 36 percent but hit 20-of-24 free throws. The hosts also shot magnificently at the stripe, going 21-of-24 after hitting just 10 of 20 on Thursday night.
MSU also swatted away 10 blocked shots, a season high, and the first 10+ block game against a Division I opponent since Feb. 25, 2023 versus UT Martin.
SIUE 62, TENNESSEE TECH 58
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE men's basketball led wire to wire Saturday on its way to its third straight win, defeating Tennessee Tech 62-58 at First Community Arena.
The Cougars improved to 6-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 13-8 overall. Tennessee Tech has lost four straight and fell to 2-8 in the OVC and 7-14 overall.
The Cougars were bolstered by the first career double-double from Arnas Sakenis who scored a team-high 16 points while leading all players with 12 rebounds. Tyler King added 14 points and Kyle Thomas scored 11.
Cold shooting left Tennessee Tech without a field goal for the game's first five minutes. The Golden Eagles started the game just 1-14 shooting and SIUE had a 21-6 lead after a three-pointer from Thomas with 8:06 to play in the first half.
Tennessee Tech responded with a 10-0 run and pulled within three, at 27-24, at halftime.
SIUE opened the second half on a 19-4 surge to again lead by 15 at 46-31. It was 51-36 when TTU used a 12-2 run to get the lead down to five.
The Cougars pushed the lead out to as many as nice twice in the game's final minutes and finished on an 8-3 run for the final margin.
The Cougars shot 42 percent (23-55) for the game, won the rebounding battle 36-35 and finished with nine assists and just eight turnovers.
TTU shot 38 percent (22-58) for the game finished with eight assists and just six turnovers.
JaJuan Nichols paced the Golden Eagles with a game-high 17 points. Mekhi Cameron scored 15 and was 7-8 at the free throw line. Ty Owens scored 11.
TENNESSEE STATE 96, LINDENWOOD 86
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - –Travis Harper II scored a game-high 30 points, and Aaron Nkrumah and Dante Harris each added at least 20 as the Tennessee State men's basketball team earned a 96-86 road victory over Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon at Robert F. Hyland Arena.
Harper II led the Tigers (13-7, 7-3) with 30 points on 13-of-21 shooting and added two steals. Nkrumah finished with 22 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Harris contributed 20 points, three assists and a team-high three steals as Tennessee State placed three players over the 20-point mark for the second time this season.
Tennessee State shot an efficient 60 percent from the field and outscored Lindenwood 56-34 in the paint while holding a 31-27 advantage on the glass, paced by six rebounds from Nkrumah and Antoine Lorick III.
The Tennessee State defense was effective at taking away the basketball in Saturday's game, forcing 16 Lindenwood turnovers while committing 15. Those takeaways turned into 26 points on the offensive end of the floor, helping the Tigers maintain control throughout the second half. Harris led the way defensively with three steals, while Harper II and Lorick III added two apiece.
After falling behind 20-18, Tennessee State went on a 9-0 run with 11:26 left in the first half, capped by a Harris three-pointer, to seize a 27-20 lead. The Tigers continued to attack the rim and used balanced scoring to build momentum before entering halftime with a 43-39 advantage, scoring 24 of their first-half points in the paint.
Following intermission, Tennessee State steadily extended its lead, pushing the margin to 65-59 before using a 6-0 run—highlighted by a Nkrumah three—to open a 71-59 cushion with 9:16 remaining. Lindenwood trimmed the deficit to single digits on several occasions, but the Tigers answered each push with timely baskets, including back-to-back transition dunks from Harper II late, to secure the 96-86 victory. Tennessee State finished the game with 32 of its 53 second-half points coming in the paint.