THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 77, Eastern Illinois 68
@UT Martin 76, Southern Indiana 54
Lindenwood 79, @Little Rock 74
@Southeast Missouri 82, Morehead State 70
@Tennessee Tech 97, Western Illinois 72
TENNESSEE STATE 77, EASTERN ILLINOIS 68
NASHVILLE - — Antoine Lorick III scored 24 points and Aaron Nkrumah added 23 as Tennessee State defeated Eastern Illinois 77-68 on Thursday night at the Gentry Center. The Tigers never trailed after halftime and used defense and late free throws to secure the Ohio Valley Conference victory.
The Tigers (15-8, 9-4) had two players score in double figures, led by Lorick III, who had 24 points and five steals. Nkrumah tacked on 23 points and Dante Harris added seven points, 10 assists and two steals. Nkrumah also pulled down five rebounds while Lorick shot 8-of-14 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Tennessee State shared the ball well in Thursday's game, racking up 15 assists on 26 made field goals. Harris' 10 assists paced the Tigers.
Tennessee State forced 17 Eastern Illinois turnovers while committing only seven themselves in Thursday's game. The Tigers turned those takeaways into 19 points on the other end of the floor and added 18 fast-break points. Lorick III's five steals led the way for Tennessee State.
Tennessee State started off strong, putting together a 33-30 lead heading into halftime. Tennessee State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 26 of its 33 points close to the basket.
Eastern Illinois briefly took a second-half lead, but Tennessee State answered and expanded its advantage to 64-60 before going on a 6-0 run to grow the lead to 70-60 with 1:19 to go in the contest. The Tigers then closed the game at the free throw line, shooting 17-of-20 in the second half. The Panthers narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Tigers still cruised the rest of the way for the 77-68 win.
UT MARTIN 76, SOUTHERN INDIANA 54
MARTIN, Tenn. - Redshirt freshman Pedro Santos pumped in a career-best 19 points in 20 minutes off the bench to pace the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team to another Ohio Valley Conference win tonight, 76-54 over Southern Indiana.
A 6-7, 195-pound guard out of Porto, Portugal, Santos also snagged seven rebounds to go along with two steals this evening. He became the ninth different Skyhawk to lead UT Martin in scoring this season as he reached double figures in the points column for the seventh time in the last 14 contests.
Fellow freshman Matas Deniusas added 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Skyhawks, who improved to 19-5 overall with an 11-2 OVC record. Filip Radakovic (11 points, game-high four assists) completed the double-digit scorers for UT Martin as the Skyhawks led by as many as 30 points while collecting their 11th consecutive victory inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Screaming Eagles (5-18, 2-11 OVC) were led by Amaree Brown’s 14 points. Southern Indiana was limited to 28.1 percent (16-of-57) shooting and was outrebounded by a 52-32 margin, allowing UT Martin to a 32-14 edge in points in the paint and 22-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Four separate UT Martin players scored as part of an early 9-0 run as Santos (tip-in layup), Radakovic (floating jumper and a free throw), Vladimir Khryapa (free throw) and Filip Petkovski (three-pointer) contributed to the surge that boosted the Skyhawks out to a 20-9 lead.
After the Screaming Eagles trimmed their deficit down to three points with four minutes left in the opening half, UT Martin scored 11 of the final 13 points before the intermission. A Khryapa triple concluded the first-half scoring and gave the Skyhawks a 38-26 advantage at halftime. Deniusas and Josiah Dunham topped their respective squads with game-highs of eight points apiece at the break.
UT Martin held Southern Indiana without a field goal for a 4:59 stretch in the early stages of the second half, building up a 52-28 lead in the process. Santos then scored six consecutive Skyhawk points before Radakovic buried a stepback trifecta from the left wing that barely evaded the shot clock and gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the evening (65-35) with 5:53 left to play.
The Screaming Eagles would not get any closer than 18 points the rest of the way as the Skyhawks never trailed throughout the entire contest.
LINDENWOOD 79, LITTLE ROCK 74
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Lindenwood Men's Basketball team (15-10, 9-5 OVC) improved to 8-2 following a loss this season with a gutsy 79-74 win on the road over Little Rock on Thursday night. Senior Guard Anias Futrell led the Lions once again offensively scoring a game-high 24 points and knocking down six three pointers to go along with six rebounds and three assists.
After Little Rock jumped out to a 10-4 lead less than five minutes into the contest, Lindenwood responded with an 11-0 run to grab a 15-10 lead behind Futrell scoring five points to highlight the run and Robert Lewis chipping in four points. The Trojans quickly responded with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 15 with 10 minutes left in the first half and led to the final 30 minutes being close throughout. With 8:05 to go in the opening half, Milos Nenadic gave Lindenwood the lead on a layup and Dontrez Williams followed the Nenadic layup with a left wing three pointer as the Lions clung to a 24-22 lead. Both teams went scoreless over the next several minutes with the score tied at 24 until Mekhi Cooper knocked down his first three pointer of the game to put the Lions in front 27-24 with just under five minutes to go until halftime. Little Rock briefly took the lead with 2:46 to go, but Jadis Jones scored on a layup and Nenadic went 2-2 from the free throw line as Lindenwood grabbed a 31-30 lead at the break. Nenadic led the Lions with 10 first half points while Williams had seven and Futrell had five.
In the second half, the largest lead for either side was six as both teams traded punches back and forth all half long. After Little Rock took a four point lead at 42-38 with 16:06 remaining, Anias Futrell started to heat up for the rest of the contest as he buried three straight three pointers to even up the score at 47-47 with 12:40 to play. Futrell would connect on his fourth three pointer of the half with 8:55 to go to give Lindenwood a 56-52 lead, but the Trojans once again responded with a run of their own by using a 6-2 run over the next 1:30 of game time to even the score at 58. Mekhi Cooper connected on his only three pointer of the second half 10 seconds after ULR had tied the game to put Lindenwood up for good for the remainder of the contest. Milos Nenadic gave the Lions a five point lead a few minutes later after scoring on a reverse layup inside the paint with 5:48 left, and scored again less than a minute later on a tip-in layup to put the pressure on Little Rock over the final five minutes of the game. The Trojans cut the deficit down to one by a score of 69-68 with less than three minutes to play, but Futrell ended all hope for Little Rock by connecting on his fifth straight three pointer of the half from the logo to put Lindenwood back up by four with just over two minutes to play. Nenadic scored the next basket a minute later on another tip in to give the Lions their largest lead of the half at 74-68 and LU made free throws down the stretch to pick up their fifth OVC road win of the season by a final score of 79-74.
Rebounding was a big factor tonight for Lindenwood as they outrebounded Little Rock 41-37 and gathered 16 offensive rebounds in the win over the Trojans that led to 15 second chance points. The Lions also shot 6-7 from the three point line in the second half while holding Little Rock to 1-6 from beyond the arc over the last 20 minutes of action.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 82, MOREHEAD STATE 70
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - – BJ Ward scored a game-high 21 points to lead four starters in double figures as Southeast Missouri (14-10, 9-4) defeated Morehead State (12-12, 8-5), 82-70, Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
SEMO led for all but 11 seconds of the game en route to recording its season-best fifth-consecutive win. Along the way, the Redhawks gave Head Coach Brad Korn his first home victory over the Eagles.
The Redhawks used another strong first half to build a double-digit lead.
Braxton Stacker made back-to-back 3-pointers and later added a layup to put the Redhawks ahead by double figures for the first time at 30-19 with just under four minutes remaining in the first half.
A 16-3 run stretched SEMO's lead to 37-21 when MSU went over five minutes without a field goal. Marqueas Bell's free throws capped that surge to grab the Redhawks a 37-21 advantage at the 2:28 mark.
SEMO headed into the intermission ahead, 43-29.
Stacker scored 12 points and the Redhawks got a big boost off the bench from David Idada who contributed six points and five rebounds in 11 minutes. Luke Almodovar also reached double figures in the first half with 10.
SEMO also shot 54 percent from 3-point range (7-of-13) in the game's first 20 minutes.
MSU managed to get within nine multiple times in the second half, but that was as close as it would get.
The Redhawks took their largest lead of the night (74-56) on Brendan Terry's free throw with 4:48 left to play before nailing down their eighth win at home this season.
Ward shot 7-of-13 from the field, buried three 3-pointers and made a perfect 4-of-4 free throws. Stacker followed with a double-double 17 points and 10 rebounds, his first as a Redhawk.
Almodovar and Terry chipped in 13 points apiece.
For the game, SEMO shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57), 45 percent (9-of-20) from downtown and outrebounded MSU, 30-25.
Jon Carroll led MSU with 15 points.
TENNESSEE TECH 97, WESTERN ILLINOIS 72
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech turned another hot-shooting night into its third straight victory, rolling past Western Illinois 97–72 Thursday night at the Eblen Center.
The Golden Eagles seized control early and never let go, erupting for 53 first-half points and building a commanding 53–30 halftime lead behind relentless pace, ball movement, and perimeter shooting. Tech finished the night at 59.6 percent from the field and 16-of-27 from three-point range, overwhelming the Leathernecks from start to finish.
Tech continues to have a hot hand from the field, shooting 59.6 percent (34-57) overall, including 59.3 percent (16-27) from long distance. The Golden Eagles were dominant on the boards, winning that battle 34 to 21 in the 25-point victory.
After Western Illinois briefly led 2–0, Tech answered with a decisive early surge. JaJuan Nicholls ignited the run with back-to-back baskets inside, and Ty Owens buried an early three to spark an offense that scored on nine of its first 12 possessions. A pair of triples from Brandon Muntu midway through the half stretched the margin into double figures, and the Golden Eagles kept pressing.
Tech blew the game open in the final six minutes of the first half, closing on a 17–5 run. Owens capped the stretch with a late three and two free throws, sending the Golden Eagles into the breakup 23 points while holding Western Illinois to 41.7 percent shooting.
Any thought of a second-half rally was quickly erased. Mekhi Cameron opened the period with a driving finish and later knocked down a three as Tech pushed the lead past 25. Moments later, Nicholls threw down a dunk off a turnover, part of an 8–0 burst that ballooned the advantage to 64–37.
From there, it became a showcase of depth. Muntu continued his sharp shooting from deep, Owens mixed in finishes at the rim and step-back threes, and Tech's bench poured in 47 points on the night. The Golden Eagles led by as many as 37 midway through the second half and cruised home from there.
Five Golden Eagles scored in double figures, led by Nicholls' 14 points in just 14 minutes while leading the team in rebounds with seven. Muntu and Owens each added 13, while Ja'Quavian Florence chipped in 13 off the bench and Dani Pounds added 12 on 4-of- 5 from the field. Tech assisted on 22 baskets, forced 15 turnovers, and controlled the glass with a 34–21 rebounding edge.
Western Illinois was led by Isaiah Griffin's 14 points and Francis Okwuosah's 17, but the Leathernecks were unable to keep pace with Tech's shooting and depth. WIU fell to 4–20 overall and 0–13 in OVC play.
The win lifts Tennessee Tech to 10–14 overall and 5–8 in the Ohio Valley Conference, continuing its late-season momentum with three straight victories.
97 points are the most the Golden Eagles have scored since dropping 101 on Bethel (Tenn.) earlier in the season. It's the most points scored against an OVC opponent since scoring 98 against SEMO in a 98-94 win on Feb. 17, 2022.