2026 OVC Men's Basketball Championship - Quarterfinals

3/5/2026 8:11:32 AM

#4 UT MARTIN 66, #8 EASTERN ILLINOIS 63
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The No. 4 seeded University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team opened its stay in the OVC Basketball Championship by knocking off No. 8 seeded Eastern Illinois by a 66-63 margin to advance to the tournament semifinals on Friday night.

The Skyhawks (22-10) matched its all-time single-season wins record with their 22nd victory of the season, equaling record-setting performances by standout teams in 2008-09 and 2016-17. The win also marked a season-sweep of Eastern Illinois, picking up three wins over the Panthers on the campaign.

UT Martin had three players reach double figures with the trio of Matas Deniusas, Filip Radakovic and Andrija Bukumirovic combining to score 45 points in the contest. The tandem of Deniusas (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Radakovic (17 points, four assists) led the team in the scoring column while Bukumirovic chipped in his eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.

After picking up an upset victory in the first round, Eastern Illinois (13-20) challenged UT Martin throughout a game which featured 10 lead changes and six ties. A 50 percent shooting night in the second half kept the Panthers in the contest behind a game-high 18 points for Preston Turner off the bench. A well-rounded scoring effort saw EIU place four players in double figures with Terry McMorris (15 points, 12 rebounds), Kooper Jacobi (12 points) and Meechie White (12 points) filling the stat sheet.

#3 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 68, #6 LINDENWOOD 66
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Braxton Stacker scored 16 points and buried the game-winning jumper with 3.1 seconds left to send #3 Southeast Missouri (20-12) to a 68-66 come-from-behind victory over #6 Lindenwood (18-15) Thursday in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Stacker dribbled to the right baseline, stepped back and calmly buried his fade away jumper to put SEMO in the OVC Tournament semifinals for the third time in four years.

In a tight game that included 11 ties, the Redhawks overcame a 13-point deficit to pull off their comeback thriller.

After Milos Nenadic scored to bring the game to a 62-62 deadlock with 3:09 to play, Brendan Terry made two big free throws to regain a two-point edge for SEMO.

Jadis Jones countered with two free throws of his own to knot the game at 64-64 at the 1:48 mark.

Then, Dontrez Williams put the Lions up, 66-64, 24 seconds later.

With 39 seconds remaining, Stacker knocked down two free throws to give the game its final tie before sticking his game-winner.

After Luke Almodovar's layup pulled SEMO within two (19-17), LU went on an 11-0 run and capitalized on a 4:37 scoring drought by the Redhawks to take a 30-17 advantage.

Anias Futrell's 3-pointer gave the Lions their first double-digit lead before Williams scored a layup with 4:23 remaining in the first half.

Stacker's jumper put an end to the Redhawks scoreless stretch.

Troy Cole, Jr.'s fast break layup narrowed LU's lead to seven and the Lions answered with a basket by Clayton Jackson to pull ahead, 34-25, at halftime.

SEMO, which shot 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the field and outscored LU, 43-32, in the second half alone, was balanced again offensively with five players scoring in double figures.

Stacker shot 5-of-10 from the field, made two 3-pointers and hit a perfect 4-of-4 free throws to pave the way.

Marqueas Bell followed with 14 points and five rebounds off the bench, while Terry and Almodovar added 12 points apiece. Cole, Jr. contributed 11 points and five boards off the bench, as well.

Futrell led all scorers with a game-high 17 points.

SEMO picked up its 11th win in 13 contests and won 20 games in a season for the fourth time in its NCAA Division I era. This year marked only the second time the Redhawks won 20 or more games in back-to-back seasons since their move to the Division I ranks in 1991-92.

The Redhawks are in the OVC Tournament semifinals for the fourth time in five trips to the event under Head Coach Brad Korn. Overall, this will be SEMO's seventh OVC Tournament semifinal appearance in program history.