SATURDAY’S SCORES
Lindenwood 82, @Eastern Illinois 74

Tennessee Tech 87, @West Georgia 59
Western Michigan 83, @SIUE 73
@Presbyterian 80, Morehead State 72
@Western Illinois 78, Hannibal-LaGrange 47
Southeast Missouri 74, @Chattanooga 70
Arkansas State 90, @Little Rock 78
 

LINDENWOOD 82, EASTERN ILLINOIS 74

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Lindenwood Men’s Basketball team picked up their third straight win and improved to 1-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with an 82-74 road win at Eastern Illinois on Saturday night. Jadis Jones led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, while Dontrez Williams scored 18 points to go along with four assists and three steals. 

The start of the first half was all Williams as he scored 10 of Lindenwood’s first 11 points of the game by knocking down two early three point jump shots. After the Sophomore guard from Sikeston, Missouri scored on a breakaway dunk to put the Lions in front 11-7, the Panthers responded with a 9-2 run to take a 16-13 lead with 12:11 to go in the opening half. EIU went on another run later in the half to go up by as much as 11 by a score of 30-19 with 7:02 to play, but the Lions clawed their way back. Jones scored three straight points for Lindenwood to cut the Panther lead to nine with 6:43 to go, and Williams would score or assist on five straight points a couple minutes later to cut the deficit to 34-27 after Willimas found Jeremiah Talton for a three pointer in the left corner with 3:59 remaining. The rest of the half was back-and-forth as the Panthers took a 41-34 lead into the locker room. Williams led the Lions at the break with 12 points on 5-9 shooting while Jones ended the first half with seven points and three rebounds. 

In the second half, Lindenwood quickly started on a 6-0 run behind buckets on three straight possessions from Jadis Jones, Milos Nenadic, and Dontrez Williams to make it a 41-40 contest with 18:21 left in the game. The Lions would grab the lead at 47-45 with 15:42 to go and never looked back after Williams found Anais Futrell in the right wing corner on a three pointer. The Panthers tied the game three different times after Lindenwood went up by two, but the Lion defense was able to get key stops when it mattered the most.

With 7:20 to go in the ballgame, the Lions got a stop on the defensive end of the floor which led to Clayton Jackson finding Williams in transition to give LU a four point lead at 61-57. On the next defensive possession, Lindenwood got another stop and Jadis Jones grabbed the defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast spinning around his defender and scoring to put some separation between the two squads.

EIU would not go away quietly as they followed the Jones bucket with a 6-2 run making it a two point game with just over five minutes to play. Milos Nenadic and Jones went on a 7-0 run by themselves as they scored the next seven points for Lindenwood to extend the lead out to eight points with four minutes to go. The Lions iced the game after Nenadic blocked a panther shot in the paint that led to a long rebound for Clayton Jackson. Jackson was able to score on the fastbreak layup with no EIU defenders around him to put Lindenwood up 80-70 with under a minute to go and the Lions hung on to win the game by a final score of 82-74. 

TENNESSEE TECH 87, WEST GEORGIA 59

CARROLLTON, Ga. – Tennessee Tech (4-6, 0-0 OVC) snaps its three-game losing skid with a complete team win 87-59 over West Georgia (5-4, 0-0 ASUN) on the road Saturday.

Dani Pounds scored a career-high 21 points on 7-of-9 (77.8%) shooting alongside four other Golden Eagles in double figures in the most complete effort of the season, leading to a 28-point revenge victory over West Georgia on the road Saturday.

The Golden Eagles posted a solid first half, shooting 53.8 (15-28) from the field to hold a five-point lead at the break, 38-33. The team then came out of the break with an 8-0 run and went on a tear offensively, shooting 18-29 (62.1%) as a team to pull away from the Wolves.

Pounds was feeling it offensively, including making his fourth three-pointer of the season, finishing 1-of-1 from distance and 6-of-6 from the line. He also led the team with seven rebounds as the Golden Eagles won the battle of the boards 35-28.

It marks the third time this season that Pounds has led the team in scoring including back-to-back games leading the team in points (19 at Lipscomb, 21 at UWG). Pounds was the leading scorer in both matchups against West Georgia this season, posting 17 points on Nov. 13 to lead the team as well as today’s career high. He solidifies himself as the second leading scorer on the team, now averaging 12.0 points per game, while shooting almost 57 percent for the season.

Pounds’ 21-point performance marks the second-most points scored in a game by a Golden Eagle this season, trailing only JaJuan Nicholls’ 22-point effort against Va. Lynchburg (11/10/25). Pounds has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games, with the high-water mark of 21 today.

Tech extended its lead to as large as 33 with 3:47 left in the second half behind additional offensive efforts from Mekhi Cameron (15 pts, 5-8 FG), Brandon Muntu (15 pts, 6-9 FG), and Ja’Quavian Florence (13 pts, 5-7 FG), marking four Golden Eagles in double-digit scoring. The Golden Eagles outscored the Wolves 49-26 in the second half.

As a team, TTU made 33 shots on 57 attempts for 57.9 percent from the field for the game, while UWG managed just 20 made shots on 56 attempts (35.7%). The nearly 58 percent from the field marks the second-best field goal percentage for the team this season (1st; 58.2 vs. Va. Lynchburg). Tech limited West Georgia to just 8 made shots in the second half (27 attempts) for 29.6 percent as the defense tightened its grip on the lead.

Tech’s biggest run was a 14-0 stretch in the second half with 9:38 left, holding the lead for 34:24 of the 40-minute game to earn a revenge win after losing a two-point (L, 61-59) affair at Eblen Center back on Nov. 17 before the team left on a five-game road trip, its longest of the season.

C.J. McPherson scored five big points in the close first half and finished with 9 points, shooting 3-of-4 from the field and 1-of-1 from three. JaJuan Nicholls made consecutive trips down the court with buckets and finished with six points on 3-of-4 shooting. Nicholls put an exclamation point on the big victory with a late dunk to put the Golden Eagles up 32.

Ty Owens banked a nice runner off the glass for two of his four points (2-6 FG) while leading the team with four assists.

Malik Ferguson finished with one made basket (2 pts) in 20 minutes. Ferguson’s minutes were limited by four fouls. Jah’Kim Payne finished with two points as well (1-5 FG).

WESTERN MICHIGAN 83, SIUE 73

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Western Michigan connected on nearly 60 percent of its shots Saturday as the Broncos downed SIUE men’s basketball 83-73 at First Community Arena.

Western Michigan improved to 5-5 overall in winning its first road game of the year. SIUE dropped 6-4 with the setback.

The Broncos hit 27-47 (57 percent) total attempts and went for a season-high 12 three-pointers in the game. They also drained 17-19 at the free throw line. The hot shooting allowed the Broncos to win despite SIUE forcing 19 turnovers.

SIUE struggled offensively in the first half, shooting just 34 percent in the first 20 minutes.

WMU led 36-28 at the break.

The Broncos built as much as a 15-point lead, midway through the second when a Trey Lewis jumper made it 54-39.

Sparked by three steals on defense, the Cougars then went on a 10-0 run, capped off by a Ring Malith three-pointer to get the deficit down to five with 11:47 left in the game. A Malith rebound and tipin made it 57-53 with 10:07 to play when the Broncos pulled away with their own 10-0 run.

SIUE got as close as five two more times, the final time being when Malith scored at the basket after a feed from Myles Thompson made it 75-70 with 57 seconds to play.

From there, the Broncos went 8-8 at the free throw line to seal the win.

Jalen Griffith scored 28 points with 10 assists and five rebounds to lead Western Michigan. He was 9-9 at the free throw line. EJ Ryans was 5-6 from three-point range and scored 20 points.

The Cougars shot 53 percent (17-32) in the second half and went 28-64 (44 percent) for the game. Malith paced the Cougars with 20 points, the fourth time this year he has scored at least 20. Myles Thompson added 13 points and Darrion Baker tied his career high with 12 points in 15 minutes off the bench. Jack Campion and Jordan Pickett each scored eight points. Campion matched his season high with eight assists.

Western Michigan outrebounded SIUE 36-23 in the game. The Cougars scored 36 points in the paint.

PRESBYTERIAN 80, MOREHEAD STATE 72

CLINTON, S.C. – Another encouraging first-half performance didn’t carry over into the final 20 minutes for the Morehead State Men’s Basketball team as the Eagles dropped an 80-72 decision at Presbyterian’s Templeton Center Saturday afternoon.

MSU (3-7) dropped its third straight game after leading 42-39 at the break. The Eagles nailed 60 percent of their field goals in the opening period, but cooled off to just 34 percent in the final half and shot less than 30 percent for much of the half. MSU was also doubled up in the rebounding category, 44-22. PC improved to 6-6 and won its first-ever game over MSU after dropping the three previous meetings.

George Marshall topped MSU in points, scoring 16 and hitting a quartet of three-pointers. Anouar Mellouk tied his season high with 13 markers, and Josiah LeGree also tied his high-water mark for the season with 13 points. Tyonne Farrell scored a season-best nine, and Marshall led the Eagles in rebounds with six – his second straight game with six.

Morehead State limited its turnovers to just 10, but the Blue Hose turned that into 20 points. MSU forced 17 PC mistakes but could only generate 17 points via the miscues of the home squad.

Carl Parish led a quintet of Blue Hose players with 10+ points as he had 18. Jonah Pierce put up a double-double with 11 points and a game-best 16 rebounds.

MSU was able to build a five-point (22-17) lead in the mid-point of the opening half following a pair of Chase Dawson free throws. But, PC erased that right away. Marshall canned a three-ball as time expired in the half to give his team a 42-39 cushion in the locker room.

The home team scored the first six of the second half. MSU had the game within two on several occasions, including 58-56 with 8:33 left, but a 10-0 run by the Blue Hose effectively put the game out of reach, leading by 12.

The Eagles wound up shooting 44 percent (26-of-58) for the day but allowed 51 percent efficiency to PC.

WESTERN ILLINOIS 78, HANNIBAL-LAGRANGE 47

MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois picked up a convincing 78-47 win over Hannibal-La Grange on Saturday afternoon inside Western Hall. The Leathernecks controlled the game on both ends, using a dominant rebounding effort and steady scoring balance to pull away.

Western Illinois led 32-22 at halftime before breaking the game open with a 46-point second half. The Leathernecks finished with 48 rebounds, including 19 on the offensive glass, and turned that effort into 14 second-chance points. WIU also outscored the Trojans 44-14 in the paint.

Karyiek Dixon delivered an efficient performance with 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting and added 11 rebounds for a double-double. Antwaun Massey scored 11 points and grabbed six boards, while Isaiah Griffin and Tyran Cook each reached double figures with 10 points apiece. Lucas Lorenzen added nine points and six rebounds, and Francis Okwuosah chipped in nine points.

Western Illinois’ bench contributed 28 points as the Leathernecks improved to 3-7 on the season.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74, CHATTANOOGA 70

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Southeast Missouri (4-6) scored four points in the final 59 seconds to eke out a 74-70 win over Chattanooga (4-5) Saturday afternoon in a thriller at McKenzie Arena.

 

In an up-tempo slugfest that featured 13 ties and 19 lead changes, SEMO delivered the knockout blow to come away with its first true road victory of the season.

 

Troy Cole, Jr., provided the spark the Redhawks needed to get to the finish line when he stole the ball and threw down a dunk giving SEMO a 70-68 edge with 1:39 to go.

 

After Makai Richards made two free throws to tie the game one last time, Cole, Jr. hammered down another big dunk. BJ Ward found Cole, Jr. who then drove the baseline and scored to regain a 72-70 advantage for the Redhawks.

 

Former Redhawk Teddy Washington, Jr. missed a jumper in the paint on UTC’s ensuing possession. Luke Almodovar grabbed the rebound and Braxton Stacker was fouled. Stacker made two free throws with 13 seconds on the clock to ice it.

 

Almodovar gave SEMO its first lead in the second half when he stole the ball and went to the rim for a dunk to make it a 57-55 ballgame with 12:26 left to play.

 

Neither team led by more than three points for the last 9:09 of the contest.

 

SEMO and UTC shot 57 percent or better and led by no more than five points in a tightly contested first half.

 

Landren Blocker sent a jolt into the Redhawks out of the gate scoring a pair of layups and getting a steal in the first 2:09. Blocker’s step back jumper put SEMO ahead, 6-1, with 17:51 remaining in the first half.

 

After Almodovar buried a 3-pointer to tie the game at 37-37, UTC answered with five-straight points and built its five-point cushion on Jordan Frison’s driving layup with 51 seconds to go.

 

A pull up 3-pointer by Stacker and layup by Elliot Lowndes at the buzzer helped trim the Mocs’ lead to 46-44 at the half.

 

The Redhawks shot 57.6 percent (19-of-33) from the floor, while UTC made 70.8 percent (17-of-24) of its field goals in the first 20 minutes of play. 

 

Almodovar led three SEMO players in double figures with 16 points off the bench. He scored 12 of those from downtown.

Stacker followed with 12 points and Ward added 10. Stacker made a perfect 4-of-4 free throws and Ward posted four assists, as well.

 

Cole, Jr. also had nine points and five rebounds for the Redhawks, both season-highs.

 

The Redhawks outrebounded the Mocs, 23-13, in the second half. Seven of their boards were on the offensive glass. Additionally, SEMO’s 39 points off the bench are the Redhawks most against a Division I opponent this year.

ARKANSAS STATE 90, LITTLE ROCK 78

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Recap coming soon.

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