EIU Wins In Opening Round of OVC Tourney

EVANSVILLE, IND. – Eastern Illinois held off a late Tennessee State rally in the final 43 seconds as the Panthers won 73-71 on Wednesday night in the opening round of the OVC Tournament.  The Panthers will play No. 3 seed Austin Peay at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night at the Ford Center.

EIU improved to 12-18 overall as EIU won its first OVC Tournament game since the 2015 season.  TSU ended the year at 15-15.

EIU was up 24-22 at the half and appeared to take command of the game on back-to-back 3-pointers by Mack Smith and Ray Crossland with 7:36 to play that put EIU up 55-44.

TSU would chip away at the lead cutting it down to three points with 1:25 to play on a 3-pointer by Stokley Chaffee.  TSU was 7-of-12 from 3-point range in the second half after opening the game 2-of-10 from behind the arc.

Smith countered for the Panthers knocking down a 3-pointer with 1:04 to play giving EIU a 68-62 lead.  Smith had 15 points as he was one of three Panthers in double figures.

Crossland made one of two at the foul line with 43 seconds remaining that gave the Panthers a three possession lead.  Missed free throws nearly haunted the Panthers down the stretch as they were 16-of-27 in the second half but were 5-of-12 in the final 43 seconds.

Delano Spencer quickly attacked for TSU following each EIU offensive possession scoring seven points in the final 37 seconds as he finished with 17 points.  On the final play of the game Spencer had his desperation 3-pointer blocked by Crossland as time expired.

Crossland had two blocks, 11 points and seven rebounds in the win.   Montell Goodwin led EIU in scoring with 20 points.   EIU shot 59 percent from the floor in the second half.

The first half had a defensive tone as TSU’s Christian Mekowulu scored 13 of the Tigers points.   In the second half EIU held Mekowulu to just two points.   He would pull down 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double.  Armani Chaney had 15 points to round out the TSU scorers.

Tennessee Tech 60, SIUE 51

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – SIUE men's basketball's season came to an end Wednesday night with a 60-51 loss to Tennessee Tech in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at the Ford Center.

SIUE finished the year at 9-21 overall. Tennessee Tech improved to 19-13 and advances to play fourth-seeded Jacksonville State Thursday night.

"It was a frustrating performance tonight," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "We gave up too many shots around the rim in the first half and that was the difference."

In similar fashion to recent contests, the Cougars lead early. SIUE went up by five points on several occasions, the last time being on a Justin Benton three-pointer with 4:39 to play before halftime when the Cougars led 22-17.

Tennessee Tech took the lead for good on a Mason Ramsey layup with 1:49 to play in the half. The Golden Eagles led 29-24 at halftime.

The Cougars never led in the second period. SIUE cut the lead to three points early in the half on a Jalen Henry jumper.

Henry led SIUE with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in his final game in a Cougar uniform. The native of Springfield, Illinois, finished his career with 1,059 points to hold the No. 11 spot in scoring. His 15 rebounds gave him 511 for his career. He is one of only five players to finish his career with more than 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

"He finished his career with a double-double and I think that is very fitting," Harris said. "Between him and Keenan (Simmons), the growth they have made between our first season and now is remarkable. I am forever indebted to both of those guys for welcoming me at 34 years old and really buying in to my vision."

"When he got here, I put all my faith in him," Henry said.  "I owe my success and how I have grown as a player to him. I couldn't have done this without him."

Simmons finished the night with six points and seven rebounds. The Michigan City, Indiana, product ended his career with 521 rebounds, which ranks him No. 10 all-time at SIUE.

SIUE hit just 30.3 percent (20-66) of its shots. The Cougars were 3-25 from long range.

"We got a little stagnant on offense and I credit their defense, but it's something for us to learn from," Harris said. "We struggled to get plays on the perimeter. Every time we drove there was a body there and we couldn't finish at the level we needed to."

The Cougars outrebound Tennessee Tech 49-41. The 49 rebounds were a season-high and an all-time program high against a Division I opponent.

Ramsey led Tennessee Tech with 19 points. He scored 17 in the first half. Kajon Mack added a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Harris noted that while the season didn't go exactly as he would have like, forward progress was made.

"We did some really good things this season," he said. "I am proud of our guys for staying with it and making the progress we made."