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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The Southeast Missouri men’s basketball team raced out to a 15-0 advantage less than eight minutes into the game and never looked back in a 67-51 victory over Morehead State on Wednesday evening at the Show Me Center.
The Redhawks improve to 6-7 overall with a win in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both schools, while the Eagles slip to 6-8 on the season.
The decision also snaps MSU’s eight-game winning streak against SEMO. The Eagles had not previously lost to the Redhawks since the 2006-07 campaign.
“Give Southeast Missouri credit,” Morehead State Head Coach Donnie Tyndall said. “They played well tonight. I think SEMO is going to be a surprise team in the OVC this year. They’re very talented and they’re going to beat some people.”
Southeast Missouri kept Morehead State off the scoreboard for the game’s first eight minutes and 15 seconds. The Redhawks pushed their lead to 17 points shortly before intermission and a game-high 22 points midway through the second period.
“I thought we settled for too many jump shots early in the game and we committed some costly turnovers,” Tyndall said. “Driving the ball and finding open shooters was a big part of the game plan, and we didn’t execute it like I had hoped we would.”
Junior Marland Smith led five Southeast Missouri players in double figures with 14 points. Junior Nick Niemczyk and junior Corey Wilford added 13 points apiece, while senior Leon Powell tossed in 11 and sophomore Tyler Stone finished with 10.
Junior Kahlil Owens and senior Terrance Hill led Morehead State with nine points each. Owens also recorded a team-high five rebounds, while freshman Deandre Mathieu dished out a team-best three assists in just six minutes off the bench.
The Redhawks knocked down 51 percent from the floor (24-of-47), which included a 47-percent clip (9-of-19) from three-point range. The Eagles canned 40 percent from the field (19-of-47), which included just 20 percent (4-of-20) from beyond the arc.
SEMO wrapped up the evening +7 in rebounding (32-25) and +1 in turnovers (12-11).
Morehead State returns to Johnson Arena for a New Year’s Eve matinee against OVC preseason favorite Austin Peay on Saturday at Noon ET. The contest will be nationally-televised by ESPNU.
