Eagles drop Southeast men

A season-high announced crowd of 5,966 attended Saturday's "Show Me Sellout" game against Tennessee Tech.

All that support gave the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team a big boost in its attempt to break a five-game losing streak.

"The fans created a whole lot of energy," sophomore guard Marland Smith said.

But the Redhawks fell short despite a spirited effort.

Tennessee Tech started fast and held off numerous Southeast comebacks during a 93-86 victory that avenged the Eagles' two-point loss to Southeast on Dec. 21 in Cookeville, Tenn.

Southeast Missouri State's Anthony Allison takes a shot over Tennessee Tech's Terrell Barnes during the first half Saturday at the Show Me Center. (Kristin Eberts)

"I want to thank every individual for being at that game. What a great crowd," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "Once again we're disappointed we didn't get away with a win. We were beaten by a good team.

"Our effort was good. If you give me that kind of effort every night, I can live with that."

Southeast fell to 5-17 overall and 4-8 in Ohio Valley Conference play with its sixth straight setback. The Redhawks remained eighth in the 10-team league.

Tech (11-9, 7-4) moved into a three-way tie for third place after winning for the seventh time in 10 games since losing to Southeast last month.

"They [Southeast] played well. They played hard," said Tech assistant Steve Payne, directing the Eagles while coach Mike Sutton stayed home for medical reasons.

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tony Samuel and and his team are honored at halftime of Saturday's men's game.

Tech's high-powered offense, which entered Saturday leading the OVC in scoring (77.4 points per game) and field-goal percentage (48.4), set the early tone and never let up.

The Eagles, who never trailed, scored 10 straight points to build a 12-2 lead less than four minutes into the contest.

"They hit some tough shots," Nutt said. "Take the first three minutes away and it's an even game."

Southeast spent the rest of the night playing catch up. The Redhawks came close several times but couldn't make it all the way back.

Tech's biggest lead was 12 points in the first half, but Southeast pulled within 48-42 at the break.

Southeast Missouri State's Leon Powell shoots over Tennessee Tech's Liam McMorrow and Zac Swansey during the first half Saturday. (Kristin Eberts)

The Redhawks cut the deficit to two points twice but fell back behind by 11 points with less than five minutes left.

Then came Southeast's final push. Junior guard Marcus Brister's driving shot made it 82-78 with 1:51 remaining.

After a Tech miss, Brister drove for another bucket that looked like it would trim the deficit to 82-80 and send him to the line. But the basket was waved off as Brister was called for charging.

"One of the officials called a [blocking] foul and the other called a charge," Nutt said. "He [the official that called the charge] overruled the other one."

Tech answered with a layup to make it 84-78, then after a Southeast miss and a rebounding foul on the Redhawks, Nutt was called for a rare technical with 47 seconds left.

"You get a technical for a couple of reasons, going out on the floor or cussing somebody out," Nutt said. "I didn't do either, but I don't think it had an effect on the outcome of the game."

The Eagles made 1 of 2 free throws on the technical and on the original foul to go up 86-78 and put the victory on ice.

"We played our hearts out. Everybody did," redshirt freshman point guard Lucas Nutt said.

Smith led Southeast with a game-high 27 points. He bounced back from Thursday's five-point performance against Jacksonville State after having 56 points in the previous two contests.

"I just tried to play hard. I didn't play hard enough Thursday," said Smith, who hit 10 of 18 from the floor.

Nutt had a strong performance with 21 points, one off his career high. He hit 5 of 7 shots, including both of his 3-point attempts, and made 9 of 10 free throws.

Junior forward Leon Powell bounced back from a season-low three points against Jacksonville State with 14 points and 13 rebounds despite battling foul trouble.

Senior guard Anthony Allison added 14 points for Southeast.

Junior guard Zach Bailey paced Tech with 23 points.

Southeast allowed a season-high 56.9 percent from the field.

"If we don't turn the ball over, we're pretty efficient," Payne said.

While the Eagles had numerous fast-break layups, they also hit quite a few difficult shots.

"We knew we had our hands full,"coach Nutt said. "Defense is our problem right now. We held our own offensively."

Southeast reached a season-high point total against a Division I opponent two days after scoring just 45 points in regulation during an overtime loss to Jacksonville State.

The Redhawks shot a strong 48.4 percent while committing a season-low seven turnovers.

"I thought we played good offensively. We just couldn't stop them," Lucas Nutt said. "They push it. If you don't get back, it's two points."

Suspect free-throw shooting again hurt the Redhawks. They entered shooting just 63.1 percent and made 63.3 percent (19 of 30) against Tech.

"You have to hit free throws," coach Nutt said.

The Redhawks returns to action Tuesday at SIU-Edwardsville.