Mustangs snap Southeast men's winning streak

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak end Wednesday night.

Southeast held an early lead but played from behind most of the way as Southern Methodist University from Conference USA handed the Redhawks a 71-59 loss in Dallas.

Southeast coach Dickey Nutt's team fell to 3-11 while SMU improved to 8-4 with its fourth straight victory and sixth consecutive home triumph.

The Redhawks are 2-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play while the Mustangs have not yet started their league schedule.

Robert Nyakundi, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound junior forward, had a double-double, helping the Mustangs win for the seventh time in eight games.

Nyakundi posted game highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Justin Haynes added 17 points for SMU.

Sophomore guard Marland Smith scored all 20 of his points in the second half to finish as Southeast's top scorer for the fourth straight contest. He is averaging nearly 21 points during that stretch.

Senior guard Anthony Allison contributed 15 points for the Redhawks, all in the first half.

Allison's 10 points helped the Redhawks to a 12-9 lead. Nyakundi's 3-pointer with 9 minutes, 25 seconds left in the first half broke a 14-14 tie and gave the Mustangs a lead they did not relinquish.

SMU led 37-26 at the break thanks to shooting 50 percent from the field.

The Mustangs built the game's biggest lead of 45-30 early in the second half.

The Redhawks, largely through Smith's second-half explosion that featured four 3-pointers, pulled within 53-47 with 9:12 remaining but could get no closer.

The foul-filled contest featured 61 free throws.

SMU, which leads Conference USA in free-throw percentage, hit 24 of 33 from the charity stripe. Southeast was just 14 of 28.

The Mustangs shot 44.4 percent from the field compared to 35.8 percent for the Redhawks.

Southeast resumes OVC play Monday against Tennessee-Martin to start a four-game conference homestand.