Southeast Missouri defeated Eastern Illinois 79-68 to remain in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference on Saturday in Charleston, Ill.
Five teams entered Saturday tied for first place in the conference. After Tennessee Tech fell to Little Rock and Southern Indiana lost to UT Martin, only UTM, SEMO (12-11, 7-3), and Morehead State remain in the race for the regular season conference title.
The Redhawks have won seven of their last nine games, including three straight OVC games for the first time since 2012-13.
Phillip Russell led the Redhawks with 19 points and six assists. The sophomore guard shot 4-of-8, including 3-of-7 from the three-point line and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Three other Redhawks scored in double figures. Adam Larson and Isreal Barnes scored 11 points while Josh Early chipped in 10 points.
The Panthers jumped ahead early with a 6-2 lead. SEMO swiftly went on a 21-2 run to lead 23-8 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Russell hit a three-pointer to secure a 39-29 halftime lead.
The Panthers clawed back to tie the game 50-50 on a layup by Kyle Thomas with 12:20 left in the game. The Redhawks responded with a 12-5 run capped off by a Larson three-pointer with 7:31 remaining.
Clinging onto a four-point lead with 4:14 left in the game, Dylan Branson scored seven of his eight points in the game’s final minutes, starting with a three-pointer. Shortly after assisting a Nate Johnson layup, Branson stole the ball from EIU’s Dan Luers and darted to the other basket to slam down a dunk, giving SEMO a 73-64 lead with 2:45 remaining. Branson then added two free throws with 27 seconds left to pad the double-digit lead.
Yaakema Rose Jr. led the Panthers with 15 points, followed by Nick Ellington with 13 points off the bench, and 11 points from Caleb Donaldson.
SEMO returns to the Show Me Center to host Little Rock on Thursday at 7 p.m.
__WBB: Eastern Illinois 63, Southeast Missouri 57__
Southeast Missouri (9-12, 4-6) took Ohio Valley Conference leader Eastern Illinois (18-3, 10-0) to the mat on Saturday but fell in the end, 63-57, at Lantz Arena.
Jaliyah Green scored 15 points and had six rebounds for the Redhawks, and Kennedi Watkins added 14 points. Rahmena Henderson also scored 12 points, including 2-of-8 from the three-point line.
Neither team was effective from the three-point line. SEMO (4-of-18) made one more shot from the arc than EIU (3-of-21), but the Panthers made 22-of-29 from the free throw line while the Redhawks made it to the charity line only 11 times.
The game entered the fourth quarter in a 43-43 tie. Watkins and Green combined for a six-point burst to gain the upper hand early in the final period, but the Panthers went on to outscore the Redhawks 20-8 the rest of regulation.
SEMO returns to the Show Me Center on Thursday to face second-place Little Rock at 5 p.m.
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