SEMO overcomes slow start to beat Lindenwood

A big second half was key in the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks’ 84-65 win over the Lindenwood Lions on Wednesday in the first round of the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

It was a slow start offensively for both sides as SEMO went down 7-0 four minutes into the game.

“I thought that would be the case,” Redhawks coach Brad Korn said. “We did some things a little bit different today that we probably normally wouldn’t do. Give our guys credit for finding our way and getting us to halftime.”

The Redhawks were able to survive the slow start to take a 39-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Lions would hang around early in the second half but Southeast was able to create some separation with multiple mini-runs on the way to an 84-65 win.

Offensively the Redhawks had five scorers in double figures, led by Phillip Russell who had a game-high 19 points in the win.

“We create a lot of possessions,” Korn said. “When we’re at our best we’re able to score the ball and put a ton of pressure on people. Again, when we’re at our best it’s been, multiple double-digit scorers.”

Defensively, SEMO forced 18 turnovers and scored 18 points off of those turnovers.

“We take pride in our defense,” Russell said. “The defense had to be on point today. We started out slow on defense but in the second half, we picked it up. We’re not trying to win games on offense. We hang our hats on defense.”

Russell’s 19 points came on a slow shooting night, but he was more focused on the outcome.

“I’m just happy we won,” Russell said. “We have a great team. I didn’t shoot the ball way but I made sure I made a lot of hustle plays tonight.”

Russell had 5 assists, 5 steals and 4 rebounds to go along with his 19 points.

SEMO outscored Lindenwood 46-26 in the paint and a big key to that was Josh Earley who posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.

“Last game I missed a rebound that might have cost us the game,” Earley said. “Tonight I told myself I was going to go out there and grab every rebound.”

Joining Russell and Earley in double figures was Evan Eursher with 13 points and Chris Harris and Aquan Smart with 11 points each.

Also contributing was Nate Johnson with 7 points, Dylan Branson with 5 points and Israel Barnes with 4 points.

Southeast advances to take on the fourth-seeded Tennessee State Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 2 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

The two teams split the season series with SEMO winning 92-75 on Jan. 26 at the Show Me Center and the Tigers winning 85-65 on their home court in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The message was it’s very important what we do from now until the game starts tomorrow,” Korn said. “That’s obviously going to be a big part of what we do and how we perform.”