Southeast Missouri State men's basketball falls to Eastern Illinois

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- As the final second ticked off the shot clock, Southeast Missouri State forward Trey Kellum received a pass on the block, turned and laid it in to give the Redhawks their largest lead of the game at seven with 3 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first half.

Coach Rick Ray stood in front of Southeast's bench and moved his arms back and forth to mimic passing the ball quickly after he'd been pleased with the ball movement that led up to Kellum's shot.

It was something that Ray rarely saw again the remainder of the game, as Southeast's lead dwindled to two by halftime and a hot second-half start for the Panthers resulted in a 78-69 loss for the Redhawks on Saturday at Lantz Arena.

"I mean, we were in a situation where I didn't think they could guard us inside, and if we just share the basketball, we could get anything we wanted in the paint," Ray said. "We're not a team that can have 25 3-point attempts. We're just not that. The best possession we had the whole game is when Trey got the ball and shot the ball in the post with the shot clock running off. That's the best possession that we had.

"I don't mind if we take a 3 in a possession, but we're coming down and we're hoisting 3s the first thing, and it's just not our identity. It's not who we are. If we just like bought in to that then it's fine, but we've got to accept who we are, and that's the frustrating part right now. We've got to guard our own yard, compete, and on the offensive end -- real simple -- pass the ball."

After Kellum's basket pushed Southeast's lead to 38-31, EIU closed out the half on a 9-4 run.

Panthers forward Trae Anderson scored six of his 18 first-half points in a two-minute span while guard Cornell Johnston drained a 3 and the Redhawks held just a 42-40 advantage at the break.

"He was the only thing we had going well in the first half," EIU coach Jay Spoonhour said of Anderson. "He was really solid all game. He was not feeling well and is playing through being sick."

The Redhawks struggled to slow down Anderson, who made 9 of 10 field goals in the first half to go along with five rebounds. He finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds.

"I think the most challenging thing for him is the fact that he's an undersized 4, so he's really a 3, but he's a big, strong powerful 3," Ray said. "We've got to make him change directions. You can't let a guy come down and never change directions on a straight line drive and get all the way to the hoop. We knew what he was, but we've got to make him change directions."

EIU's Luke Piotrowski scored on the first possession of the second half, and Anderson followed with a layup in transition to put the Panthers up for good, 44-42, 40 seconds into the second half.

Those baskets were part of a 12-2 EIU run over the first 2:58 of the second half to take a 52-44 lead.

Johnston and Anderson each knocked down a triple during that stretch. Anderson was 1 of 21 from 3-point range through the first 23 games of the season.

"There was an urgency to what we did in the second half," Spoonhour said. "If we don't work together as a unit and try and help to get each other shots and think about playing team defense, there's no separation between us and anybody in the league.

"The reason we have started playing better is because we take care of the ball, work together offensively and try to guard. I thought we had urgency in the second half and we did a better job."

Southeast guard Antonius Cleveland halted the Panthers run with a 3-pointer that was part of a personal 6-2 spurt that brought the Redhawks within three with 14:24 remaining, but they never got any closer.

"I feel like we're not competing the whole game like we should be, and everybody's not matching the other players' intensity," Cleveland said.

The Panthers never led by more than eight until Luke Norman sank two free throws with 2 seconds left for the final score.

EIU shot 47.6 percent from the field in the game. The Panthers made 7 of 20 3-point attempts and were 11 of 15 from the charity stripe.

Guard Demetrius Reynolds finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Johnston had 11 points and seven assists.

The Panthers improved to 11-13 and 7-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference. They sit alone atop the West Division standings

"At some point in time, we've got to just be able to guard our own man without like asking for help every single possession," Ray said. "It becomes a competitive thing like, 'I'm going to just guard my man without help.' At some point in time, we've got to be able to guard our own yard."

Southeast shot 39.3 percent and was 5 of 25 from beyond the arc. The Redhawks shot 50 percent in the first half. They were 16 of 24 from the charity stripe.

"We're just going to have to get it done," Cleveland said. "We've got to go out there and compete instead of just saying it. Just manning up and taking pride in it."

It was the third straight loss for Southeast, which dropped to 5-19 and 2-9 in the OVC.

The Redhawks return to action Thursday night when they face UT Martin in Martin, Tennessee. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

"I guess multiple losses," Ray said when asked what it'll take to get through to his players. "These are games -- I mean, we had two games at home that we've got to win our home games, and I thought this was a winnable game. But if we don't buy into who we really are then we're never going to win these games."