Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team drops OVC opener to Murray State

Getting behind early at the start of games seems to have become a trend for the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team.

It continued Thursday night in the Redhawks' Ohio Valley Conference opener against Murray State.

The Redhawks trailed 14-2 within the first five minutes of the game before cutting the deficit to four points by the end of the first half.

Southeast even led by one point a few times during the second half, but the comeback was dealt a heavy blow when junior forward and leading-scorer Jarekious Bradley fouled out with 4 minutes, 2 seconds remaining and the Racers held on for an 82-75 win at the FSCB Center in Murray, Ky.

Bradley finished with a team-high 22 points and hit 4 of 6 3-point attempts. He contributed greatly to the Redhawks' comeback attempt, including going on a personal 8-2 run to give Southeast its first lead at 60-59 with 7:53 remaining.

Murray State quickly extended its lead from two points to six after Bradley fouled out. The Racers pulled away on a four-point possession when Jarvis Williams made his first free throw, missed the second but got his own rebound, resulting in a 3-pointer that made it 73-67 with 3:39 remaining.

The Redhawks pulled within two but never got any closer in the final minutes.

Williams finished with 16 points and 18 rebounds -- nine offensive -- and helped the Racers outscore Southeast on second-chance points 17-4.

Tyler Stone, who averaged 18.6 points coming into Thursday's loss, scored 10 points and only made one field goal -- a 3-pointer -- in the second half.

Josh Langford finished with 17 points before fouling out.

Nino Johnson started the game and tied his season high with 13 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds.

Lucas Nutt had started 67 straight games for Southeast but did not start against Murray State after being sick with the flu this past week and spraining his ankle during Sunday's loss to Missouri State.

He came in early off the bench and finished with eight points and eight assists.

Murray State opened the game with a 10-0 run on three 3-pointers from freshman guard Cameron Payne and a free throw by Jeffery Moss.

Payne finished with a career-high 23 points and hit five 3-pointers -- all but one in the first half.

The Redhawks have lost four of their last five games and have a quick turnaround for their next OVC game.

Multiple calls to Southeast coach Dickey Nutt seeking comment were not returned. A member of the Southeast sports information department said via text message that Nutt was "in meetings" following the game and unavailable to talk."

Southeast faces Austin Peay (7-8, 1-0) in a doubleheader Saturday. The Southeast women play at 5:15 p.m. with the men's game to follow at 7:30 p.m. at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tenn.