Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team grabs first road win in California

~ The Southeast men slipped past Sacramento State 77-76

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team finally picked up its first road win of the season.

It took sizzling first-half outside shooting and a free throw in the final seconds to pull off the feat.

Southeast sophomore point guard Lucas Nutt hit a foul shot with 3.3 seconds remaining to lift the Redhawks past Sacramento State 77-76 on Thursday night.

The Redhawks improved to 5-7 and snapped a three-game losing streak. They had been 0-5 on the road.

"It's a very big win for us," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "To come all the way out here to California, through three time zones ... I was so proud of the team. We were so unified.

"Things haven't been going good for us, and it would be easy to get down. I thought we showed a lot of character."

Southeast, which led most of the way after falling behind early, was up 44-33 at halftime.

The Redhawks never relinquished the lead, but the Hornets (5-6) used a 7-0 run to forge a 76-76 tie with 38 seconds left.

Southeast ran down most of the shot clock, and it looked like the Redhawks might not even get off an attempt.

But Lucas Nutt, who had the ball near midcourt with 5 seconds left, dribbled hard into the lane and was fouled with 1 second left on the shot clock.

Nutt made the first attempt and intentionally missed the second one after a timeout. All the Hornets could do was heave a half-court shot at the buzzer. It was off the mark.

"Lucas really took the game into his hands at the end. He was so heady and cool to get to the basket, get a shot up and get fouled," coach Nutt said. "Then he stepped up and hit the free throw. We had him miss the second one because we thought it would throw them off. They kind of had to scramble to get off a long shot at the end."

Junior guards Marland Smith and Nick Niemczyk were on fire early to help the Redhawks have a big first half.

Smith and Niemczyk combined to go 9 of 9 from 3-point range in the opening 11 minutes. Southeast already had surpassed its season high of seven 3-pointers by that time.

Smith made his first six from beyond the arc and scored 18 points in the first half. Niemczyk hit his first three 3-pointers and had 14 points before halftime.

"Marland and Nick really played well. They were hot early," coach Nutt said.

Smith finished with 21 points. He hit a career-high seven 3-pointers in 10 attempts. Niemczyk did not score in the second half.

Smith, who added five assists and two steals, has had three consecutive games with at least 20 points.

Sophomore forward Tyler Stone scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Sophomore forward Michael Porter added 13 points to reach double figures for the first time in his Southeast career. He grabbed seven rebounds.

"We had an offensive explosion in the first half. They made some adjustments in the second half, and our inside game came alive," coach Nutt said.

Lucas Nutt dished out eight assists and did not commit a turnover. His older brother, senior point guard Logan Nutt, made his second consecutive start and had three assists.

"I thought they both really played well," coach Nutt said about his two sons. "I thought everybody we put in the game did a good job."

Southeast shot 48.3 percent from the field, including 48 percent from 3-point range (12 of 25). The Redhawks had just eight turnovers while recording 20 assists.

The Hornets shot 50.9 percent but made just 4 of 12 3-pointers (33.3 percent).

Junior forward John Dickson, the Hornets' leading scorer at nearly 13 points per game, netted 24 points.

Southeast begins Ohio Valley Conference play Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. home game against defending OVC tournament champion Morehead State.