Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team helps its OVC-tournament hopes

~ Southeast men moved into a tie for 8th in the conference with an 87-70 win

Although there's a definite sense of urgency surrounding the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team as they battle for a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, the Redhawks didn't appear tense when they took on Jacksonville State in a critical game for the conference standings.

Southeast kept its composure throughout the game to cruise to an 87-70 victory over the Gamecocks on Thursday night at the Show Me Center.

"Even though we got down a little bit early it didn't bother us. It didn't bother our team," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "We just kept pounding away. They made some really tough shots early on, and I told them, 'Hey, they can't keep making those kinds of shots,' and I knocked on wood because they have done it all year long.

"I was really proud of our team. The makeup, the temperament, the swagger we had walking on that floor tonight -- we know and we knew that we have a chance to be a good team if we play, and play for 40 minutes, and I thought tonight we did that."

Southeast Missouri State's Tyler Stone shoots between Jacksonville State's D.J. Felder, left, and Jamal Hunter during the first half Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

The Redhawks improved to 14-13 and 5-8 in the OVC and moved into a tie for eighth place with Austin Peay.

"We've got a little countdown going," Southeast forward Tyler Stone said. "We just got one out of the way -- we've got three more left. We're just trying to take it game by game. We're trying to get all of them under our belt so we can get in good position for the OVC tournament."

Southeast and JSU traded baskets early, and the Gamecocks held a 29-24 lead with 7 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the first half before Southeast took over.

The Redhawks knotted the game at 34-34 with 4:46 to play in the half and closed the half with a 14-4 run.

Southeast scored five points in the final 21 seconds of the half. Stone scored and was fouled, missed the free throw, but Jarekious Bradley came up with the rebound to set the offense back up. Lucas Nutt drove and kicked it to the wing for Bradley to hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds and give the Redhawks a 48-38 advantage and momentum.

The Redhawks picked up where they left off in the second half. Stone started the final 20 minutes with a personal 6-0 run, and Southeast outscored JSU 11-2 in the first 5:23 to extend its lead to 19 points.

The Gamecocks cut it to 72-60 on a Darion Rackley 3-pointer with 5:25 to play, but never came any closer.

Stone was quick to credit the team's defense for sparking the offense, and more specifically he noted that Nutt's decision for his team to switch to a 1-3-1 zone benefitted them.

The Redhawks held JSU to 37.3 percent (22 of 59) from the field.

"We knew they like to play a slow tempo and we wanted to, with the 1-3-1, make them shoot shots that they normally don't take and we was going to push it," Southeast forward Nino Johnson added. "You seen Tyler getting a couple fast-break points, you know Paul [McRoberts], JB getting a couple of fast breaks. That's what we wanted them to do. We lured them right into our trap. It was perfect."

In addition to capitalizing on the fast break, Southeast dominated JSU in the paint. Southeast scored 58 of its 87 points in the paint, which led to shooting 56.5 percent (35 of 62) from the field.

Stone paced Southeast with 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting and had nine rebounds. Bradley scored 15 and Paul McRoberts had 14.

Johnson, who started in place of Bradley, scored a season-high 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.

"I thought he came out and he set the pace," Nutt said. "We challenge him and we talk until we're blue in the face about him being able to be dominant for our team, and I thought he really got out of the block good. He caught that ball down low, he kept it over his head -- with maybe the exception of one time -- and then he made his free throws. I thought he was a difference-maker in our game."

Bradley didn't start, and Nutt didn't even know if he was going to play until about 15 minutes before tip-off due to his left knee injury. He came in 4:51 into the game, and quickly made an impact, scoring 11 points in 15 first-half minutes.

"We found out pretty quick that he was good and I thought he made a difference tonight in the game," Nutt said.

Southeast's next game is against UT Martin (8-20, 3-10 OVC). The Redhawks and Skyhawks face off at 4 p.m. Saturday in Martin, Tenn. The Skyhawks defeated Southeast 79-70 at the Show Me Center on Feb. 12 in the game that Bradley injured his knee in early.

"We owe them one. They came here and they gave us their best shot but we were dealing with JB's injury," Stone said. "We've got to go down there and take care of business. Really they're just in the way, so we've just got to handle our business and try to win this game and get to the OVC tournament."