Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team improves to 3-0 in OVC

MARTIN, Tenn. -- The basketball gods haven't been with Southeast Missouri State's men much in recent years.

They were Thursday night, much to the delight of a Redhawks squad that was able to continue its best Ohio Valley Conference start in more than a decade.

Southeast rallied in the second half after a tough first half, and saw a last-second 3-point attempt by Tennessee-Martin rim out.

"I said help us Jesus one more time," Southeast senior point guard Marcus Brister said. "God was with us."

Brister's driving layup with 12.5 seconds left provided the winning basket in the Redhawks' 73-71 victory that wasn't secured until UTM sophomore guard Mike Liabo's contested 3-pointer appeared to be halfway down before somehow popping back out.

"I had a good look at it. I thought it was going in. I just prayed it didn't," Southeast junior guard Nick Niemczyk said.

Southeast improved to 8-7 overall and 3-0 in OVC play. The Redhawks are tied for first place, along with nationally ranked Murray State. They are the conference's only undefeated squads.

The Redhawks have their best OVC start since the 1999-2000 NCAA tournament team began its league schedule 4-0. Southeast also has its first four-game winning streak since the 2004-05 campaign.

"It's exciting, but it's early," third-year Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said.

Southeast won its first two OVC games by 16 and 18 points, respectively, but those were at home, where the Redhawks are 6-2.

Thursday marked Southeast's first conference road game, and it presented a big challenge. The Redhawks were just 1-5 away from Cape Girardeau this season and had lost during their last four visits to UTM.

"It's always tough to win on the road," Southeast sophomore forward Tyler Stone said.

UTM (3-14, 0-4) took it to Southeast from the start. The Skyhawks scored the game's first five points and never looked back in the opening half. They led by 12 points before settling for a 44-35 advantage at the break.

"I give Tennessee-Martin a lot of credit," Nutt said. "We came out very flat. I got after them at halftime. They rose to the challenge."

Southeast began the second half on an 18-7 run over the first seven minutes and took its first lead of the night when senior forward Leon Powell's basket made it 53-51.

That set the stage for a razor-thin, back-and-forth finish that featured 13 lead changes and six ties. No more than three points separated the clubs over the final 15 minutes.

"I thought we were a totally different team in the second half," Nutt said. "We got better shots. We made more stops. We stepped up defensively."

While Brister's bucket that snapped a 71-71 tie was the winner, the contest featured numerous twists and turns before that.

Southeast's entire front line was in foul trouble much of the game. Powell fouled out with a little more than five minutes left, and sophomore forward Michael Porter fouled out with a little more than two minutes left.

Stone was able to stay in the game despite having four fouls most of the second half. He scored 12 of his 16 points in the period after suffering through a tough first half that saw Nutt yank him from the game several times after plays the coach apparently didn't like.

"It's just part of the game. Shots weren't falling. I got frustrated," said Stone, who was 2 of 7 from the field in the first half but 5 of 7 in the final period. "When I came out in the second half, I just had to turn it up a notch."

Niemczyk tied Stone for team-high scoring honors with 16 points, including 11 in the second half when he made 3 of 4 3-pointers. Niemczyk added five rebounds and three assists.

"I got some open looks in the second half," Niemczyk said.

An unlikely contributor also emerged down the stretch.

Seldom-used senior forward Waylon Jones, who had played a total of 16 minutes in five games this season and had not scored a point, gave the Redhawks six key minutes in the second half, most of them toward the end of the contest.

Jones hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:16 remaining after grabbing an offensive rebound. His foul shot tied the score 71-71. Jones also blocked a shot.

"Waylon made big plays off the bench," Nutt said. "His free throw was huge."

After Jones' free throw forged the final tie, UTM missed a shot with 40 seconds left and Stone chased down one of his team-high six rebounds.

Southeast ran much of the shot clock down until Brister began a play. He said he initially wanted to find Stone down low. But when the defense collapsed on Stone, Brister drove the left baseline for a layup with 12.5 seconds remaining.

"Tyler sealed his man off and he sealed my man off too. They basically double-teamed him," Brister said. "He helped me out."

The Redhawks weren't able to celebrate Brister's first game-winning shot at Southeast until Liabo's near-miss.

"We made him take a tough shot," Nutt said. "We've seen a lot of games go the other way. I'm glad our guys were able to enjoy a little luck."

Brister scored 11 points and dished out seven assists while grabbing four rebounds.

Junior guard Marland Smith scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half. He also had three steals.

Powell added nine points, five rebounds and four blocks. Sophomore point guard Lucas Nutt recorded five assists off the bench.

Liabo paced the Skykawks with 18 points.

"They played tough," Brister said. "We're just glad to get this win."

UTM shot 37.9 percent in the second half after hitting 55.2 percent in the opening period. The Skyhawks finished at 46.6 percent (27 of 58).

Southeast blistered the nets for 71.4 percent in the final half (15 of 21) to finish the game at 59.2 percent (28 of 49).

"It was a tale of two halves. I was proud of our team. We stayed with it," Nutt said. "We survived. What a super win for us."

Southeast closes out its two-game road trip Saturday with a 6 p.m. tipoff at Eastern Kentucky (9-7, 3-1). The Colonels suffered their first OVC loss Wednesday, 76-67 at Murray State.