Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team rolls past Eastern Illinois

A halftime deficit didn't phase the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team Monday night.

The Redhawks used a huge second half to roll past host Eastern Illinois 74-53.

"It's a great win for us," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said.

Southeast improved to 12-9 overall and 7-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Redhawks remained second in the 11-team league and continued the program's best OVC start in 12 years.

The Redhawks surpassed their OVC win total from last season and posted their eighth victory in their last 10 games. They already had surpassed their overall win total of 10 from a year ago.

Southeast also notched just its third road win of the season and improved to 2-2 in OVC road games. The Redhawks are 5-0 in conference play at home.

"Winning is precious, but winning on the road is unbelievable. You can't explain it," Nutt said.

The 21-point victory marked Southeast's largest in conference play this season. In addition, the Redhawks won a league game on the road by at least 20 points for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

EIU (9-12, 2-7), which has lost six straight and is 10th in the OVC, trailed most of the first half but rallied to lead 36-31 at the break.

That was the extent of the good news for the Panthers. Southeast outscored them 43-17 in the final period.

"We really had a great second half, holding them to 17 points," Nutt said. "I was very proud of our guys in the second half."

Southeast outscored EIU 33-6 over the first 13 minutes of the final period.

The Redhawks began the last half with a 13-2 burst over the first 4 minutes, 1 second to take a 44-38 lead. Sophomore forward Michael Porter scored five points and senior forward Leon Powell chipped in four.

After EIU cut Southeast's lead to 44-42 at the 14:45 mark, the Redhawks blew open the game with a 20-0 run to take a 64-42 lead. The Panthers went scoreless for more than eight minutes.

Sophomore forward Tyler Stone scored eight points during the surge.

"We really cranked it up after we made some adjustments at halftime," said Nutt, whose squad beat EIU 80-73 on Jan. 14 in Cape Girardeau.

Southeast junior guard Marland Smith led all scorers with 19 points, including 14 in the first half. He hit 5 of 10 3-pointers and moved into a fourth-place tie on the school's career 3-pointers list.

"Marland was outstanding. He got us off to a good start," Nutt said.

Stone had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds while blocking two shots. He had 12 points and seven rebounds in the second half.

Powell added 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. He made 8 of 10 free throws after entering the night shooting just 47.8 percent from the stripe.

"Tyler Stone was really big in the second half, and for Leon Powell to hit 8 out of 10 free throws tells you about him," Nutt said.

Porter added 10 points off the bench, all in the second half. He also had six rebounds.

"I thought Michael Porter did a super job off the bench. He gave us a lift," Nutt said.

Senior point guard Marcus Brister contributed seven points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Southeast shot 51.9 percent and outrebounded EIU 42-25 after trailing 16-14 on the boards in the first half.

"We rebounded the ball a lot better in the second half," Nutt said.

Senior guard Jeremy Granger led the Panthers with 12 points after he had 31 in the earlier meeting against Southeast.

EIU shot just 24 percent in the second half.

Southeast played its third straight game without junior guard Nick Niemczyk, who is sidelined due to a concussion.

The Redhawks return to action Thursday when they visit ninth-ranked, undefeated Murray State (21-0, 9-0) in a 7 p.m. contest that will be televised nationally by ESPNU.

"Now we're ready to go play Goliath," Nutt said.

BracketBusters foe

It was announced Monday night that Southeast will play at McNeese State at 3 p.m. Feb. 18 in the annual BracketBusters event. It will be the first meeting between the programs.

The Cowboys are 9-10 overall and 5-2 in Southland Conference play. They are tied for first in the Southland's East Division.

McNeese State is located in Lake Charles, La., roughly an 11-hour drive from Cape Girardeau.

As part of the BracketBusters arrangement, McNeese State will play at Southeast in a future season, probably next year.

The Redhawks are 1-5 all-time in BracketBusters games. Southeast beat Sacramento State 67-52 at home last season.