Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team suffers heartbreaker at OVC tournament

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team almost pulled off a comeback for the ages.

The Redhawks were left with nothing but pride to show for their remarkable rally that saw them erase a 19-point deficit in the second half and hold a late four-point lead.

"To lose the way we did, it hurts," Southeast sophomore forward Tyler Stone said.

Fifth-seeded Southeast felt the pain of fourth-seeded Tennessee Tech's 77-73 win in Thursday night's quarterfinals of the eight-team Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

Tech (19-12) advanced to play ninth-ranked, top-seeded Murray State in today's semifinals.

"Any time you win, it's a good game this time of year. We'll take it. It's a great win," Tech coach Steve Payne said. "I think we played a tough team. I thought Southeast Missouri's kids fought really hard."

Southeast coach Dickey Nutt had no doubt about that after his third season with the Redhawks ended at 15-16.

"We are sick to our stomachs. That game could have gone either way," Nutt said. "I'm very proud of our team, proud of the heart we showed, to fight back and have our chances. Our guys deserve a lot of credit."

Tech led most of the way, including 42-27 at halftime. It looked like the Eagles would run away and hide when they went ahead 55-36 less than seven minutes into the final period.

"I thought we had it under control," Payne said.

Not so fast, said the Redhawks, who seemingly couldn't miss while going on a 34-11 run.

The burst featured 12 points by junior guard Corey Wilford -- all on 3-point baskets -- 11 points by junior guard Nick Niemczyk and five points by sophomore forward Michael Porter.

"Coach gave us a little speech at halftime. He said we have 20 minutes left or our season is over," Wilford said. "I just gave it my best. We didn't want to go home."

Porter's two free throws with 4 minutes, 23 seconds remaining put the Redhawks up 66-64 for their first lead since it was 10-9 early in the game.

Tech tied it, but Porter made two more free throws to put Southeast back ahead 68-66 with 2:54 left.

After a Tech turnover, Stone hit a tough jump-hook from about 15 feet with 2:13 to play. Southeast had its biggest lead of the night at 70-66.

"We knew they were going to come out and blow hot eventually," Tech senior point guard Zac Swansey said. "But we stayed composed."

Tech senior wing Kevin Murphy hit a basket to make it 70-68. Southeast committed a turnover, and Murphy made a tough shot in the lane with 1:25 left to forge a 70-70 tie. He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw.

Then came one of the game's crucial plays when Porter was whistled for an illegal screen well away from the basket with 1:03 left.

"Those are the kind of calls you worry about in a game like that," said Nutt while trying to be as diplomatic as possible. "Let the guys play, especially 45 feet from the basket. It didn't have anything to do with the play. ... I better just hush while I can."

Murphy missed a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left, but Tech senior guard Zach Bailey grabbed the offensive rebound.

Tech ran off most of the shot clock before Swansey buried a 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining to give the Eagles a 73-70 advantage.

Niemczyk missed a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left and Bailey rebounded. He made two free throws for a 75-70 lead with 9.7 seconds left.

Swansey put down a fast-break dunk after a Southeast turnover to complete a game-changing 11-0 run. Stone's 3-pointer at the buzzer did little to ease Southeast's pain.

"I think we played a good game," Stone said. "Everybody's hurting right now."

Stone had his second double-double in as many tournament games with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Wilford and Niemczyk both scored 16 points. Niemczyk had 14 points in the second half, and Wilford had 12 points in the final period. Sophomore point guard Lucas Nutt dished out eight assists after having 11 helpers during Wednesday's win over Eastern Kentucky.

"I thought Corey Wilford really put us on his shoulders late in the second half, and Tyler Stone was really a horse all tournament," coach Nutt said.

Murphy, the OVC's top scorer who is a matchup problem for everybody in the league at 6 foot 7, led Tech with a game-high 24 points.

Jud Dillard, a 6-5 junior guard who ranks fourth in the OVC in scoring and first in rebounding, added 18 points and nine boards.

But Murphy (eight points) and Dillard (four points) combined for just 12 points after halftime.

"They're a good team. I give them a lot of respect," coach Nutt said. "They're very good because they can create and get their own shots."

Southeast shot 53.6 percent in the second half and 44.8 percent for the game. The Redhawks made 9 of 18 3-pointers, including 7 of 10 in the final period. Tech shot 58 percent in the contest.

The Redhawks outrebounded Tech 33-24, including 14-4 on the offensive glass that led to a 22-7 advantage in second-chance points.

"It was definitely 40 minutes of great basketball on both sides. It was definitely a battle," said Swansey, who recorded 12 assists.

While discouraged with the loss, Nutt said the Redhawks continued to make solid improvement after he took over a floundering program three years ago.

Southeast posted its most victories since the 2004-05 squad also won 15 games, and the Redhawks' fourth-place OVC tie was their highest conference finish since the 1999-2000 NCAA tournament team earned a share of the regular-season title.

The Redhawks also now have posted OVC tournament wins in consecutive years for only the second time. The other time was during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons when Southeast reached the finals in both campaigns.

"The exciting thing, we played most of the second half with underclassmen," Nutt said. "We made some progress this year."