Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team's balanced attack sinks Eastern Illinois

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team won its first three Ohio Valley Conference home games by an average of 17 points.

Saturday night's contest against Eastern Illinois looked like it might follow suit when the Redhawks built a 15-point halftime lead.

EIU refused to go down quietly, but the Redhawks held on for an 80-73 victory to continue their best OVC start since the 1999-2000 season.

"They were a good team," Southeast sophomore forward Tyler Stone said. "They stuck around and did what good teams are supposed to do. At the end we came out with the 'W.'"

The Redhawks, who won for the sixth time in seven games, improved to 10-8 overall and 5-1 in OVC play. They already have as many victories as a year ago and the most since the 2006-07 squad won 11 games.

Southeast Missouri State's Marland Smith drives past Eastern Illinois' Joey Miller during the first half Saturday. (Fred Lynch)

A season-high announced crowd of 2,371 saw Southeast move to 4-0 in conference games at the Show Me Center and 8-2 overall at home this year.

"This was a super win for us, protecting your home floor, playing 40 minutes against a very good team," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "I want to thank our crowd. Our players were talking about it before the game."

Southeast remained second in the 11-team OVC. The Redhawks trail undefeated, nationally ranked Murray State by one game.

"I'm excited about our team right now," Nutt said.

The Redhawks got off to a hot start thanks largely to the hot hand of junior guard Marland Smith.

Southeast Missouri State's Nick Niemczyk drives against Eastern Illinois' Alfonzo McKinney during the first half Saturday at the Show Me Center.

Smith hit 7 of 10 3-pointers in the first half to match his career high for made 3-pointers. His final trey, with a little more than two minutes left, made it 44-29.

"I was actually surprised how open I was. Four or five were wide open," Smith said. "Once I hit those first two, my confidence just kept rising."

Smith, who has scored in double figures the past nine games, had 21 points at halftime, and the Redhawks carried a 44-29 advantage into the break.

"Marland obviously was the show in the first half," Nutt said.

Smith scored just three points after halftime and attempt only one more shot largely due to foul trouble. He picked up his third and fourth fouls early in the period and sat for about 10 minutes.

"One was a real dumb foul. I reached," said Smith, who finished with a season-high 24 points. "It was frustrating."

Southeast hit 10 of 16 3-pointers in the first half. Junior guard Nick Niemczyk went 2 of 4, and sophomore point guard Lucas Nutt nailed a trey with about nine minutes left that put the Redhawks up for good at 20-17.

"I thought we put together 20 minutes of really good basketball," coach Nutt said.

The Redhawks attempted just four shots from beyond the arc in the second half as their vaunted inside game, led by Stone and senior forward Leon Powell, took over.

"When you have Marland and Nick going in the first half, I had two points, Tyler had six and we're still up by 15," Powell said. "When we're going like that, I don't think anybody can stop us."

Stone scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, while Powell put in 13 of his 15 points after the break.

Powell also grabbed 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and 10th of his two-year Southeast career.

"I can't say enough about Leon Powell in the second half," coach Nutt said. "He was a monster, a warrior."

Powell's two free throws 40 seconds into the final period put the Redhawks up 46-29 for their biggest lead.

EIU battled back, cutting the deficit to 73-68 with more than three minutes left.

The Panthers (9-7, 2-2), who already have matched last year's win total, then had three straight possessions to get even closer.

EIU failed to convert, including on its third try when Powell turned in the defensive play of the game.

Powell blocked a driving shot by senior guard L.C. Doss, and the ball went out of bounds off Doss with 1 minute, 21 seconds left.

"They kept driving on us," Powell said. "I made a good block. Fortunately it went off his head and out of bounds."

Southeast ran down the shot clock before Powell deposited a layup off a nice pass from Stone with 47 seconds left to make it 75-68.

EKU got back within five points three more times, but Southeast hit 5 of 8 free throws in the final 38 seconds to ice the victory.

Lucas Nutt made 3 of 4 foul shots down the stretch and recorded a team-high seven assists off the bench.

Senior point guard Marcus Brister had eight points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Redhawks.

EIU senior guard Jeremy Granger led all scorers with 31 points, including 25 in the second half.

Southeast, which entered the week 13th nationally in field-goal shooting, hit 51.8 percent. The Redhawks were 11 of 20 from 3-point range (55 percent).

The Redhawks have shot at least 50 percent in all six OVC games.

"I thought we executed well against a good defensive team," coach Nutt said. "They're an unselfish group."

Southeast, which has had four of its first six OVC games at home, plays three of its next four on the road beginning Saturday at Tennessee Tech.