Semifinal Friday
(St. Louis, MO) – The top dogs of the OVC square off today in Evansville. With seeds three and four winning in Thursday’ quarterfinals, the Ohio Valley Conference’s four seeds meet today. After a season where three teams tied for the regular season title, those three and fourth place Western Illinois will tangle today.
Thursday’s Action
Western Illinois survived a scare from fifth seeded Tennessee State. The Leathernecks pulled out a 61-59 victory on a late jumper by Ryan Sears. WIU (21-11) received double digit scoring from Quinlan Bennett (18), Myers, Jesiah West and J.J. Kalakon who all scored twelve points.
The teams were tied at 30 points each at the half and TSU (18-15) took a two point lead with 2:08 left. WIU is in its first year in the OVC.
Morehead State (24-8) had an easier time with Southern Illinois Edwardsville, winning by a score of 78-63. The Eagles led by thirteen at the half and avenged an earlier season loss to the Cougars (17-16). OVC ‘Player of the Year’ Riley Minix led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed ten rebounds for his 19th double-double of the season.
MSU shot 50% from the field and all-OVC guard Jordan Lathon contributed 17 points. The Eagles are 24-5 when Lathon is in the lineup.
Today It Gets Real
The reason Little Rock is a part of the three-way tie for the regular season championship is that the Trojans won a three-point decision on the Leathernecks’ home floor. Little Rock (20-11) has won nine straight games, including wins over UT Martin and Morehead State. Freshman of the Year Jaylen Crocker-Johnson is a true Trojan difference maker.
Second seeded UT Martin (21-10) and Morehead State split their regular season games and the Skyhawks have won seven straight games and 11 of their last twelve. After a three game losing streak without Lathon, the Eagles have won four straight.
Do Good
Editor: Cover photo courtesy of lrtrojans.com.
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Flooding, lightning strikes, etc. have cost @RacersHoops two home games. Had to play 'neutral site' tonight instead of at home and Wednesday's goes from home to away. Tough break for the Racers, and the whole area has been hit with difficulties. #FatherHarry
Murray State's scheduled home game Wednesday vs. Southern Illinois being moved to Banterra Center in Carbondale. #ValleyHoops
Gigantic game for @BradleyUMBB today in Des Moines. If they have a chance to catch @DrakeBulldogsMB, they have to win today. The Bulldogs can basically win the title today. @BustingBrackets breaks it all down. #FatherHarry https://bit.ly/3EGiVgi
Not rooting for any particular @ValleyHoops, but chaos is always fun. If things break certain ways, after today there could be a six-way tie for fifth place.
Fun to listen to @MLBLarry on the @SIU_Basketball/@BelmontMBB game tonight. Good job brother. #FatherHarry
