Dream season over: Redhawks MBB falls to SIUE 69-48 in OVC Tournament Championship

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Forty minutes is all it takes for one team’s dreams and aspirations to flash before its eyes.

Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball faced that harsh reality under the bright lights of the Ford Center Saturday night.

Aiming to capture their second Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title in the past three years, the top-seeded Redhawks were outlasted 69-48 by No. 2 SIUE in the championship finals on Saturday, Mar. 8, in Evansville, Ind.

"A 40-minute game can't be what defines us," head coach Brad Korn said. "It should hurt. It should sting and it stings for all of us. There's a lot of tears in that locker room because they care. They put in a lot of work and they came up just short of one goal. If you think about all the things that we've done this year, they came up short of just one goal in two hours."

With the win, SIUE captured its first-ever conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth.

In one of the team's shakiest performances of the season, SEMO was held to 28 percent shooting from the field, struggled from 3-point territory (3-for-24), and was bullied on the glass after being outrebounded 50-31.

"I'm going to miss Coach just bringing us up and giving us the confidence to go out there and play SEMO basketball, which we did this whole season," junior Rob Martin said. "So, that's the main thing. It was a great season for me and the guys, and I appreciate everybody that's been there."

This certainly is the best team Martin has been part of and he can boast it as an unprecedented accomplishment.

Martin scored 18 points to cap a spectacular two games in Evansville for the high-scoring point guard. He totaled 39 points, proving that he was more than worthy of earning first-team All-OVC honors.

Brendan Terry had 16 points and six rebounds. Troy Cole Jr. added six points, while senior shooting guard Teddy Washington Jr. was held to four.

"I love and appreciate what they did," Korn said of his team. "You don't go through a 20-game conference season and win by two games just on dumb luck. There's a lot of ups and downs that go with that, and this team kept getting better every single day."

One night after romping No. 4 Little Rock by 19 in the semifinals, SEMO (21-12) struggled to find its stride on Saturday.

SIUE (22-11), able to find its own, led 35-24 at halftime behind sharp rebounding and 12 points off turnovers against the conference’s least turnover-prone team.

The Redhawks then exploded out the gate in the second half, going on a 12-1 run that was capped by a Terry rolling layup to tie the game at 36-36 just five minutes in.

"Give our guys a ton of credit for making the adjustments and matching the physicality to come back after a rough first half and get it tied," Korn said. "But then we just went empty possession a few times in a row and they were able to get the lead back and never surrendered again."

The Cougars quickly reverted to form though, and used a massive 16-0 run to stretch the lead to as much as 57-40 with 6:39 remaining off a loud Kyle Thomas slam dunk. SEMO shot a mere 0-for-8 in that span.

SIUE’s lead swelled to 63-45 with 3:02 to go. And even when the Redhawks managed to cut into it, the Cougars would have an answer.

SEMO failed to make a bucket in the final 6:27 of play.

OVC Player of the Year Ray'Sean Taylor dropped a game-high 20 points, while teammate Ring Malith added 12. SIUE improves to 18-2 on the season when holding teams to under 70 points.

"I feel like we didn't play our best, to be honest," Martin said. "That's the main thing. We didn't rebound the ball and things didn't go our way today. But this is a great group of guys on and off the court."

After being picked to finish seventh in the conference in the preseason polls, SEMO turned in one of the greatest single-seasons in program history behind a regular-season conference title.

For a revamped roster that featured six transfers and four new starters, Korn still showed gratitude to the players who were in the locker room last season and went through the challenges of the 9-22 campaign.

"Because of guys like Rob, BJ (Ward), (Braxton) Stacker, TJ (Biel), David (Idada), that came back from growing pains a year ago, I give them a ton of credit," Korn said. "They'll always have my respect and love because they came back and are true men and stood in the face of adversity. I'd love to just go hide in the hotel room and not talk to people right now, but that's not life. It's not fair. That's what we sign up for, and that's why I respect these guys so much, because they showed up every single day when things didn't go their way a year ago. They're able to walk out as champions still, even though they're not getting to that ultimate prize as a young kid to play in the NCAA tournament."