Redhawk basketball drops two at Little Rock, further extend league slump

SEMO's TJ Biel prepares to shoot a free throw during a 52-47 win over SIUE on Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. SEMO defeated SIUE, 52-47.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

Going on the road for another conference doubleheader matchup, both Southeast Missouri State Redhawk basketball squads had opportunities to win late but came up short in the end.

For the women, it was long stretches of offensive ineptitude that kept the Redhawks off the scoreboard and the W column.

For the men, however, they simply couldn’t bury the shots down the stretch and fell short defensively in the final few moments.

With the losses, both clubs now sit on two-game losing streaks as they’re starting to trail behind the rest of the league in the standings.

Beginning with the women, Southeast Missouri State (6-13, 3-5 OVC) started the game on the right foot with a 6-1 swing to open up the contest, but it didn’t take Little Rock (7-12, 6-2 OVC) long to find a response.

The Trojans entered a 20-7 run that built a lead of eight before the half, but a big run at the edge of the second quarter restored a slim one-point, 26-25 lead for the Redhawks going into the second half.

Some inconsistent offensive stretches doomed the Redhawks late, however, as they fell back into a seven-point hole midway through the third quarter and, even after closing it to a two-point game, couldn’t ever bring the game back level.

Freshman Indiya Bowen hit on back-to-back buckets in the third to close the gap down, hitting a 3-pointer to cut the lead to four and connecting on another mid-range basket to make it a one-possession game.

Southeast Missouri State began the fourth quarter by scoring just two points in the first seven minutes, eventually allowing the Trojans to put the game to bed in the 53-47 loss.

Alecia Doyle led the Redhawks in scoring with 13 points, shooting 45 percent in the loss while also hauling in nine boards to nearly reach a double-double.

Behind Doyle, Indiya Bowen finished with 11 and classmate Daejah Richmond dropped in another 10 points off the bench.

Faith Lee, as anticipated, continued her hot streak for the Trojans as she torched the Redhawks for 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

This included her first 3-pointer of the year in dagger fashion to ice the victory for Little Rock.

Leilani Wimbish-Gay also finished in double digits for the Trojans, dropping in 11 points and reeling in seven rebounds to finish as one of four different Little Rock starters with seven-plus boards in the victory.

Defensively, SEMO clamped down on the Trojans with a 10-steal performance and forced the hosts into a whopping 22 turnovers, but couldn’t capitalize.

This was largely due to a sloppy offensive performance from the Redhawks, generating some solid offensive opportunities but failing to find the bottom of the nets.

Shooting just 27 percent from the field, they had a higher 3-point percentage (30.8) than from inside the arc (26.0) by a fair margin, and it ended up costing them down the stretch.

The Southeast Missouri State men (7-14, 2-6 OVC) gave Little Rock (11-10, 5-3 OVC) a run for its money on Saturday, but the Redhawks couldn’t find the points down the stretch to pull off the upset on the road.

The Redhawk men went step-for-step with the Trojans to start the game, hitting triple after triple to escape the high-powered Little Rock attack.

SEMO began the game with a couple of 3-pointers from TJ Biel, who finished the first half leading the game with eight points.

Falling into a 21-15 hole, the Redhawks didn’t let an early deficit dissuade them from scoring as they rallied back to retake the lead at 23-22.

In total, Southeast Missouri State’s 4-of-10 3-point shooting first half gave heed to a 33-30 lead after the game’s first 20 minutes.

But with a three-point halftime lead, the Redhawks seemingly came out complacent and gave up a 10-2 run before the U17 timeout gave them a break down 40-35.

An ensuing run from SEMO, kicked off by an and-1 conversion from veteran guard Aquan Smart, allowed the Redhawks to regain the lead moments later.

Up a single point, Evan Eursher drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead to four.

When a Little Rock violation sent the game to the U11 timeout on the next possession, Eursher pumped his arm and screamed as the Redhawks stole the momentum right back.

The Trojans’ 11-0 run ended this shift, however, and built back a six-point edge for the hosts as they worked to put away the Redhawks.

But SEMO rallied back, and with a fastbreak slam from Marqueas Bell, tied the game up at 56 with three minutes remaining.

The Redhawks competed late and closed the gap to one possession after another late run from the Trojans.

But DeAntoni Gordon put the exclamation point on a spirited performance from Little Rock to put away visiting Southeast Missouri State, winning 66-61 after burying its late free throws.

Little Rock’s balanced scoring effort worked to seal the deal for the hosts, with KK Robinson and Jamir Chaplin scoring 13 points each while DeAntonio Gordon put in 11 and Makhel Mitchell another 12 off the bench.

Robinson finished the night with four steals and five assists, putting his mark on the game and helping to put away the rallying Redhawks.

For SEMO, TJ Biel finished as the leading scorer with 13 points off the bench while hitting 3 of 6 3-point attempts. Aquan Smart followed suit with 11 points of his own.

A disparity in free throws attempted may have killed the Redhawks on Saturday night, shooting just six shots from the charity stripe to 18 for the hosting Trojans.

While Little Rock hit just 9.1 percent of its shots from range, SEMO’s 8-of-28 clip from 3-point land, worth about 29 percent, ended up costing it heavily in the shootout game as its early luck from distance didn’t hold up.

It’s a significant improvement from Thursday night – almost shooting double from distance – but there’s still room to climb as the Redhawks are hard-pressed for a win in league play.

Both teams next travel to Lindenwood for another Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader. The women are slated to begin at 5 p.m., with the men to follow once more.

Last time out against Lindenwood, the women won handily at the Show Me Center while the men dropped a tight contest to the Lions on the backs of Keenon Cole’s 42 points.

With a big opportunity to rebound after a rough stretch over the weekend, they’ll look to make the most of the opportunity in a rivalry series on the road.