Somber split sees both Southeast basketball squads miss conference tournament

Southeast Missouri State's Rob Martin handles the ball against Western Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Show Me Center.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

In a high-stakes season finale for both Redhawk basketball teams, Southeast Missouri State grabbed a split on Saturday night – but not in the way it may have hoped.

With a tournament berth on the line, Southeast women’s basketball couldn’t come up with the plays late to knock off Southern Indiana with its season on the line.

In desperate need of a win to force a winning tiebreaker with Tennessee State after the Tigers knocked off Tennessee-Martin earlier today, the Southeast women’s season ended in a crushing loss to Ohio Valley Conference champion Southern Indiana.

For the men, meanwhile, they grabbed a win over Southern Indiana to finish the season a little bit happier but still below the cutline for the conference tournament.

This marks the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Redhawks have missed the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in both men’s and women’s basketball.

Against the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana (22-6, 17-1 OVC), the Redhawks (9-20, 6-12 OVC) did well to keep the game tight but never closed their late deficit to less than eight in a 70-59 loss in Evansville, Indiana.

The hosts’ lead ballooned to 20 by the midpoint of the second quarter, marking another game in a long series in which Southeast’s early woes have doomed it down the stretch.

Junior Jaliyah Green finished with 17 points for the Redhawks, with double-digit contributions coming from Alecia Doyle (11) and Kiyley Flowers (10) in support.

But nobody could match the dominance of Vanessa Shafford, who dropped 26 in the victory on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the 3-point line.

Ending what’s been a long season for the Redhawk women, a season-ending heartbreak just minutes removed from where the conference tournament is set to take place a week from now is sure to sit uncomfortably on the team’s shoulders.

With a 6-12 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2023-24, the program returns much talent for next season but will get an extended offseason to mull over a disappointing winter.

The men had little expectations for Saturday night, taking the floor for one last chance to play together knowingly below the cutline.

They did that, as Southeast (9-22, 4-14 OVC) took down hosting Southern Indiana (8-23, 5-13 OVC) in a brawl of conference cellar dwellers, winning 70-66 in a tough road environment.

Jumping out to an early 7-point lead after just a few minutes, the Redhawks forced a USI timeout with a hot start and held that momentum for much of the early going.

Southern Indiana briefly snatched the lead back early into the second half, but Southeast maintained an edge for the majority of the contest en route to a season-ending defeat of the tourney-bound Screaming Eagles.

“It feels great,” Redhawks coach Brad Korn said. “It's really easy, when things don't go well, to pack it in and to lay down. Your character really shows in those situations.

“The hardness and the toughness that our kids played with today; I’m really happy for them, because they deserve that.”

With Josh Earley sidelined in his final game as a Redhawk, Rob Martin took center stage with a 19-point performance on Saturday to lead the Redhawks to the win.

Both Aquan Smart (11) and BJ Ward (10) appeared in double-digit scoring in support, while David Idada’s 8-point night with 10 boards nearly gave him a double-double in the post.

While Martin’s step-up performance was motivating to the Redhawks in their big weekend victory, the absence of Earley was a focal point as he missed his last game in the red and black.

“It crushes your heart for the kid,” Korn began.

“He goes through two years here, and it was really about the best basketball he's played of his life the last month and a half of the season. Not being able to play your last two games, that's just devastating. You hurt for the kid.

“It's heartbreaking for him, but he's a great teammate. He’s vocal on the bench. I just wish he could have at least finished out the season, even if it didn’t go as well as we all wanted it to.”

Jeremiah Hernandez (21) and AJ Smith (19) combined for an impressive 40 points for the Screaming Eagles, but that firepower couldn’t match up to an impressive effort from Southeast.

It’s a great finish to an otherwise brutal season full of hardship and close losses that could’ve definitely fell Southeast’s way.

But with a talented returning cast, and a previously set precedent of success, there’s still hope for the Redhawks under Brad Korn in the near future.

“It doesn’t matter if you win nine games or you win the whole thing,” Korn said. “You're always trying to improve your roster. If you're not improving, you're not improving.

“It wasn't a great year record-wise. We came here and we took over a program that wasn't doing too well, and since then we’ve had 11 wins, 14 wins, 19 wins and our first NCAA Tournament in 23 years.

“We took a dip this year, but I have a lot of confidence that we can get back to where we were.”