SEMO men’s hold on, earn huge conference win at Tennessee Tech 77-70

A fired up SEMO men's basketball team celebrates on the court with BJ Ward after he hit a clutch game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left against Little Rock on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at the Show Me Center.

Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball needed a “get-back” game.

Head coach Brad Korn’s squad made sure they got one.

After nearly blowing a 21-point halftime lead, SEMO used late clutch shooting and perseverance to escape with a 77-70 victory over Tennessee Tech on Thursday night.

The trumph marks the Redhawks’ first win in the Eblen Center since Jan. 18, 2014.

“Just great resiliency by the guys,” Korn told SEMO ESPN Radio’s Erik Sean during the postgame interview. “We played so well in the first half for 20 straight minutes and it kind of was like, ‘man, I wish this wasn't halftime and we could just keep the momentum,’ just because we were playing so well on both sides of the ball.”

Teddy Washington Jr. got back on track with a team-high 17 points, while Rob Martin and Braxton Stacker added 13 apiece to drive the Redhawks to a much-needed conference dub.

Six-foot-7 senior TJ Biel also stepped up by posting six rebounds to go along with six points.

“I thought the guys just did a great job,” Korn told SEMO ESPN Radio. “I mean, it was Rob and BJ in the first half. Teddy I think only had five points and then in the second half he made some big-time plays for us.”

Despite having a lackluster start against Little Rock in the loss on Tuesday, SEMO (10-9, 5-3 Ohio Valley Conference) came out firing on all cylinders and zipped to a 19-point lead with 2:30 left in the first half off a Martin jumper. Stacker capped a marvelous first half with a smooth rolling layup at the buzzer to make it 47-26.

With that, the Redhawks built a whopping 21-point lead at the break behind 60% shooting from the field and flawless shot making from the foul line (7-of-7). SEMO was also very active on the defensive end, forcing six steals and holding Tennessee Tech (9-9, 4-3 OVC) to a 40% clip from the field.

The Golden Eagles then controlled the pace early in the second half, rattling off a furious 26-10 run while taking advantage of SEMO’s sluggish 22% shooting through the first 11 minutes.

Tennessee Tech cut the deficit to as little as two following a Matthew Sells 3-pointer at the 8-minute mark. That’s until SEMO, who was shooting 1-of-6 from long range to open the frame, got a much-needed 3-pointer from Martin to help spark a 9-0 run that quenched a 4-minute scoring drought and pushed the lead to 64-57.

Sells’ 3-pointer got Tennessee Tech within 70-64, but Stacker stepped into his role in a big way and sank a dagger straight-away 3 in the final minute to seal it.

“This group has been pretty resilient all year long,” Korn said on the SEMO ESPN Radio postgame. “As far as when things don't go their way, they come back and that speaks to their character.

“You lose your character when you lose and these guys didn't, and it showed today in the way that they played. That's why you're able to hang on and win a tough road game.”

The SEMO victory handed the Golden Eagles their first home loss of the season. The Redhawks also dodged a third consecutive loss and improved to 3-6 on the road.

Jaylon Johnson was the star of the show for Tennessee Tech after finishing with a game-high 21 points, while teammate Ola Ajiboye bowed out with 13.

Big Picture

The ability to move the ball around of every player Korn put on the floor — 13 assists for the team — and the selfless scoring was a big reason why SEMO clicked. The balanced offense stepped up with five players scoring nine or more points, while cashing in on free points after shooting 14 for 16 at the foul line.

The other differentiator for the Redhawks was being more physical on the glass. After being outplayed at the rim against Morehead State and Little Rock in the previous two games, SEMO responded by outrebounding the OVC’s second-best rebounding team 33 to 29.

Washington Jr.'s big game was another encouraging sign, as the senior was averaging just 8.6 points in the past three games despite starting out as one of the conference's leading scorers.

The question is, can SEMO carry this through the rest of conference play?

What’s next?

SEMO gets a week off before travelling to St. Charles for a date with rival Lindenwood (8-10, 3-4) on Thursday, Jan. 23. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.

“It's more mental than anything at this point the season,” Korn said on the SEMO ESPN Radio postgame. “I think it's good timing for our guys because we do need a little bit of a break."