Last-Second Drama: Little Rock Edges Out SEMO in Intense OVC Showdown

The SEMO men’s basketball team lost to the Little Rock Trojans by a score of 73-71 on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at the Show Me Center.

Going into the game, The Redhawks stood tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference, with a conference record of 4-2, while the Trojans sat tied for third in the conference with a record of 3-2.

The game opened with all of the momentum swinging in the Trojans favor, as the visiting team went on a run, scoring 13 unanswered points to start the game 13-0.

The Redhawks however dealt with the adversity and mounted a comeback, closing the gap with 12 unanswered points of their own to take the lead, bringing the score 17-15.

The rest of the half remained competitive, however at the end of the half, the Trojans created a scoring gap and finished the half with the lead, going into the locker room with a score of 37-29.

Early on in the second half the Trojans maintained their 10 point lead through most of the period, keeping the Redhawks at bay.

Despite this however, the Redhawks never wilted and continued to press forward, closing the gap to just three points with only 20 seconds left.

“If you just play hard, everything else takes care of itself. Don't cry about fouls, and we just stick together. I feel like if we stick together that we'll be able to come down or even be up 12 or 13 points, like putting ourselves in that hole was hard, but just keep fighting,” Sophomore point guard Rob Martin said.

The Redhawks then regained possession and passed the ball to sophomore guard BJ Ward, who made the game tying shot, leveling the scores at 71-71 with 10 seconds to play.

On the very next possession Little Rock came down the court and scored a second before the final buzzer, which would ultimately be the winning basket, giving the Trojans the victory by a score of 73-71.

Sophomore point guard Rob Martin led the team in scoring with 19, leading the team in scoring for his third consecutive game.

Head Coach Brad Korn says that despite the loss he is pleased with the way the team performed, and only needed to refine a few things to prepare for their next game.

“To me, the offensive area is where we struggled. Our defensive effort was great. I don't know what they ended with in the second half. First half, they made some unbelievable shots that were highly contested. And we did a pretty good job, all in all, but we did a great job of full court pressure and then even finding places in the half court. So overall, pretty pleased (with the game),” Korn said.

With that loss, the Redhawks have lost three out of their last four games, falling to fifth in the OVC.

The Redhawks next game is against Tennessee Tech University on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Cookeville, TN.