SEMO Men’s Basketball, falls to OVC rival Tennessee State University

SEMO Men’s Basketball concluded their three game homestand with a 74-77 loss to Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) opponent Tennessee State University (TSU) on Saturday, Feb.10.

The Redhawks entered the game coming off of a 88-69 victory over Tennessee Tech University in a repeat of last year's OVC Championship game, putting them 8th in the OVC with a record of 3-8 in conference play.

SEMO found themselves in the hole early, allowing TSU to begin the game up 18-9, led by senior guard Christian Brown, going 3-5 from behind the arc.

The Redhawks would also struggle in the paint, getting out rebounded by the Tigers 25-11. SEMO would close out the first half down 29-38, being out shot from the field 35.5% to TSU’s 53.1%.

“I just don't think we had any energy for whatever reason we were kind of slow. Not a whole lot of talking. I thought we were playing okay, but we just didn't have a whole lot of juice,” head coach Brad Korn said.

Entering the second half TSU would hold on to their commanding lead, going up by as much as 15 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Despite the deficit, the Redhawks battled their way back, led by senior forward Josh Earley who put up 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists to help the Redhawks come within three points of tying the game.

“I thought we fought, I thought we fought the whole second half to come back, we were down 15,” Earley said. “So I mean, to be in the fight all the way back to down three. I think we put in effort, we just got to do it. 40 minutes.”

The game ended with the The Show Me Center on the edge of their seats. Down three with just three seconds left in the game, sophomore guard Evan Eursher pulled up from behind the arch but came up no good. The Redhawks quickly snatched an offensive rebound as freshman guard B.J Ward pulled up a prayer from three point range as time expired, but once again, no good.

“We just got to fight as you see in the last 10 minutes. We fought in that game, and if we do that the whole 40 then we wouldn't be down by 15 like we was, but if we continue to fight, stay together, I continue to lead Josh, all the seniors and stuff, we do that we win these next games and into the tournament."

SEMO will travel to Charleston, IL to face Eastern Illinois beginning a two game road trip on Feb. 15 before returning to the Show Me Center for a matchup with Little Rock on Feb. 22 at 7:30 pm.