SEMO men's basketball triumph in overtime thriller against Tennessee State

The SEMO men’s basketball team defeated Tennessee State University Tigers by a score of 89-87 on Saturday, Feb. 1 at the Show Me Center.

Earlier in this season when the two met, the game was competitive throughout, with the Redhawks edging out a 67-65 victory in Nashville, Tenn.

The game opened in similar fashion as both teams matched each other in scoring, with neither one building a lead larger than four points at a time.

As soon as the Redhawks seemed to find their groove in scoring, several key turnovers derailed their momentum, giving the Tigers both the ball and a four point lead.

The Redhawks regained their composure, and the lead, however the Tigers stayed competitive battling for the lead until the last seconds of the half.

To close out the first half, junior guard Rob Martin scored a buzzer-beating three-point shot to give the Redhawks the lead ending the first half 32-31.

During the second half, the Tigers took advantage of several key fouls and turnovers, which allowed them to go on a scoring run, allowing them to gain a nine point lead with seven minutes left in the half.

The Redhawks however continued to fight, capitalizing on free throws and fast breaks to close the gap on the tigers.

With two minutes left in the game, the Redhawks came all the way back, tying the game, and continued to match the Tigers for the remainder of the half.

With three seconds left, the Tigers tied the game at 77-77, sending the game to overtime.

The Tigers opened the beginning minutes of overtime on a 6-0 scoring run, building a lead early on the Redhawks.

The Redhawks however remained composed, and continued to battle back, again mounting a late comeback.

Junior guard Rob Martin stated that the Redhawks were able to deal with the pressure and adversity throughout the game through preparation in practice.

“It starts in practice. We’ll be down six or eight points in practice, and its just executing plays. If you execute plays, everything else is going to control itself. And me being the leader, just collecting the guys and telling them that we’re all right, we’re only down six, seven points, it's a game of runs,” Martin said.

With the game tied, and 2 seconds left on the clock, Senior guard Teddy Washington Jr. sinks a shot from just inside to the arch, to put the Redhawks ahead and eventually win the game.

Washington Jr. stated that despite struggling in the game, he knew he was going to make the shot even before the ball came into his hands.

“When the Coach drew the play up, and we were walking out I told all my teammates, if I touch this box, I'm gonna win the game. They trusted me. They knew the type of player I am. I had a rough night, but they just kept trusting me, and I'm really grateful for it,” Washington Jr. said.

Head Coach Brad Korn said that he was pleased with the team’s resilience throughout the game, despite going down many times.

“Just a fantastic, gritty, tough come from behind win, not just once, but twice, regulation and overtime. So just really proud of our guys for not giving in. We executed what we needed the most on defense and offensively… all in all, a very tough home conference win we absolutely had to have,” Korn said.

In the Redhawks’ last two games, the offense has been able to produce the two highest scoring games of the season, having multiple different players contribute points over that time span.

Coach Korn stated that proper preparation through film study and understanding of the offensive system has allied the team to grow in this regard.

“We've done a lot of film work. A lot of teams do more film work as you get to this part of the season, because you're not practicing as long, can't [physically train] as much, so it's now more just the mental side of it and really understanding [the offense],” Korn said.

The Redhawks’ next game is on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 6:30 p.m. in Morehead, Kentucky.