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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Southeast Missouri outscored Eastern Illinois 43-17 in the second half en route to a commanding 74-53 win Monday night in Ohio Valley Conference action at Lantz Arena.
 
Southeast (12-9, 7-2), which trailed, 36-31, at the half, came from behind to earn its eighth victory in 10 games. The Redhawks also dealt the Panthers (9-12, 2-7) their sixth-straight loss.
 
“I was proud of our second half performance,” said Southeast head coach Dickey Nutt. “Our defense really cranked it up after we made some adjustments at halftime.”
 
The Redhawks began the final period with a 13-2 burst over the first 4:01 to take a 44-38 lead. Michael Porter scored five points and Leon Powell chipped in four and threw down a dunk off a Marcus Brister pass.
 
After Zavier Sanders made a layup to cut Southeast's lead to 44-42 at the 14:45 mark, the Redhawks blew the game open.
 
Southeast followed Sanders' basket with a 20-0 run to take a 64-42 lead as EIU went scoreless for over eight minutes. Tyler Stone scored eight points as one of four different Redhawks who contributed to that surge which ended on Powell's two free throws with 7:14 on the clock.
 
Stone would throw down a dunk off a pass by Corey Wilford to give Southeast its biggest lead at 68-44 (5:23) before the Redhawks nailed down their seventh league win.
 
Southeast shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field in the first half, as Marland Smith knocked down four three-pointers.
 
Smith buried a trey to give the Redhawks their biggest lead of the half (12-6) with 15:56 left to play.
 
Jeremy Granger heated up to score seven-straight points, before Morris Woods made a jumper, giving the Panthers their first lead at 19-18 (10:03).
 
Moments after Wilford sunk a three-pointer to give Southeast a four-point cushion (29-25), EIU answered with an 11-2 run in the last 4:22 to take its halftime lead.
 
Smith led all scorers with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-16 field goals, five of which came from behind the arc.
 
Stone followed with a double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Powell added 12 points and Porter finished with 10 and six boards in 18 minutes off the bench. Powell had seven rebounds and made a season-high 8-of-10 free throws, as well.
 
Southeast shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) and outrebounded EIU, 42-25. The Redhawks grabbed 14 of their rebounds on the offensive end.
 
Granger led the Panthers with 12 points. EIU shot just 24 percent (6-of-25) from the field in the second half.
 
The 21-point win marked Southeast's largest in conference play this season. In addition, the Redhawks won a league game on the road by 20 or more points for the first time since 2003-04. That year, Southeast beat EIU, 84-64, on Jan. 13.
 
Southeast will return to action when it visits unbeaten and nationally-ranked Murray State Thursday. That game will air live on ESPNU at 7 p.m., CT.
 
The Redhawks were the last to hand the Racers a regular-season OVC loss when they won, 64-57, in Cape Girardeau on Feb. 16, 2011. Since then, Murray State has won 11-straight OVC regular-season contests.