Box Score Final Statistics | PDF Version

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (8-8, 0-3) shot 57.6 percent from the field and a season-best 63.3 percent in the first half, but it wasn't enough to get by defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Belmont (11-6, 3-0) in a 107-94 loss at the Show Me Center Thursday.

One of Southeast's top offensive games was overshadowed by a red-hot Belmont team which shot even better. The Bruins finished at 63.3 percent (38-of-60) from the floor and knocked down a season-high 17-of-26 threes (65.4 percent) along the way.

Southeast led just twice in the game and both of those leads came in the first minute. Josh Langford made a jumper 11 seconds after the opening tip to give the Redhawks a 2-0 edge and then made a layup after Drew Winder knocked down a three to put Southeast up by one.

After that, the Redhawks made it a one-possession game on 11 different occasions before falling to their fourth-straight loss and sixth in seven contests.

Both teams caught fire in a first-half shootout.
 
Langford stormed out of the gate to score his team's first 11 points in a four-minute span as the Redhawks trailed, 15-11, with 16:09 left to play.
 
Tyler Stone knocked down a jumper and followed that up with a dunk to narrow the Bruins lead to 19-18 at the 13:25 mark, but Belmont quickly responded with a layup by Blake Jenkins.
 
Stone brought Southeast to within striking distance again when his layup diced Belmont's lead to 31-29 with 8:54 left, but the Bruins answered with a 14-7 run to get ahead by nine. Drew Windler buried a three-pointer and Jenkins chipped in five more points and buried a three to give Belmont a 45-36 advantage with 5:43 on the clock.
 
Darrian Gray's third three-pointer of the game then narrowed the gap to 52-50 with 39 seconds left before Reece Chamberlain countered with a trey to grab the Bruins a 55-50 lead at the break.

"I thought our effort was good and I was pleased with how we played in the first half," said Southeast head coach Dickey Nutt. "I was pleased with our strong start."
 
Southeast trailed by three or less points four times in the second half, but that was as close as it would get.

Belmont later used a 16-6 run to take its biggest lead. Craig Bradshaw scored seven points and the Bruins made nine free throws during that stretch to pull away for good. J.J. Mann's two free throws pushed Belmont's lead to 107-89 before the Redhawks scored the last five points of the game.

Jarekious Bradley, who moved to the top of the OVC in scoring this week, again led the Redhawks. Bradley scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-22 field goals, including three from downtown. He also made 4-of-5 free throws and grabbed five rebounds in a game-high 35 minutes. Bradley scored 20 or more points for his league-best 13th time this season.

Langford followed with a season-high 22 points on a perfect 10-of-10 field goals. He drained two threes and pulled down three rebounds, as well.

Stone and Gray added 14 and 12 points, respectively. Bradley, Langford, Stone and Gray all had double figures in the scoring column by halftime.

Mann, who scored only two points in the first half, finished with 25 on the night. He went 6-of-13 from the field and 10-of-11 at the free throw line. Bradshaw was close behind with 24 points, Jenkins had 19 (all in the first half), Windler contributed 12 and Evan Bradds pitched in 10.

Southeast outrebounded Belmont, 31-23 and held a +5 (10-5) margin on the offensive glass. In addition, the Redhawks went to the foul line more than one of the conference's best free throw shooting teams. Southeast shot 16-of-20 free throws to the Bruins' 14-of-19.

"Belmont is one of the top free throw shooting teams in our league," said Nutt. "We shot more free throws than they did and did a nice job of getting to the line tonight."

The Redhawks return to action when they host Tennessee State Saturday. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m., CT.