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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Marcus Marshall scored a game-high 21 points and Missouri State (5-3) heated up in the second half to come from behind and beat Southeast Missouri (5-5), 73-61, Saturday night at the Show Me Center.
 
A streak of seven-straight home wins came to an end for Southeast which suffered its first loss in Cape Girardeau since Feb. 12, 2014 (79-70, vs. UT Martin).
 
"I felt like we didn't put two halves together," said Southeast head coach Dickey Nutt. "They got loose, shot the ball well and created some problems for us in the second half."
 
After scoring just four points on 1-of-6 field goals in the first half, Marshall did not miss a three or free throw in the final 20 minutes.
 
After falling behind, 32-28, in the first half, the Bears knocked down their first six threes of the second stanza.
 
Marshall and Austin Ruder accounted for three treys apiece as MSU managed to build a seven-point advantage. Marshall's third three-pointer capped the surge, giving the Bears a 55-48 lead with 10:43 left.
 
Southeast never recovered and didn't get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
 
The Redhawks did not trail until Ruder completed a four-point play to give the Bears their first lead of the night (35-33) with 18:12 remaining.
 
While Southeast struggled to get shots to fall in the second half, particularly from three-point range (1-of-13), things were much better for the Redhawks in the first half.
 
Southeast gained early momentum, scoring the game's first five points. The Redhawks won the opening tip and immediately scored on a dunk by Antonius Cleveland. Cleveland went airborne to hammer down J.J. Thompson's alley-oop pass just five seconds in.
 
Jarekious Bradley followed with a three-pointer to push Southeast's lead to 5-0 with 18:32 left to play.
 
Thompson later buried a three to stretch the Redhawks lead to 10-4 at the 15:22 mark before MSU responded with a 6-2 jaunt to narrow the gap to two. Shawn Roundtree knocked down a three-pointer to make it a 12-10 game with 12:42 remaining.
 
Both teams battled back-and-forth until Cleveland's three-pointer extended Southeast's lead to 32-25, but Gavin Thurman answered with a trifecta of his own just before the half.
 
Marshall finished at 5-of-12 from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line to lead all scorers. Gavin Thurman followed with 19 points and Ruder chipped in 16 with a game-high five threes.
 
MSU, which outscored Southeast, 45-29, in the final 20 minutes, shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from the field and missed only once from distance (7-of-8) during its strong second half. The Bears shot under 30 percent (29.6) in the first half.
 
Nino Johnson led the Redhawks with 13 points, seven rebounds, one block and a steal in 28 minutes. Johnson went 6-of-10 from the field.
 
Cleveland pitched in 12 points and Isiah Jones contributed 11 off the bench.
 
Bradley was held under double figures for the first time this season. He had nine points in 37 minutes. Bradley scored double-digits in eight-consecutive games prior to tonight.
 
The Redhawks turned the ball over 15 times, shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from field goal range and 25 percent (6-of-24) from behind the arc, as well.
 
Southeast and MSU met in Cape Girardeau for the first time since 2002. The Bears returned the trip on the backend of a home-and-home series that started a year ago. MSU now holds a 90-54 lead in the all-time series between these in-state rivals.
 
The Redhawks, who closed out a three-game homestand, hit the road for four of their next five contests.
 
Southeast will play Arkansas in Little Rock on Dec. 20 and Ole Miss in Southaven, Miss. on Dec. 22 before the Christmas holiday.