Redhawks Grab OVC Tournament Berth with 83-80 Win Over Austin Peay

Thursday, February 27

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

7:00 PM

Southeast Missouri State University

16-13, 7-8OVC

Austin Peay

11-18, 5-10OVC

Team	1	2	F
Austin Peay	34	46	80
Southeast Missouri	40	43	83

Southeast punched its ticket to the OVC Tournament with its win over Austin Peay Thursday

2/27/2014 8:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Southeast locks down back-to-back winning seasons for first time since 1998-99 and 1999-2000

Final Statistics | PDF Version

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Tyler Stone had a double-double 20 points and 11 rebounds and Southeast Missouri (16-13, 7-8) held on to clinch a berth in the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with an 83-80 win over Austin Peay (11-18, 5-10) Thursday night at the Show Me Center.

Southeast is headed to the OVC Tournament for the fourth-straight year.

"I was proud of our guys tonight and it was a very happy locker room," said Southeast head coach Dickey Nutt. "We played with a lot of pressure on us because we knew how important this game was. Our intensity level was good from start to finish and we did enough to hang on defensively."

Not only did tonight's win put the Redhawks in the postseason, but it locked down Southeast's second consecutive winning season. The last time that happened was 1998-99 (20-9) and 1999-2000 (24-7).

Southeast stormed out of the gate and shot a scorching 61.5 percent in the first half. The Redhawks, despite going without a three-pointer in the game's opening 20 minutes for the second-straight contest, hit 16 of their 26 field goal attempts.

Tied, 19-19, with 7:33 left to play, Southeast went on a 16-6 run over the next 3:26 to build a double-digit lead. Josh Langford scored five points and Jarekious Bradley added four and made a layup to push the Redhawks lead to 35-25 with 4:07 remaining.

Nino Johnson's free throw gave Southeast another 10-point advantage (40-30) with 1:13 left before APSU scored the last four points to knock the Redhawks lead down to 40-34 at the break.

Seven different Redhawks got in the scoring column during a balanced first half. Southeast also scored 16 points off 11 Governor turnovers.

Johnson threw down a dunk to grab Southeast a 48-38 lead with 17:21 to go before APSU managed to get within striking distance.

Travis Betran knocked down a three-pointer to cut the Redhawks lead to 52-51 (13:36), but Jamaal Calvin answered with a three of his own to hand Southeast a four-point cushion.

Ed Dyson then buried a three to make it a 57-56 lead with 11:32 on the clock. After pulling to within one again, this time on Chris Horton's jumper at the 10:17 mark, the Governors had a chance to take the lead. Dyson, however, split a pair of free throws as the game moved to a 59-59 tie with under 10 minutes remaining.

Jarekious Bradley's three immediately followed Dyson's trip to the free throw line. Southeast then proceeded to take a nine-point with Antonius Cleveland knocking down a big trey and Bradley hammering down a dunk along the way.

Ahead, 79-68, with 1:40 on the clock, APSU had yet another golden opportunity down the stretch.

Will Triggs' conventional three-point play narrowed the Redhawks lead to 82-80 with 16 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Dyson intercepted Lucas Nutt's pass at midcourt. Southeast's defense forced Damarius Smith to take an off-balance shot which missed with three seconds left and Bradley scored the game's final point on a free throw, as the Redhawks survived.

Stone shot 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-7 at the free throw line en route to his team-high 12th double-double this season. He dished out five assists, had two steals and a block, as well.

Bradley contributed 16 points, Johnson followed with 14, Cleveland added 12 and Josh Langford pitched in 11 to round out Southeast's double-digit scorers.

As a team, Southeast shot 60 percent (33-of-55) from the field and dished out 22 assists.

Betran turned in a game-high 28 points and Dyson had 20 for the Governors. Will Triggs also scored 15 and Chris Horton grabbed a game-high 13 boards.

Southeast concludes its regular-season with one last home game against rival Murray State Saturday. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center. Seniors Stone and Nutt will be honored prior to the game.