CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Daniel Simmons scored 22 points and freshman Denzel Mahoney added 20 to lead Southeast Missouri to an 84-77 come-from-behind win over Missouri S&T Monday night in exhibition action at the Show Me Center.

Down, 50-38, with 16:31 left to play, the Redhawks erased a 12-point deficit when they put together a 19-7 run to get back in the game. Simmons accounted for seven points, while Mahoney contributed five to key the jaunt that ended with Jamaal Calvin's jumper tying things up at 57-57 with 10:46 on the clock.

Two possessions later, Mahoney drained a 3-pointer from the right corner to give SEMO a 60-59 edge, its first lead since the 17:40 mark of the first half.

Rokas Paulauskas' layup made it a one-possession game at 75-72 with 4:04 left before the Redhawks scored nine of the final 14 points to polish off their seven-point victory. Calvin's two free throws gave SEMO its largest lead (83-75) with 1:45 remaining.
 
 SEMO had a tough time establishing any sort of rhythm in a first half disrupted by 28 combined fouls, including 15 from the Redhawks.

"Our approach was not very good leading up to the game," said SEMO head coach Rick Ray. "This was a good learning experience for us."
 
The Redhawks trailed, 9-8, when Missouri S&T went on a 12-3 run in a span of 5:11 to build a 21-11 cushion. The Miners dropped in a pair of 3-pointers during that stretch which ended on Quinn Poythress' trey at the 10:19 mark.
 
Poythress later buried another 3-pointer to extend Missouri S&T's lead to 32-20 before SEMO used a 13-7 surge to pull to within six at the half.
 
Simmons came off the bench to score six points, while Antonius Cleveland added four and Mahoney chipped in three to close the gap to 39-33.
 
The Miners shot 60 percent from 3-point range, burying 6-of-10 attempts. Missouri S&T outrebounded SEMO, 20-12, and scored 12 second chance points in the game's opening period, as well.

SEMO tightened up its 3-point defense in the second half after Missouri S&T's hot start. At one point, the Miners were 9-of-15 from long range, but the Redhawks limited them to just 2-of-13 the rest of the way.

"We didn't want to give up any uncontested shots and we cleaned up our inability to guard them off the bounce," said Ray. "Those were the two biggest adjustments we made in guarding the 3-point shot."

Simmons shot 7-of-9 from the field, 3-of-4 from 3-point land and a near-perfect 5-of-6 at the free throw line to lead SEMO. He finished with a game-high three steals, as well.

Meanwhile, Mahoney went 7-of-11 from the field, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 3-of-4 at the free throw line in 31 minutes.

"Daniel has an extreme amount of confidence and Denzel has so much poise to his game, is unselfish and already has the physicality to play as a freshman," added Ray.

Cleveland and Trey Kellum followed with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Redhawks shot 58.6 percent (17-of-29) and made six of their nine 3s in the second half. SEMO wound up shooting 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from the field for the night.

Missouri S&T outrebounded SEMO, 38-28, with 13 of its boards coming on the offensive end. Paulauskas had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Starters Juwan Miller (17) and Danylo Zuikov (16) scored double figures. The Miners cooled off to shoot 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from beyond the arc in the second half.

In all, 55 fouls were committed between the two teams.

SEMO has won its last eight exhibition matchups and ended exhibition action with a win against Missouri S&T for the second year in a row.

The Redhawks tip-off the 2016-17 season at Big Ten Conference member Illinois Friday. Start time is 8 p.m., CT, at the State Farm Center.