CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.– Southeast Missouri (5-8) came up on the short end of a 70-68 loss to Southland Conference member Abilene Christian (10-2) in a game that featured 10 ties and 21 lead changes Friday.
 
SEMO dropped its fourth-straight contest and wrapped up its non-conference schedule with a 1-5 record in December.
 
Neither team led by more than four points until Jaylen Franklin made a pair of free throws to give ACU a 49-44 advantage with 11:37 remaining in the game. 
 
A steal by Sage Tolbert led to Oscar Kao draining a 3-pointer to regain a 52-51 lead for SEMO with under seven minutes to go. Kao made two free throws to and Ledarrius Brewer threw down a two-handed jam to give the Redhawks a one-point cushion twice more.
 
SEMO then went over five minutes without a field goal and would not lead again.
 
A Payten Ricks 3-pointer pushed the Wildcats lead to six at the 3:16 mark and Franklin's free throw widened ACU's margin to 67-60 with 1:19 on the clock. Franklin's free throw was one of six made by the Wildcats in the final 1:19.
 
Jonathan Dalton got the Redhawks within two when he made a 3-pointer with .04 seconds left before time ran out.  
 
Shots were falling in a strong first half for both teams.
 
SEMO made eight of its first 12 field goals for a red-hot 66.7 percent, while ACU scored on six of its first seven shots.
 
The Redhawks scored their first nine points of the game from 3-point range and Brewer knocked down each of his first three 3-point attempts to lead the way. 
 
Brewer's second trifecta put SEMO ahead, 18-14, with 9:02 remaining.
 
Mark Laros' layup sent the Redhawks into halftime ahead, 31-30, SEMO's sixth lead at the intermission this season.

SEMO shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) and buried five 3-pointers in the opening stanza. 
 
Jaren Lewis scored 19 points to lead four ACU starters in double figures. Jalone Friday followed with 17 points, while Ricks added 15 and Franklin chipped in 12.
 
The Wildcats scored 15 of their 20 points at the free throw line in the second half.
 
Brewer led all SEMO scorers with 15 points on 6-of-11 field goals and 3-of-6 threes. Skyler Hogan scored 14 and Dalton followed with 13 points and seven assists. Kao contributed eight points, as well.
 
The Redhawks, who rank 22nd in the nation defending the three, held ACU to 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from beyond the arc. The Wildcats lead the Southland Conference and rank ninth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage.
 
SEMO also committed a season-high 23 turnovers.
 
"We wanted to limit their 3-point opportunities and did a good job holding them to 26.7 percent," said SEMO head coach Rick Ray. "We sent them to the free throw line too much and had too many turnovers."
 
The Redhawks were without their third-leading scorer, Alex Caldwell, who did not play due to a concussion he sustained four days earlier at Florida State.
 
SEMO will break for 12 days before opening its 18-game Ohio Valley Conference slate at SIU Edwardsville on Jan. 3.