NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Chris Harris scored 17 points and made two big free throws with 14 seconds left and Southeast Missouri (4-8, 2-4) grinded out a 63-59 win over Tennessee State (2-9, 1-7) for its first road victory of the season Tuesday.

With the win, SEMO completed a two-game sweep of TSU and ended a 23-game losing streak in true road games. The Redhawks last beat the Tigers twice in a season in 1998-99 and their last true road victory came at Eastern Illinois (88-79) on Feb. 16, 2019.

The Redhawks led by 10 (53-43) after DQ Nicholas drained a 3-pointer with 6:56 left to play. 

TSU outscored SEMO, 14-6, over the next 5:05 and got within two, 59-57, on a jumper by Marcus Fitzgerald, Jr. at the 1:51 mark. 

Shortly after Nolan Taylor made two big free throws, the Tigers cut the Redhawks lead to two again, this time on a second-chance layup by Ravel Moody.

Harris then sealed the win for good when he buried two free throws with 14 seconds left.

SEMO led for all but 2:23 in in a foul-plagued first half. A combined 22 fouls were called between the teams in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Dylan Branson's second-chance go-ahead layup ignited a 9-2 run that gave the Redhawks a 15-7 advantage, their largest of the half. Nicholas buried a 3-pointer to cap the spurt with 10:55 remaining.

After a Mason Green layup cut the Redhawks lead to 32-30, Eric Reed, Jr. nailed a 3-pointer to put SEMO ahead, 35-30, at the intermission. 

Eight different Redhawks scored in the opening stanza. SEMO also forced 10 turnovers and collected five steals en route to its seventh halftime lead in 12 games this year. 

SEMO scored 23 points at the free throw line and made a combined 63 free throws in two games against TSU in 2020-21.

Harris made a career-high 10-of-12 free throws and pulled up to bury a huge 3-pointer to give SEMO a six-point cushion with 2:28 on the clock. It was Harris' team-high sixth double-digit scoring performance. 

Nicholas, who had just three made 3-pointers entering tonight's contest, followed with 11 points and matched his entire season total with a 3-of-6 showing beyond the arc. 

Manny Patterson added a season-high 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Shakem Johnson paced TSU with a game-high 18 points. The Tigers shot just 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from 3-point range, missed 11 free throws (14-of-25) and hit 39.3 percent (22-of-56) of their field goals.

Additionally, TSU managed to get within two points nine times in the game, but SEMO answered with baskets on each of those occasions to hold off the Tigers. 

The Redhawks head to Morehead State for a nationally televised ESPNU matchup Thursday.