SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Montana State (4-3) scored 48 second-half points and used a 25-6 run in a 12-minute stretch to beat Southeast Missouri (3-4), 75-68, Sunday afternoon at the Incarnate Word Thanksgiving Invitational.
SEMO finished the tournament with a 1-2 record.
SEMO led, 31-27, at the intermission before a cold second-half start doomed the Redhawks.
The Redhawks struggled to get into any type of rhythm in a second half that saw a combined 29 personal fouls called.
MSU began the final 20 minutes on a 17-3 run and shot free throws for the last 13:23 of the contest. The Bobcats took their largest lead when Tyler Patterson knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a 59-44 game with 7:02 left to play.
The Redhawks managed to get within five when a driving layup by Chris Harris narrowed MSU's lead to 73-68 with 21 seconds to go, but that was as close as they could get.
SEMO started strong forcing four turnovers in the first 3:44 of the game and jumped out to an early 8-0 lead. The Redhawks put up their first six tallies on layups and Russell accounted for half of those points during the surge.
After Nygal Russel made a 3-pointer to run SEMO's lead to eight again (13-5), MSU countered with a 12-2 run to take a 17-15 advantage. The Redhawks went scoreless for nearly four minutes before DQ Nicholas' layup ended the drought with 9:58 left in the first half.
Nicholas later knocked down a 3-pointer to stretch the Redhawks lead to 30-24 before SEMO led, 31-27, at the intermission.
Russell finished with a career-best 21 points on 6-of-15 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws. He dropped in two 3-pointers in his sixth-straight game with double figures.
Harris added 17 points off the bench, while Nana Akenten pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds. Eric Reed, Jr., who entered today averaging 17 points a game, had only five in 21 minutes due to his four fouls.
MSU made 24 free throws, all but three of which were in the second half.
All five Bobcat starters scored double figures with Jubrile Belo paving the way with 17 points.
SEMO was outscored 69-35 at the free throw line for the tournament. Belo also had six rebounds and five blocks. Xavier Bishop followed with 14 points, while Amin Adamu contributed a double-double 13 points and 10 rebounds. Patterson and Abdul Mohamed chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively.
For the tournament, the Redhawks were outscored 69-35 at the free throw line.
SEMO returns to Cape Girardeau to host Webster University on Dec. 4.
