RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Ty Rowell dropped in 24 points to lead California Baptist (9-3) to an 84-68 win over Southeast Missouri (5-8) Tuesday night at the CBU Events Center.
SEMO was led by reigning Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Week Phillip Russell's 17 points.
The Redhawks led for 6:39 of the game and that was it. During that time, SEMO was ahead by five points on three occasions early in the first half.
Russell made a 3-pointer to put the Redhawks up, 11-6, before Nate Johnson scored on a hook shot and Eric Reed, Jr. gave SEMO a 15-10 cushion on a jumper with 13:46 remaining.
After Russell scored to give SEMO a 20-18 edge, the Redhawks fell into a cold spell. As a result, the Redhawks missed 10 of 11 field goals and went scoreless for 3:43.
Meanwhile, CBU capitalized with a 13-0 run to take a 31-20 lead.
Powell, who went over 1,000 points in his CBU career, stuck a 3-pointer to finish off the jaunt with 5:37 to go.
CBU later widened its lead to 12 twice in the final four minutes of the first half before taking a 43-34 advantage at the break.
The Lancers started the second half with a 10-4 surge to quickly push their lead to 15 (53-38).
SEMO managed to get within eight on a pair of free throws by Chris Harris which made it a 53-45 game at the 13:33 mark, but that was the last time the Lancer lead dipped below double figures.
Daniel Akin's driving second chance layup gave CBU its largest lead of the night at 75-56 prior to the Lancers polishing off their ninth home win of the season.
CBU, now 9-0 on its homecourt, has gone 25-3 against non-conference foes at the CBU Events Center since it made the jump to NCAA Division I.
Russell, who scored 11 of his points in the first half, shot 6-of-13 from the field with half of his makes coming from 3-point range. Russell had a strong California swing averaging 21 points in two games.
Harris followed with 16 points off the bench and Reed, Jr. added 11. Sam Thompson, who was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Nov. 19, contributed six points and six rebounds.
SEMO shot 34.4 percent (22-of-64) from the field and just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from beyond the arc.
Rowell hit 6-of-13 from the field and drained six 3-pointers, half of the Lancers dozen for the game. He paced four starters in double-digits.
Aken had a double-double 17 points and 14 boards, while Chance Hunter and Reed Nottage pitched in 15 and 13, respectively.
Taran Armstrong, CBU's leading scorer who entered tonight's game ranked second in the nation in assists, exited the game early in the first half with a cut on his shooting hand. Armstrong did not return in the game.
CBU outrebounded SEMO by a +10 margin (45-35) and shot 48.4 percent (30-of-62) from the floor.
SEMO concluded non-conference play with four-straight losses.
The Redhawks break for the Christmas holiday before starting its 18-game OVC slate at Murray State on Dec. 30.
