CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Eric Reed, Jr. and DQ Nicholas each scored 18 points to lead Southeast Missouri (9-12, 4-4) to an 85-77 victory over SIU Edwardsville (7-14, 1-7) Saturday at the Show Me Center. 
 
SEMO won its fourth-straight game over SIUE in the series between the teams and improved to 15-4 against the Cougars in Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks also handed SIUE its sixth-consecutive loss.
 
SIUE, after trailing 35-31 at the half, tied the game at 35-35 on a field goal by Ray'Sean Taylor early in the second half, SEMO didn't allow them to take a lead the remainder of the contest.
 
SEMO led for a period of 31:20 and took its largest lead when Nygal Russell's free throw made it a 10-point game (77-67) with 1:16 left to play.
 
Neither team led by more than seven points in a tightly contested first half.
 
SEMO opened the game with a 10-3 run with Russell and Chris Harris burying threes along the way. Sam Thompson's layup later capped the early jaunt with 15:29 to go.
 
DeeJuan Pruitt's layup put SIUE ahead for the first time at 23-22 with 7:52 to go and Shaun Doss, Jr. made two free throws to extend the Cougars lead to five (30-25) 3:12 later.
 
Harris knocked down a free throw and nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to regain a 35-31 advantage for SEMO at the half.
 
Harris and Nana Akenten paced the Redhawks with 10 points apiece in the opening stanza which featured four ties and four lead changes.
 
SEMO got a huge lift from its bench, which dominated the game outscoring SIUE by a count of 35-6.
 
Reed, Jr. and Nicholas paved the way for four Redhawks with double figures in the scoring column. Reed, Jr. added 10-of-12 free throws as SEMO outscored the Cougars, 28-14, at the charity stripe.
 
N. Russell narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds, while Harris and Akenten pitched in 17 and 11 points, respectively. Harris dished out six assists and made nine free throws, as well.
 
In the second half alone, SEMO knocked down 23-of-29 free throws for 79.3 percent.
 
For the game, the Redhawks shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the field and outrebounded the Cougars, 38-30. SEMO connected on 50 percent (13-of-26) of its shots in the game's final 20 minutes. Additionally, the Redhawks scored 80 or more points for the sixth time in eight conference games.
 
Taylor led all scorers with a game-high 25 points to lead four SIUE starters in double-digits.
 
SEMO played its second game without starting point guard Phillip Russell who was out due to COVID protocols.
 
The Redhawks return to action when they travel to UT Martin on Feb. 3.