Redhawks Host Fontbonne in Exhibition Play Tuesday Night at the Show Me Center - Southeast Missouri State University Athletics

Tuesday, October 25

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

6:30 PM

Southeast Missouri State University

Fontbonne

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Photo by: Jan Salmon

10/24/2022 2:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Southeast Missouri
vs. Fontbonne
Exhibition #1
Game Information
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022
Tip-Off: 6:30 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Show Me Center (7,000)
Series: First Meeting
Head Coaches: Brad Korn (Third Season at SEMO, 25-34) | Lance Thornhill (Seventh Season at Fontbonne)

Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM
Tickets

Redhawks Host Fontbonne in Exhibition Play Tuesday Night at the Show Me Center
Southeast Missouri men's basketball will face NCAA Division III institution Fontbonne Tuesday night at the Show Me Center in exhibition play to commence the 2022-23 season. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m., CT. at the Show Me Center.

The campaign marks the 116th season of SEMO men's basketball. The Redhawks enter their third year under the direction of Head Coach Brad Korn. SEMO went 14-18 overall and placed fourth in the OVC with an 8-9 record. The Redhawks advanced to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament, as well.

Tuesday marks the first of two exhibitions for the Redhawks this week as they also host Aurora University Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., CT.

Promotions
• Tuesday is "Meet the Redhawks" night at the Show Me Center.
-During halftime of the men's game, the SEMO women's basketball team will be introduced at midcourt with remarks from Head Coach Rekha Patterson
- After the game, the Redhawk men will be introduced with remarks from Head Coach Brad Korn, followed by an autograph session on the court with both teams
• Tickets are buy one, get one FREE and can be purchased online

Series History
Tuesday's exhibition matchup will mark the first time the two schools have lined up on the court to face each other.

Scouting the Opponent
The Fontbonne University Griffins posted a 17-7 overall record with a 12-2 conference record in the SLIAC (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference).

The Griffins registered 83.5 points per game, making 6.3 three-point attempts per game, and an overall field goal percentage of 45.7.

Fontbonne will be led by senior guard Elijah Rice who played in 738 minutes for the Griffins last season. The guard played and started in 23 games, registering a 48.7 field goal percentage. Rice accumulated 349 points for the season, ranking him second on the team.

Junior Will Sullentrop, a 6-5 St, Charles, Missouri, native, will anchor the post for the Griffins having tallied the most points amongst the team's forwards, a season ago. Sullentrop ranked fifth on the team in points scored (231) while going 86-177 from the field (48.6 percent).

A season ago, the Griffins averaged 40.7 rebounds per game, while dishing out 17 assists per game.

Fontbonne will begin their regular season on Saturday, Nov. 12, as they go on the road to take on Simpson College.

OVC Preseason Poll
Guards Phillip Russell and Chris Harris earned Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference and Southeast Missouri was picked fourth in this year's poll selected by the league's Head Coaches and Communication Directors.

A native of St. Louis, Russell earned Second-Team All-OVC and All-Newcomer honors in his first year at SEMO in 2021-22. He ranked second on the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game in 30 starts. Russell led the team with 95 assists and 37 steals. He ranked ninth in the OVC in scoring, 10th in assists (3.2 apg), 11th in free throw percentage (.733), 12th in steals (1.2 spg), 13th in 3-point field goals made (1.6 per game), 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and 15th in minutes played (30.4 mpg).

Harris, who hails from Antioch, Illinois, claims Preseason All-OVC accolades for the second-straight year. He was SEMO's third-leading scorer with 9.4 points per game last season. Harris also ranked second on the team with 76 assists and tied for fourth with 20 steals. He rated 13th in the league in assists (2.7 apg), eighth in free throw percentage (.763) and 14th in 3-point field goal percentage (.347).

SEMO, which secured the fourth seed in last year's OVC Tournament, accumulated a total of 115 points and two first-place votes in the preseason poll. Morehead State is the preseason favorite with 138 points and seven first-place nods. Tennessee State (130 pts., 2 first-place votes) and UT Martin (120 pts., 7 first-place votes) were also picked ahead of the Redhawks.

2022-23 Team Makeup
The Redhawks return five players and welcome 10 new players this year.

Point guard Phillip Russell and Dylan Branson are the returning starters, while Chris Harris saw action in 29 games and logged six starts. Nate Johnson and Adam Larson round out the returnees from 2021-22.

A native of St. Louis, Russell was second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg) and led the team in assists (95) in 30 starts a year ago. He shot 77.3 percent (99-of-135) at the free throw line and made a team-high 48 three-pointers. He also led SEMO with 37 steals and earned Second-Team All-OVC accolades.

Branson started 25 of 32 games and Harris finished as SEMO's third-leading scorer with 9.4 points per contest.

Four NCAA Division I transfers, including Aquan Smart (Florida International), Josh Earley (Tulsa), Gavyn Elkamil (Tulsa) and Kobe Clark (Georgetown) join the Redhawks this season.

Meanwhile, Israel Barnes (Newman University), David Idada (Golden State Prep), Tevin Gowins (Hazelwood Central), Josh Mitchell (Northeast Mississippi CC), Evan Eursher (The Webb School) and Mason Hanback (Tennessee Prep) complete the newcomers. Idada, a 7-footer, played professionally in the Netherlands.

Here Come the Redhawks
The 2022-23 Southeast Missouri men's basketball team will compete in 31 games with 13 at the Show Me Center.

SEMO tips off its third season under Head Coach Brad Korn at South Florida on Nov. 7. The Redhawks start a season in the Sunshine State for the first time in their NCAA Division I era. SEMO last faced a Florida school in 2010-11 (at Florida Gulf Coast).

The Redhawks four home non-conference matchups include non-Division I foes Lyon College (Nov. 12) and William Woods (Nov. 22) along with Purdue Fort Wayne (Dec. 7) and longtime rival Southern Illinois (Dec. 21).

SEMO and SIU square off for the 120th time on the hardwood in 2022-23, while PFW comes to Cape Girardeau on the back end of a home-and-home series.

The rest of the Redhawks non-league games feature trips to Missouri Valley Conference members Evansville (Nov. 16) and Bradley (Nov. 19), SEC opponent and in-state foe Missouri (Dec. 4), Arkansas State (Dec. 14) and Big Ten affiliate Iowa (Dec. 17). SEMO also plays three games at the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tournament over Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 26-28).

Iowa is the only team on SEMO's 2022-23 schedule that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago. The Hawkeyes went 26-10 overall and finished fourth in the Big Ten.

The 2022-23 campaign, which is the 75th year of competition in the Ohio Valley Conference, marks the first in the league for Lindenwood, Little Rock and Southern Indiana who became official members on July 1. They join Eastern Illinois, Morehead State, SEMO, SIU Edwardsville, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, and UT Martin to make up the 10-team league.

Each school will play an 18-game schedule which will begin on Thursday, December 29 and conclude on Saturday, February 25.

SEMO begins OVC play at Southern Indiana on Dec. 29.

The 2023 OVC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament is slated for March 1-4 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. It marks the sixth year in a row the event will be held at the venue.

Each OVC school is eligible to compete and win the OVC Tournament Championship, including Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, who are beginning the reclassification process to Division I. It was previously announced that should a transitioning school win an OVC Tournament Championship, the AQ shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up. Should the tournament runner-up also be a transitioning school, the AQ representative shall be the highest seed going into the tournament.

All Conference games and home non-conference contests can be seen on ESPN networks, with the majority of games broadcast on ESPN+. Additional linear exposures on ESPNU and ESPN2 will be announced at a later date.

2021-22 Recap
The Redhawks went 14-18 overall and 8-9 in the OVC last season. SEMO advanced to the OVC Tournament semifinals for the first time in 17 years and only fourth time in program history. Guards Eric Reed, Jr. and Phillip Russell were named to the 2021-22 All-Ohio Valley Conference basketball teams. Reed, Jr. earned First-Team accolades, while Russell claimed Second-Team and All-Newcomer accolades. SEMO put a player on both the OVC first and second teams in a season for the first time since 2016-17 (Antonius Cleveland, First-Team; Denzel Mahoney, Second-Team).

Looking Ahead
The Redhawks will continue their exhibition portion of their schedule on Sunday when they take on Aurora University. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m., CT at the Show Me Center.