CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Eric Reed, Jr. scored a game-high 21 points and made five 3-pointers to lead Southeast Missouri (10-13, 5-5) to a 63-56 win over Eastern Illinois (4-18, 2-7) Saturday in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Show Me Center.
SEMO improved to 7-1 in its last eight games at home and completed a two-game sweep of EIU for the fourth time in five years.
The Redhawks seized the momentum from the opening tip by burying five-straight 3-pointers.
Reed, Jr. knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and
Nygal Russell buried one to give the Redhawks a quick 9-0 advantage not even three minutes in.
Phillip Russell and
Dylan Branson each made a 3-pointer after that to increase SEMO's lead to 15-2 as EIU turned the ball over seven times in the first seven minutes.
The Redhawks, who scored 22 points off 13 Panther miscues in the first half, ran their lead to 21 (34-13) on a layup by Reed, Jr. before heading into the locker room with a big 34-15 advantage.
SEMO made seven 3-pointers with six different players accounting for at least one during the game's first 20 minutes. The Redhawks limited EIU to just 15 first-half points, fewest by any opponent in an opening stanza this season.
EIU turned things around in the second half, where it outscored SEMO, 41-29.
The Panthers used a 12-2 run to get within seven and later made it a 59-55 ball game when Paul Bizimana sunk a 3-pointer with 1:05 left to play.
Manny Patterson, however, made his second layup in less than a minute to put SEMO ahead by six and that helped the Redhawks hold off the Panthers for good.
SEMO finished with 29 points off 21 EIU turnovers.
Reed, Jr. shot 8-of-18 from the field and 5-of-12 from downtown en route to his seventh 20-point game of the season and 10th in his career. Patterson and N. Russell followed with eight points apiece.
For the game, the Redhawks shot 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the field and made 11-of-32 threes.
EIU was led by Bizimana's 12 points. The Panthers outrebounded SEMO, 32-26.
SEMO, winners in four of its last six contests, begins a three-game week when it visits SIU Edwardsville Monday.
