EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Redshirt-freshman point guard Phillip Russell finished with a career-high 35 points and 10 rebounds to lead short-handed Southeast Missouri (11-13, 6-5) to a nice 76-47 road win over SIU Edwardsville (7-17, 1-10) Monday night at First Community Arena.
 
Adversity struck SEMO just hours before it left for Edwardsville.
 
Four of the Redhawks top six scorers -- Eric Reed, Jr., Chris Harris, DQ Nicholas, Nana Akenten -- were ruled out due to COVID protocols leaving SEMO with only seven available players.
 
That didn't faze Russell a bit, as he put together his best game to date.
 
Russell, who hails from St. Louis, put on a show scoring his first 20 points on 6-of-11 field goals and a near-perfect 6-of-7 free throws in the opening period alone. He scored seven points in a quick 1:29 to give the Redhawks a 16-15 edge with 8:47 remaining.
 
Tied, 18-18, after Russell buried a jumper off a turnover, SEMO outscored SIUE, 22-6, in the final 7:54 to pull ahead, 40-24, at the intermission. 
 
Nygal Russell, who added 10 points of his own, drained the second of his two first-half 3-pointers at the buzzer capping SEMO's 16-point advantage.
 
Defensively, SEMO held its opponent to 24 or less points in the first half for the second-straight game. The Redhawks pressured the Cougars into committing 12 turnovers and scored 17 of their 20 points off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. 
 
The Redhawks continued to pour it on in the second half and took their largest lead when P. Russell made four-straight free throws following a SIUE personal and technical foul to make it a 74-43 ballgame with 2:08 to go. 
 
SEMO's numbers shrunk to six players after Sam Thompson fouled out with 5:48 left to play. By the end of the game, the Redhawks had three players with four fouls and two with three.
 
Russell fell just three points shy of breaking the single-game scoring record during the Redhawks NCAA Division I era. That mark is presently held by both Tyler Stone (37 points at SIUE, Feb. 6, 2014) and Dainmon Gonner (37 points at Tennessee State, Jan. 13, 2005).
 
He went 9-of-20 from the field, knocked down three 3-pointers and made 14-of-15 free throws to go along with five steals and four assists in 39 minutes. The double-double was the first of Russell's career, as well.
 
Freshman Chase Thompson, who made his first career start, added 10 points and five rebounds, while N. Russell narrowly missed a double-double with 12 points and nine boards.

Parker Long and Manny Patterson contributed seven points apiece.
 
SEMO outrebounded SIUE, 43-34, and sunk 26-of-29 free throws at a season-high 89.7 percent clip. The Redhawks limited the Cougars to a season-low 47 points.
 
The Redhawks polished off their second sweep of an Ohio Valley Conference foe this season and improved to 25-12 all-time against SIUE. SEMO swept the Cougars in a season for the sixth time in program history. The Redhawks also handed SIUE its ninth-straight defeat and 10th conference loss.
 
SEMO heads to Austin Peay Thursday.