CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri (10-11, 5-3), after letting a 22-point lead disappear, rallied to survive an 84-77 double overtime victory over Ohio Valley Conference co-leader Tennessee Tech (9-12, 5-3) Saturday at the Show Me Center.
 
SEMO scored the final six points of the second overtime period to pick up its 10th win of the season. The Redhawks are now among six teams tied with 5-3 records in the top spot of the OVC standings. SEMO also put an end to TTU's five-game winning streak.
 
SEMO exploded to a quick 9-0 lead behind five points from Phillip Russell who returned after missing Thursday's game vs. UT Martin with an ankle injury.
 
Russell buried a jumper and stuck a 3-pointer in the first 1:07 of the contest to ignite the Redhawks early surge that was capped by a Nate Johnson dunk with 16:42 remaining. SEMO forced four turnovers on TTU's first six empty possessions.
 
Aided by several Golden Eagle missed shots, SEMO put together a 12-2 run to extend its lead to 23-8. Adam Larson came off the bench and buried a 3-pointer before Israel Barnes scored a layup and Johnson added two points on a hookshot toward the end of the jaunt. 
 
After Chris Harris' third 3-poiner of the game ran SEMO's lead to 37-15, TTU closed out the half on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 37-25.
 
Harris led all scorers with 11 points, including nine from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
TTU, which was in the bonus for the final 12:07 of the game, continued to inch close to the Redhawks in the second half.
 
Erik Oliver's jumper got the Golden Eagles within single digits when he made a jumper to knock SEMO's lead down to 41-32 with 17:17 left to play.
 
The Redhawks then went over four minutes without a point and TTU managed to make it a three-point game at 49-46 on Jayvis Harvey's jumper at the 10:43 mark.
 
TTU cut it to three (51-48) again on a layup by Brett Thompson and then Thompson drained a 3-pointer to narrow SEMO's lead to 55-54 with 6:26 to go.
 
Harvey's corner 3-pointer from the left side put the Golden Eagles ahead for the first time, 57-56, at the 5:49 mark, but Harris quickly answered with a layup to regain a one-point advantage for SEMO ahead of a 30-second timeout by the Redhawks.
 
After Harvey scored again on a turnaround jumper, Thompson hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to put TTU up, 62-58, with 4:26 on the clock.
 
Russell was fouled behind the 3-point arc and missed two of three free throws to close TTU's lead to 63-61. 
 
After Dylan Branson scored to tie the game, Harris splashed in a big 3-pointer to give SEMO a 66-63 advantage with 1:27 left. 
 
TTU answered right back with 3-pointer by Ty Perry to bring the game to a 66-66 deadlock with 1:18 remaining. SEMO then had the ball with 22 seconds left and Russell missed a shot at the buzzer setting up the Redhawks first overtime contest of the season.
 
In the first overtime, TTU missed six of its first seven shots with its only field goal in that span coming on a 3-pointer by Jaylen Sebree that put the Golden Eagles ahead, 69-66.
 
Israel Barnes scored in the paint to tie the game at 70-70 and SEMO rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Harvey with less than a minute left. 
 
Harris missed a go-ahead layup and TTU pulled down the rebound and called timeout with 19 seconds.
 
Harvey received the inbounds pass and dribbled at the top of the arc before letting a 3-pointer fly at the buzzer. Harvey's shot came off the front of the rim forcing a second extra period.
 
Aquan Smart drained a 3-pointer from the right corner to start the second overtime.
 
Perry immediately responded with a baseline jumper to get TTU within one, 73-72.
 
Harris, battling multiple defenders, muscled in a shot, was fouled and completed a 3-point play to widen SEMO's lead to 76-72 with 2:24 left.
 
A 3-pointer by Thompson followed and the Golden Eagles made it a one-point contest again at 76-75. However, the Redhawks countered when Johnson got free for a two-handed slam.
 
Nolan Causwell scored his first points of the game on two clutch free throws to bring the score to 78-77 with 1:01 to go.
 
Russell, after going a stretch of 33:28 without a field goal, at last scored on a left-handed layup and was fouled. He missed the free throw as SEMO led, 80-77.
 
Smart blocked Sebree's 3-pointer and SEMO got the rebound. Larson then threw down a dunk in transition to put the exclamation point on the Redhawks win.
 
Harris scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-17 field goals, including four 3-pointers. He also had a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double.
 
Branson finished with a career-best 12 rebounds, while Russell added 13 points and both Smart and Barnes chipped in 10.
 
SEMO missed nine free throws, but found ways to win grinding it out down the stretch.
 
Harvey paced the Golden Eagles with 22 points. 
 
 SEMO closes out its three-game homestand against Tennessee State on Jan. 26. Tip is set for 7 p.m., CT. For tickets, call (573) 651-2113 or visit online at SEMORedhawks.com/Tickets.