CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. –
Aquan Smart scored 18 points, pulled down seven rebounds and had five assists to lead Southeast Missouri (4-7) to its fourth-straight home win with an 87-59 victory over Lindsey Wilson College (6-6) Sunday.
SEMO improved its home record to 4-1 this season behind Smart's strong effort.
The Redhawks made four of their first five 3-pointers of the game and led for over 18 minutes in the first half en route to getting a double-digit lead.
Ahead, 13-10, the Redhawks went on a 7-0 run to go up 10.
BJ Ward made a jumper and
Mason Hanback scored a layup before
Braxton Stacker buried a three to give SEMO a 20-10 advantage with 9:18 remaining in the first half.
TJ Biel's second-chance layup pushed SEMO's margin to 14 points and LWC answered with a 6-0 run in a quick 1:05 to get within eight (28-20).
Rob Martin's jumper ended a stretch of 4:05 where SEMO didn't score. Ward later closed out the half by splashing in a shot off an in-bounds pass from Smart to grab the Redhawks a 37-26 lead at the intermission.
Shortly after Connor Robinson's layup pulled the Blue Raiders within nine, SEMO used a 13-0 run to blow the game open.
Smart's made free throw was followed by a 3-pointer by Martin to get things going. On the Redhawks next possession, Smart drove the lane and threw down a monsterous one-handed dunk. Smart had six points to key the surge that ended with a hook shot by
Josh Earley as SEMO increased its lead to 52-30 with 14:18 to go.
SEMO's lead didn't dip below double figures the rest of the way.
The Redhawks made their last nine field goals of the game and took their largest lead on the final basket, a
Marqueas Bell basket off a turnover.
Gavyn Elkamil knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers off the bench prior to Bell's layup.
Smart shot 5-of-10 from the field and 7-of-9 at the free throw line en route to his fifth double-digit scoring game in a row.
Stacker and Martin followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Stacker posted double figures in the scoring column for the first time as a Redhawk and Martin collected 10 or more points for the fifth time in six starts.
SEMO shot 56.1 percent (32-of-57) from the floor and 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from downtown. The 3-point percentage is a season-best for the Redhawks.
The Redhawks also assisted on 20 of their 32 made field goals and scored 50 second-half points.
Dylan Branson, who missed the first 10 games of the season due to a foot injury, made his return against the Blue Raiders. Branson had two points, four rebounds and four assists in 14 minutes off the bench.
SEMO travels to Missouri Valley Conference foe Illinois State for its final game before the start of Ohio Valley play on Dec. 21.