CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. –
Chris Harris scored 20 points and went over 1,000 points in his career to lead Southeast Missouri (15-14, 10-6) to an 85-80 win over Southern Indiana (15-14, 8-8) Saturday at the Show Me Center.
With 17.7 seconds left, USI's Tyler Henry collapsed due to a medical incident on the sideline next to the Screaming Eagles' bench. In accordance with the NCAA Rulebook (Section 4), both teams agreed to end the game at the point of interruption and declare SEMO the winner.
Because the contest had reached "a reasonable point of conclusion" (at least 30 minutes for basketball), the statistics will count for both teams.
Harris, who scored 15 of his points in the second half alone, became the 25th member of SEMO's 1,000-point club in the final home game of his career.
SEMO started fast scoring the game's first eight points with six coming on a pair of 3-pointers by
Israel Barnes. A 3-pointer by
Phillip Russell later put the Redhawks ahead, 14-5, with 14:01 left to play in the first half.
USI answered with a 10-0 run to grab its first lead of the game. Trevor Lakes buried a pair of 3-pointers with his second giving the Screaming Eagles a 15-14 edge with 11:14 to play.
Tyler Henry made a 3-pointer at the top of the arc, was fouled and completed his 4-point play to regain a 21-18 advantage for USI.
Henry knocked down two more threes to widen USI's lead to 27-20 with 5:32 remaining.
The 3-pointers kept falling for the Screaming Eagles who buried two more, including another by both Lakes and Henry to increase their lead to nine (33-24) at the 3:39 mark.
Isaiah Swopes' two free throws handed USI its first double-digit lead and finished off an 8-0 run for the Screaming Eagles.
SEMO responded by scoring the next 11 points to tie the game at 35-35.
Dylan Branson stole the ball and went in for a layup for the game-tying make with 1:08 on the clock.
A technical foul by Russell resulted in a four-point swing as USI headed into the intermission ahead, 39-36.
Branson led SEMO with 12 points in the game's opening 20 minutes.
Tied, 42-42, with 17:34 to go, SEMO put together an 11-4 run to get back a seven-point lead. Branson,
Chris Harris, Russell,
Aquan Smart and
Adam Larson contributed during that stretch that ended on Larson's tip-in that put the Redhawks ahead, 53-46, with 13:52 left.
Larson splashed in a pair of big 3-pointers to stretch SEMO's lead to double-digits, 63-52, at the 11:13 mark. Those buckets came in a quick 33 seconds.
Harris officially cleared 1,000 points in his career with a layup that gave SEMO a 70-68 lead with 5:19 on the clock. Harris then nailed a 3-pointer with just under four minutes to go giving the Redhawks a nine-point advantage.
Two free throws by Swopes narrowed SEMO's lead to 77-74 with 1:36 left, but Harris answered with two free throws of his own.
After Lakes knocked down a 3-pointer to get the Screaming Eagles within two (79-77) 15 seconds later, Harris drew a foul with less than five seconds on the shot clock. Harris was shooting a 3-pointer and then made three huge free throws to put the Redhawks ahead, 82-77, with 35.8 seconds.
Evan Eursher was fouled on SEMO's ensuing possession and split two free throws as SEMO held an 83-79 lead. Jelani Simmons then split his two free throws at the other end making it an 83-80 game with 23 seconds on the clock.
On the inbounds pass, Eursher was immediately fouled and headed to the free throw line again. This time, he made both of his attempts extending SEMO's lead to 85-80.
Harris made 11-of-13 free throws, made four field goals and buried a 3-pointer. He helped SEMO outscore USI, 31-21, at the charity stripe for the game.
Three others including Branson (16), Barnes (12) and Russell (10) followed with double figures in the scoring column.
The Redhawks shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the field and hit 31-of-40 free throws.
USI, which was led by Swope and Henry, shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the floor. Swope had a game-high 27 points and Henry added 20.
SEMO returns to action when it visits Lindenwood on Feb. 23.
