NASHVILLE – In a game plagued with 54 personal fouls and a staggering 11 technical fouls, Southeast Missouri (13-13, 8-5) fell to Tennessee State (15-11, 7-6), 85-65, Thursday at the Gentry Center.
 
Thursday's marathon matchup lasted two hours and 33 minutes and resulted in SEMO taking its second-straight loss.
 
The Redhawks scored the first five points of the contest and TSU later grabbed a five-point lead (16-11) of its own. A 3-pointer by Dedric Boyd pushed the Tigers lead to 21-14 with 11:19 remaining in the first half.
 
A Josh Earley dunk and Adam Larson layup in transition quickly cut TSU's lead to 21-18, but a layup by Jr. Clay and 3-pointer by Zool Kueth extended the Tigers margin to 26-18 at the 9:40 mark. 
 
The Redhawks countered with a 6-0 jaunt that included a layup by Israel Barnes and another Earley dunk that came shortly after a Phillip Russell free throw. Earley followed that up with a free throw to get SEMO within two (26-24).
 
Marcus Fitzgerald's ensuing 3-pointer rattled in to stop SEMO's surge. The Tigers made three-straight free throws and Clay buried a three to give his team a double-digit lead at 35-24 with 4:58 to go. The Redhawks, who went scoreless for over three minutes, fell victim to a 10-0 run.
 
TSU stretched its lead to 15 on multiple occasions before heading into into the locker room with a 47-35 lead at the intermission.
 
The Tigers outscored the Redhawks, 24-6, from 3-point range to help get their double figure halftime advantage. 
 
SEMO was within single digits only once during the final 20 minutes when Chris Harris drained a 3-pointer to make it a 47-38 contest just 21 seconds into the second half.
 
With 10 minutes to play, TSU held a 69-46 lead following a 12-0 run where the Redhawks didn't score for over three minutes.
 
SEMO didn't recover from that point on.
 
The Redhawks committed 31 fouls and TSU was whistled for 23. The Tigers were charged with seven technical fouls.
 
Harris and Russell led SEMO with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Three of SEMO's starters, including Russell, Nate Johnson and Aquan Smart, along with Dylan Branson had five fouls each.

As a team, the Redhawks shot 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the field and made just 4-of-25 threes.
 
Clay led five players in double figures for the Tigers with we points and eight rebounds.
 
SEMO, in a three-way tie for second in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, hosts league-leader Morehead State Saturday. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m., CT at the Show Me Center. For tickets, call (573) 651-2113 or purchase online at SEMORedhawks.com/Tickets.