LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Southeast Missouri (7-14, 2-6) made eight 3-pointers and outscored Little Rock (11-10, 5-3), 24-3, from long range, but the Trojans found a way to escape with a 66-61 victory in a tightly contested matchup Saturday.
 
Aided by 3-pointers from Rob Martin and TJ Biel, and a layup by freshman Marqueas Bell, SEMO pulled ahead, 50-45, with 9:38 remaining in the game.
 
LR answered with an 11-0 run to regain a two-possession lead and hit the go-ahead basket on its first trey of the contest. 
 
After missing its first nine 3-pointers, Bradley Douglas' three bounced straight up off the back of the rim and dropped through the net to put the Trojans back on top, 52-50, with 7:30 to play.
 
SEMO, despite tying the game once, didn't lead the rest of the way following that shot.
 
Bell's fast break dunk off a David Idada steal made it a 56-56 ballgame at the 2:43 mark.
 
Evan Eursher later knocked down a 3-pointer to cut LR's lead to 60-59 with 48 seconds, but that was as close as SEMO could get in the final minute.
 
The Trojans made six free throws in the last 39 seconds to survive.
 
SEMO and LR exchanged leads a total of 13 times in the see-saw contest.
 
The Redhawks, after turning the ball over six times in the opening eight minutes of the game, settled down and committed just three miscues over the final 12 minutes of the first half.
 
Meanwhile, LR couldn't make a 3-pointer misfiring on all nine of its attempts from long range.
 
Biel came off the bench to bury two 3-pointers, his second putting the Redhawks ahead, 23-22, with 4:34 remaining.
 
Smart scored on a layup to widen SEMO's margin to three (29-26) at the 2:00 mark.
 
The Redhawks closed out the half strong by scoring four points in the final seven seconds en route to their first halftime lead on the road this season. 
 
BJ Ward's layup took back a one-point advantage for SEMO. After LR turned the ball over on its next possession, Braxton Stacker scored in heavy traffic at the buzzer off a great in-bounds pass by Bell giving SEMO a 33-30 lead at the break. 
 
Biel scored 13 points on 5-of-10 field goals and 3-of-6 from downtown to lead the Redhawks. Smart added 11 points on 5-of-10 from the floor. Bell contributed six points and three rebounds in a strong 16 minutes.
 
The Redhawks had 17 turnovers, which LR converted into 19 points.
 
LR shot just under 49 percent (27-of-55) from the field and held a 11-3 advantage at the free throw line. Nine of those free throws made were in the second half. The Trojans outrebounded the Redhawks, 40-30, as well.
 
SEMO closes out the first half of league play with a road game at Lindenwood on Jan. 30.