EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Teddy Washington, Jr. scored 17 points and made two free throws with 2.4 seconds left to lead Southeast Missouri (15-10, 10-4) to a 79-74 win over Southern Indiana (9-15, 4-10) Saturday in a nailbiter at Liberty Arena.
 
The victory extended SEMO's winning streak to five games and put the Redhawks in a three-way tie for first in the Ohio Valley Conference with SIU Edwardsville and Little Rock.
 
SEMO and USI went down to the wire in a slugfest that featured eight ties and 24 lead changes.
 
Washington, Jr.'s two big free throws came after Jayland Randall missed the front end of a 1-and-1. 
 
There was plenty more drama that preceded Washington, Jr's game-icing free throws.
 
Brendan Terry pulled down a huge offensive rebound and scored to grab SEMO a 74-72 lead with 49 seconds on the clock. 
 
On USI's ensuing possession, Terry rebounded a missed shot, was fouled and split two free throws putting the Redhawks ahead by three (75-72) five seconds later.
 
Damoni Harrison's driving layup pulled the Screaming Eagles within one before Terry made one of his two free throws a second time keeping SEMO in the lead, 76-74, with 20.1 seconds.
 
Braxton Jones then missed a 3-pointer, followed his own shot and missed an open layup that would have tied the game.
 
Braxton Stacker, who was quickly fouled after getting the rebound, made the second of his two free throws keeping it a one-possession contest at 77-74 with 7.7 seconds.
 
It was then Stacker who fouled Randall sending him to the line for his 1-and-1.
 
There were 13 lead changes in the second half and 11 in the first.
 
The Redhawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead for its largest advantage of the first half during the first 2:03 of the contest.
 
Meanwhile, USI pulled ahead by six at 15-9 on a 3-pointer by Jack Mielke with 13:57 remaining for its biggest lead in the opening stanza.
 
After that, neither team led by more than four points for the rest of the first half.
 
Rob Martin made two jumpers in the final 1:28 to get SEMO a one-point lead twice before Stephen Olowoniyi answered with a layup to regain a 36-35 edge for the Screaming Eagles at the intermission.
 
Brendan Terry's layup sparked a 6-0 surge for SEMO at the beginning of the second half. 
 
Martin followed with a pair of free throws and Terry hit two of his own to stretch the Redhawks lead to 41-36 less than two minutes in.
 
USI took back the lead when Randall and Harrison each buried a 3-pointer to put the Screaming Eagles ahead, 47-43, with 15:30 to go. 
 
Immediately after Olowoniyi's dunk capped a 10-0 USI run, Braxton Stacker responded with a 3-pointer on two-straight possessions to narrow the Screaming Eagles' lead to 51-49.
 
Elliot Lowndes came off the bench to score a couple big baskets, TJ Biel tied the game at 59-59 and Terry added a bucket and a bucket and a free throw to give the Redhawks a 62-59 advantage at the 8:00 mark.
 
The see-saw battle continued with USI re-claiming the lead on another Olowoniyi dunk. Stacker, however, drained a corner 3-pointer putting SEMO on top again, 65-63.
 
Right after Martin made a jumper to put the Redhawks up one, Washington, Jr. stole the ball and sprinted the length of the court for a layup giving SEMO a slight 71-68 lead with 4:05 remaining.
 
Washington, Jr. shot 6-of-14 from the field and scored 13 of his points in the first half. It was his 18th double-digit scoring effort of the season. He added seven rebounds, as well.
 
Terry followed with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Stacker chipped in 16 and Martin contributed 15. Martin has scored double figures in 10-straight starts.
 
Harrison and Randall led USI with 25 and 23 points, respectively.
 
SEMO shot 53.6 percent from the field marking the fourth game in a row where it shot 50 percent or better. The last time the Redhawks shot 50 percent or better in five-straight OVC games was in 2011-12.
 
The Redhawks, now one of three OVC teams with 10 league wins, matched their most conference victories in a season under Head Coach Brad Korn. SEMO also improved to 6-6 on the road and posted their second sweep of an OVC opponent this year.
 
Additionally, tonight's win was the 400th in program history since SEMO moved to the NCAA Division I level in 1991-92.
 
SEMO travels to Little Rock for a midweek OVC tilt on Feb. 11.