Junior Jackson Davis scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team to a wild 91-86 win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday evening at the Show Me Center.
With the win, EKU sweeps the western OVC road trip and improves to 8-11 (2-4 OVC).
Sparked by a pair of three-pointers by freshman JacQuess Hobbs, the Colonels ran out to an early lead. A layup by Davis with 6:45 remaining in the first half made it a 15-point advantage, 31-16.
However, SEMO (8-11, 2-4 OVC) rallied, as a three-pointer by Jonathan Dalton pulled the Redhawks back to within eight, 44-36, at halftime.
EKU opened the second half on an 11-3 run and went back up by 16, 55-39, when sophomore Dujuanta Weaver knocked down a three-pointer with 16:46 on the clock.
After a pair of foul shots by Weaver put Eastern up by 12, 67-55, with 10:29 left, SEMO exploded on a 15-2 run and grabbed its first lead of the game, 70-69, when Ledarrius Brewer knocked down a three-pointer from the corner with 7:25 on the clock.
The next five minutes of play featured eight lead changes. With EKU trailing, 78-76, junior Nick Mayo drained a clutch three-pointer from the wing with 2:14 left to give the Colonels the lead for good.
EKU shot a season-high 95.5 percent (21-of-22) from the free throw line and went 8-of-8 from the stripe in the final two minutes to seal the victory.
Sophomore DeAndre Dishman scored 11 of his 17 points in the final seven minutes of play, willing the Colonels through the back-and-forth stretch run.
Weaver finished with a career-high 15 points, while Mayo tallied 11 points, five rebounds and a team-best five assists.
EKU connected on a season-high 12 three-pointers in the win. The Colonels have now made 23 three-pointers in their last two games.
Denzel Mahoney paced Southeast Missouri with a game-high 25 points.
SEMO out-rebounded EKU, 37-29, but the Colonels won the turnover battle, 16-10. It is the ninth consecutive game in which EKU has won the turnover battle.
The Colonels now head home to host Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State next weekend at McBrayer Arena.
— www.EKUSports.com —
Steve Fohl
Associate Director of EKUSports Communications
