Semoball

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball gives up last-second buzzer beater against Eastern Kentucky to suffer fourth consecutive loss

Southeast guard Skyler Hogan (3) secures a defensive rebound during a game against Austin Peay at the Show Me Center Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019. Saturday, Hogan scored 20 points, but Southeast lost on a buzzer-beater to Eastern Kentucky.
Tyler Graef ~ Southeast Missourian

It took Southeast Missouri State men's basketball over five minutes to erase a double-digit deficit. In just seven seconds, the Redhawks saw all that hard work erased with a coast-to-coast drive.

With Eastern Kentucky's star sitting on the bench, JacQuess Hobbs drove to the basket and created enough space for a 3-foot runner at the buzzer. Behind Hobbs' game-winner, Eastern Kentucky held on for an 85-83 win over Southeast on Saturday in Richmond, Kentucky.

It's the Redhawks' fourth consecutive defeat.

"People always get panicked but you can get down the court in four seconds if you don't get interrupted," Southeast coach Rick Ray said. "Jonathan (Dalton) was in front of him. The guy was just bigger and stronger than him. The last thing you want to do is foul in that situation. ... I think it started in the backcourt. You have to [slow] him down."

A Jomaru Brown layup with 5:47 remaining in the game gave EKU a 73-61 lead. It was the largest lead of the game for the Colonels (9-10, 2-4 Ohio Valley Conference).

Southeast (6-13, 1-5) hung around and behind an opportunistic press and poor EKU free-throw shooting cut the deficit to one with 19 seconds left.

Following three Dalton free throws to get within 81-80, EKU got the ball in Mayo's hands, and he knocked down two free throws to push the lead to 83-80. Ray disagreed with the foul call on Mayo, which was committed in front of the Southeast bench.

Alex Caldwell responded by taking the ball to the basket, drawing the fifth foul on Mayo and lofting the ball off the backboard and through the hoop. Caldwell knocked down the free throw to complete the traditional three-point play and tie the game at 83-all with seven seconds remaining.

With Mayo relegated to the bench after fouling out and no timeouts available, Hobbs received the inbounds pass and pushed the ball down the court. Ray said the issue began when no one stepped in front of Hobbs to slow him down. That allowed Hobbs to build a head of steam, and he used his 6-foot-2 frame to overpower the 5-10 Dalton.

"I thought we had some crucial, crucial mistakes down the stretch," Ray said. "I emphasized to our team that the mistakes you make in the last two minutes of the game are the same as the first two minutes of the game. It's just magnified because of the time."

A Mayo 3-pointer, the first basket of the game, gave EKU a 4-0 lead 1 minute, 5 seconds into the game. It also was Mayo's 2,000th career point, as the senior became the 18th player in OVC history to reach that mark. Mayo finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Brown added 17 points.

About 10 minutes later, Mayo exited the game and later returned with tape on his left hand -- his non-shooting hand. That injury didn't hinder the Colonels offense as they shot 48.3 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

Despite a Skyler Hogan layup at the buzzer, Southeast trailed 41-32 at halftime. The Redhawks opened the second half on an 8-1 run to draw within 42-40. A Tre King layup pushed EKU's lead back to four with 18:05 remaining, and the Colonels build that lead up to 12.

The Redhawks eventually battled back to tie the game with seconds remaining, only for Hobbs to rip their hearts out.

Hogan led SEMO with 20 points, Ledarrius Brewer added 14 points and Caldwell chipped in 10 points.

EKU entered first in the OVC in scoring offense at 85.9 points per game and shot 50 percent from the field Saturday (27 of 54). Southeast was 45.6 percent (26 of 57).

The Redhawks look to snap the losing streak at 7:45 p.m. Thursday when they host SIU Edwardsville, which beat Southeast 94-88 on Jan. 3.


Southeast box score

E. KENTUCKY 85, SOUTHEAST 83

SOUTHEAST (6-13)

Gable 2-3 0-0 6, Tolbert 2-6 0-0 4, Hogan 5-8 10-13 20, Caldwell 4-8 1-1 10, Brewer 4-11 3-4 14, McGlothan 3-5 1-2 8, Laros 4-10 0-0 8, Cuffee 0-0 0-0 0, Lewis 0-1 0-0 0, Dalton 0-2 8-9 8, Russell 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 26-57 23-29 83.

E. KENTUCKY (9-10)

T.King 2-4 5-6 10, Mayo 7-16 8-10 24, Weaver 1-4 0-0 2, Robinson 2-2 2-4 6, H.King 3-5 0-0 8, Anderson 3-5 1-2 7, Hobbs 3-5 1-2 7, Brown 5-11 4-5 17, Carmical 1-2 1-4 4. Totals 27-54 22-33 85.

Halftime -- E. Kentucky 41-32.

3-Point Goals -- Southeast 8-20 (Brewer 3-7, Gable 2-3, Russell 1-1, McGlothan 1-2, Caldwell 1-3, Lewis 0-1, Laros 0-1, Hogan 0-2), E. Kentucky 9-22 (Brown 3-5, H.King 2-4, Mayo 2-5, T.King 1-1, Carmical 1-2, Hobbs 0-1, Anderson 0-1, Weaver 0-3).

Fouled Out -- Carmical, Mayo, Tolbert.

Rebounds -- Southeast 27 (McGlothan 6), E. Kentucky 36 (Mayo 8).

Assists -- Southeast 12 (Russell 5), E. Kentucky 19 (Mayo 4).

Total Fouls -- Southeast 24, E. Kentucky 21.

A -- 1,860 (6,500).

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