SEMO ROUNDUP: Kowalski, Brewer lead Southeast Missouri State men's basketball to win over Missouri Southern in charity exhibition game

Ray Kowalski and Ledarrius Brewer each finished with 15 points to lead a group of five double-digit scorers for the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team in an 85-77 exhibition win over Missouri Southern on Saturday at the Show Me Center.

The Redhawks held a 40-24 lead after Mark Laros knocked down a jumper with 5 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the first half, but Missouri Southern went on a 15-0 run to pull within a point.

The Lions made six shots from the field during that run, while Southeast shot 1 of 10. Elyjah Clark's 3-pointer closed the gap to 40-39 with 2:24 to play in the half.

Southeast went scoreless for 4:22 until Milos Vranes splashed in a 3 from the top of the arc to give the Redhawks a four-point lead. CJ Carr answered with a trey on the next possession, cutting SEMO's lead to 43-42 at halftime.

Missouri Southern opened the second half on a 12-2 run and took a 54-45 lead with 17:22 to go, but Southeast answered with a 20-2 run to take the lead for good.

The Lions pulled within three when Koray Gilbert cut SEMO's lead to 65-62 with 9:55 left, but that was as close as they got.

Duffus converted a conventional three-point play to put Southeast ahead 79-69 with just under four minutes remaining. Two free throws by Brewer gave the Redhawks their largest lead of the game, 85-72.

Southeast shot 51.5 percent (34 of 66) from the field and made 54.8 percent of its attempts in the second half alone.

Kowalski finished 6 of 10 from the field and had three treys, while Brewer also shot 6 of 10 in 22 minutes off the bench.

Denzel Mahoney added 13 points for the Redhawks, while Laros had 10 points and seven rebounds. Duffus finished with 12 points, four assists and two steals.

Carr, who formerly played at SIU Edwardsville, led Missouri Southern with a game-high 18 points to go along with 11 assists and eight boards.

All proceeds from Saturday's game were donated to the American Red Cross to further assist with hurricane relief efforts.

Southeast opens its regular season against Missouri Baptist on Friday at the Show Me Center.

Volleyball

The Redhawks fell to Austin Peay in straight sets (25-13, 25-10, 25-23) on Saturday in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The Governors (26-4, 13-1 Ohio Valley Conference) clinch a share of the OVC regular-season title with the victory.

Krissa Gearring had a team-high 12 kills for Southeast (10-17, 5-8 OVC), while Nzingha Clarke added five kills on a match-best .308 hitting percentage. SEMO's Madeline Grimm chipped in four kills and matched her season-high with 11 digs.

Allie Henkelman finished with 22 assists for the Redhawks, while libero Ally Dion led the visitors defensively with 12 digs.

Southeast returns home to close out the season with back-to-back matchups on Friday and Saturday against SIUE and Eastern Illinois, respectively.

-- From staff reports