Semoball

Southeast falls on the road 61-59 at EIU

Southeast Missouri State sophomore guard Alex Caldwell

A last-second 3-pointer from sophomore guard Alex Caldwell was off-target for Southeast Missouri State, as the Redhawks fell 61-59 at Eastern Illinois in men’s basketball action.

With the loss, Southeast (4-17, 0-8 Ohio Valley Conference) remains the lone winless program in the conference.

The game was one of many swings in momentum, as the Panthers (11-9, 4-4) opened the contest by scoring the initial eight points. However, the Redhawks answered with a 12-0 run of their own and eventually stretched their advantage to 20-13 on a 3-pointer from senior forward Skylar Hogan at the 10:38 mark of the opening period.

Eastern Illinois, which has won four consecutive games, responded by retaking the lead and eventually leading 34-31 at halftime.

The Panthers’ momentum continued into the second half, as they built a 49-39 margin with just over 13 minutes remaining.

However, Southeast didn’t fade at that point.

Caldwell scored eight consecutive points to pull his team to within 49-47 at the 9:44 mark of the second half.

Caldwell would finish with a career-high 20 points, 16 of which came after halftime.

The teams battled from that point forward and a lay-in from sophomore forward Sage Tolbert tied the game at 57 with 3:12 remaining. However, cold shooting ultimately hurt the Redhawks, as Eastern was able to seal the victory.

Over the final 5:30, Southeast missed 10 of 13 shots and connected on just 34.8 percent of its shots for the game.

The Redhawks also misfired on 14 of 19 3-pointers (26.3 percent) and 6 of 14 free throws (57.1 percent).

Eastern shot 58.3 percent in the opening half and finished making 53.5 percent overall.

The Panthers’ cause was hindered by missing 15 of 28 free throws (46.4 percent).

Eastern outrebounded Southeast 32 to 26, but the Redhawks were able to pull down 15 offensive boards.

Hogan led his team with eight rebounds, while senior center Quatarrius Wilson added six and Tolbert five.

Redshirt freshman wing Jordan Love came off the bench to score eight points, which was a career-best.

The Redhawks will travel to Morehead State (9-12, 3-5) Thursday at 6 p.m.

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