SE Missouri moves into first-place tie after victory

Feb 9, 2017, 10:33 pm

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Antonius Cleveland scored 19 points, Denzel Mahoney added 18 with eight rebounds and Southeast Missouri defeated Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 71-67 on Thursday night to move into a first-place tie in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Redhawks (12-15, 7-5) are tied with UT Martin, an 81-71 loser at Eastern Illinois on Thursday, with Murray State a half-game back at 6-5.

Tahj Eaddy added 14 points and Trey Kellum 10 for Southeast Missouri, which was 27 of 36 from the free-throw line and scored 22 points off 17 turnovers.

Jalen Henry scored 22 points with nine rebounds and Burak Eslik had 18 points for the Cougars (5-21, 0-12), who made of only 4 of 20 from the arc.

Tied early in the second half, Jonathan Dalton hit a 3-pointer to put the Redhawks up for good. They led by 10 after a Cleveland 3-pointer with three minutes left and made 6 of 10 free throws from there, enough to hold off SIEU.