Box Score

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NASHVILLE, Tenn.  – The Panther men's basketball team was defeated by Southeast Missouri, 79-61, in the opening round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Wednesday night at Municipal Auditorium. EIU finishes the year with an 11-19 overall record.
 
Southeast Missouri improves to 18-13 on the year and will play No. 3 seed Eastern Kentucky in the quarterfinals at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 6. EIU was also eliminated from the conference tournament last year by the Redhawks.
 
The Panthers opened the game on a 4-0 run before the Redhawks scored 12 unanswered points to take a 12-4 advantage at the 15:16 mark. EIU used a 15-5 run to regain the lead, 19-17, with 7:20 on the clock. SEMO outscored the Panthers, 20-10, in final seven and half minutes to take a 39-27 advantage into intermission.
 
The Redhawks outscored the Panthers, 20-12, to open the second stanza as they took their first 20-point lead (59-39) at the 12:37 mark. SEMO led by as many as 22 points (74-52) with 4:15 left in the contest.
 
SEMO hit 50 percent of its shot attempts (31-for-62) and went 8-for-14 from behind the arc. The Redhawks also went 9-for-18 from the foul line.
 
EIU only hit 37.3 percent (22-for-59) of its shot attempts and went 5-for-17 from three-point range. The Panthers also went 12-for-19 from the charity stripe.
 
Sherman Blanford scored a team-high 22 points to pace the Panther offense. Chris Olivier added 19 points and Reggie Smith chipped in 14 points to round out the double figure scorers. Smith also dished out a team-high five assists.
 
SEMO held a 42-35 advantage on the glass, led by Tyler Stone who grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with a game-high 27 points. Blanford had eight rebounds to lead EIU while Olivier added seven rebounds and four blocks.
 
Antonius Cleveland and Nino Johnson scored 15 points and 12 points, respectively. Lucas Nutt added a game-high 10 assists for the Redhawks.