Southeast Missouri (9-8, 4-2) suffered a tough 67-56 loss to Ohio Valley Conference rival Morehead State (10-7, 5-1) Saturday afternoon at the Show Me Center. Rob Martin led the Redhawks with 21 points in a game where SEMO never led and was derailed by a cold start to the second half.
Trailing by just one at halftime, the Redhawks endured nearly seven scoreless minutes to open the second half, missing nine consecutive field goals. During that stretch, Morehead State unleashed an 18-1 run, building a commanding 45-27 lead. A fastbreak dunk by Troy Cole, Jr. at the 11:50 mark ended SEMO’s drought, but the damage was done.
Despite a spirited effort where the Redhawks made eight-straight field goals late in the second half, they couldn’t cut the deficit to single digits. Each time SEMO got within 10 points, the Eagles responded, keeping the game out of reach.
In the first half, SEMO kept things tight, with the lead changing or tied 13 times. Rob Martin’s clutch 3-pointer near the end of the half brought the Redhawks within one, trailing 27-26 at the break.
Martin delivered an efficient performance, hitting 8-of-12 shots, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, marking his seventh double-digit scoring game this season. Brendan Terry added 13 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Morehead State was powered by Anouar Mellouk’s double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Eagles dominated the boards, outrebounding SEMO 41-18 and shooting 55.6% in the second half.
The loss snapped SEMO’s six-game home winning streak and left them a game back in the OVC standings. The Redhawks will look to bounce back when they host Little Rock on Jan. 14 to conclude their three-game homestand.
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