Beginning the Journey

(St. Louis, MO) – Ohio Valley Conference play began on New Year’s Eve. The grueling 16 game OVC schedule each team endures began with the three first encounters Thursday.

Champs Get a Road Win

Defending East Division and Tournament champion Belmont started their league season with a hard fought road win at Southeast Missouri. The improving Redhawks didn’t make it easy. The final score was 92-82.

The Bruins (9-6, 1-0) splashed down 17 threes and handed out 23 assists while pre-season OVC player of the year Craig Bradshaw scored 28 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out six assists. Isaiah Jones led SEMO (2-11, 0-1) with 20 points. The Redhawks had won two straight games.

Perfect At Home

Tennessee Tech ran their home record to 8-0 with a 94-84 victory over Eastern Illinois. Aleksa Jugovic scored a career high 26 points, including five three-pointers, as the Golden Eagles (9-5, 1-0) connected 13 times from deep.

Cornell Johnston (Ladue High School – St. Louis) and Trae Anderson (Hazelwood Central High School – St. Louis) tied for team scoring honors with 17 points for the Panthers (3-10, 0-1). Johnston added nine assists.

Tightest Game

The closest game of the trio was at Jacksonville State where the Gamecocks (5-11, 1-0) held off Southern Illinois Edwardsville 72-67. Malcolm Drumwright scored 19 points and Greg Tucker added 16 and each made three treys.

SIUE (3-10, 0-1) converted on just 29 % of their three-point attempts. Yemi Makanjuola scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in defeat. Keenan Simmons saw more playing time than usual and led the Cougars with 10 rebounds.

New Year’s Day is a day off for the OVC but five more conference connections and one non-conference game are on tap for Saturday.

Do Good