Redhawks' tournament hopes officially end

Freshman guard Marland Smith almost singlehandedly kept Southeast Missouri State's Ohio Valley Conference tournament hopes alive Thursday night.

But Tennessee State got a career performance from one of its own standout freshman to clinch the final available OVC tournament berth and officially eliminate the Redhawks.

Robert Covington, a 6-foot-8 freshman forward, compiled collegiate highs of 27 points and 16 rebounds as the visiting Tigers recovered from wasting an 18-point lead to knock off the Redhawks 74-67.

Smith stood out in Southeast's seventh straight loss with a collegiate-high 30 points, 19 coming during the second half when he made 5 of 11 3-pointers. He added two assists and two steals without a turnover while playing all 40 minutes.

"Marland Smith had an outstanding night. He had a freshman of the year performance," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "He's playing with a lot of confidence right now."

So is Covington, who like Smith has emerged as one of his squad's leaders.

"I think he's a pretty doggone good freshman," said TSU coach John Cooper, like Nutt in his first season at his respective school. "Marland Smith. ... wew, he got it going. We couldn't cool him off."

Southeast (7-22, 3-14), which has lost nine straight OVC games, is now locked into ninth place in the 10-team league with one contest remaining.

That is still an improvement from the last-place finish of a year ago, when the Redhawks went winless in the OVC.

TSU (9-21, 6-11) remained eighth, with the top eight making the OVC tournament. The Tigers can still finish as high as tied for sixth after posting their fifth consecutive conference victory despite dismissing four players several weeks ago.

TSU ran out to a 13-2 lead and three times built the advantage to 18 points before Southeast pulled within 43-29 at halftime.

"We dug ourselves a hole," junior forward Cameron Butler said. "At this level you can't do that and expect to win. We do that every game."

In what has also been a familiar theme, the Redhawks made a furious second-half rally that culminated with them taking their only lead on Smith's 3-pointer with 5 minutes, 18 seconds left that made it 62-60.

But TSU went right back ahead 21 seconds later on a 3-pointer by senior guard Jeremiah Crutcher.

After a Southeast miss, TSU sophomore guard Will Peters hit a 3-pointer. After another Southeast miss, the Tigers made two free throws for a 68-62 lead.

Down 68-64, Southeast had a costly turnover with 40 seconds remaining. The Redhawks pulled within 68-65 with 33 seconds left, but TSU made 6 of 6 free throws in the final 31 seconds.

"The same thing we've been doing all season. We dig ourselves a hole," Smith said. "We made a good run, but they made some big shots."

Smith has scored at least 19 points in each of the last three games and has taken over the team scoring lead with a 10.6 average. He was coming off a collegiate-high 28 points in Saturday's loss at Miami of Ohio.

"I'm just trying to come out and give my team the best chance of winning," Smith said. "I'd rather win than get the points."

As impressed as Nutt was by Smith's play, Covington -- who hit 13 of 13 free throws and both of his 3-point attempts -- also made an impression. Like Smith, Covington has come on lately and is averaging 10.7 points.

"Marland is going to be an outstanding player. He's going to be fun to watch," said Nutt, who added of Covington: "He's going to be good. He was outstanding tonight.

Butler added 10 points for Southeast despite playing at what Nutt described as "50 percent" due to a lingering foot problem.

Southeast ends its season Saturday at home against perennial OVC power Austin Peay (16-14, 10-7, tie for fourth place).

The Redhawks will have the benefit of a big home crowd on Senior Night as seniors Johnny Hill, Israel Kirk and LaMont Russell will be recognized.

Southeast's Show Me Sellout promotion has already produced more than 6,000 tickets sold for one of the biggest expected crowds in several years.

"To us it's important," Nutt said of the finale. "We're not playing for a spot in the tournament, but this is our championship game.

Added Butler: "Our seniors deserve this win. It can give us momentum for the future. Like [junior guard] Sam Pearson said, this is our championship game."