SEMO's late surge falls short against Morehead State

Chrishawn Coleman scored 26 points to lead the Morehead State Eagles over the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 64-61 on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Show Me Center.

A last-second rebound and layup by Maia Rosarion gave the Eagles the go-ahead basket. A free throw afterward put her at the 20-point mark on the day. She also grabbed 15 rebounds for the double-double as the Eagles outrebounded the Redhawks 34-30.

"She was one of our biggest, main persons to worry about," SEMO guard Da’Kariya Jackson said, "and she got up, she got away from us at the end of the basket."

Jackson led the Redhawks with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Zoe Best and Skylar Barnes each scored 10 points while Lexi McCully and Ainaya Williams each added eight points for SEMO.

Jackson hit a three-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter to tie the game 48-48. A pair of free throws by McCully gave SEMO a 60-58 lead with 1:45 left in the game.

SEMO lost in the final seconds despite making seven three-pointers and holding Morehead State to only one basket in 11 attempts from the arc.

"We weren't ready to go from the start," SEMO coach Briley Palmer said. "You can talk about the stuff at the end of the game and things like that. We're lucky we were even in the game because the way we started was just no energy, no effort, and that's hard to coach. There's no adjustments in that."

SEMO started the game from behind after Morehead State went on a 7-0 run but struck back with an 8-0 run of its own to take an 8-7 lead. A three-pointer by Zoe Best put the Redhawks up 14-11 with 3:45 left in the first period, their largest lead in the game.

Their time ahead was short-lived, as the Eagles finished the first quarter on a 10-0 run to lead 21-14 entering the second quarter. Eight of those points came from Coleman, who scored 11 in the opening period.

The Eagles grew their lead to as much as 16 points in the second quarter, but the Redhawks managed to shrink that margin before halftime. A buzzer-beating three-pointer by Jackson sent SEMO to halftime down 37-24.

Three-pointers from Skylar Barnes and Jackson put the rallying Redhawks within three points of the Eagles, only trailing 46-43 with 1:39 left in the third quarter. They completed the comeback and took the lead in the fourth quarter but couldn't hold it in the final minutes.

"We should finish how we start, instead of start how we finish," Jackson said.

SEMO (4-11) closes out the three-game homestand on Tuesday, Jan. 14 with a match against OVC contender Little Rock.