The Southeast men’s basketball team won at home against their Ohio Valley Conference opponents University of Tennessee-Martin with a score of 74-72 on Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Show Me Center.
Southeast entered the second half trailing the Skyhawks 43-33. Their largest deficit was 13. The Redhawks spent the second half grinding back into the game. The Redhawks did not take the lead until there was 24 seconds left to play.
The run that ended up giving the Redhawks the lead was kicked off by sophomore guard Alex Caldwell who scored seven points from 36 seconds remaining to 28 seconds remaining.
“I missed a few shots earlier in the game,” Caldwell said. “Then I came down and went short on a floater. I felt like I needed to have amnesia. My team looks for me to take big shots and make big shots. So that’s what I did.”
Caldwell’s quick points brought the Redhawks within a single point. Southeast took the lead on a layup by senior guard Skyler Hogan.
“I just told them a couple stops wins us the game, and it was the truth. We got a few stops down the stretch and got one and done,” assistant coach Keith Pickens said. “We were able to overcome, there was some big time plays by Alex and Skyler in our press. They came up with a turnover and we got a layup to take the lead.”
Head coach Rick Ray was unable to attend due to sickness. Pickens stepped into the roll.
This season has not been filled with many wins, and this one helped the Redhawks mature as a team, according to Pickens.
“I think we excelled at growing up and maturing within the game,” Pickens said. “At times this season we would have probably quit or gave in, but we didn’t. So, I thought we grew up during the game. We can grow in the area of not falling behind.”
The Redhawks will look to carry the momentum of this win going forward.
“It can help us good going into the game Saturday versus SIU-E,” Caldwell said. “Going into that game I feel like this gives us a lot of momentum.”
The Redhawks move to 6-20 on the season (2-11 OVC) and face Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (7-19 overall, 4-9 OVC) on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Show Me Center.
