Nov. 29, 2009

Box Score

By Jeff Honza
Southeast Missouri State Sports Information

NORMAL, Ill. - Sam Pearson scored 21 points and Cameron Butler turned in a double-double 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Southeast Missouri State (2-5) to a 75-54 win over Norfolk State (1-5) in the final day of the Basketball Travelers Classic Sunday.

Southeast, which ended a three-game losing streak, registered its largest margin of victory in 34 games. In fact, the last time the Redhawks won by 20 or more points was when they defeated Culver-Stockton, 89-50, in Cape Girardeau on Nov. 21, 2008.

Southeast also won by 20 or more points on the road for the first time since beating Eastern Illinois, 84-64, on Jan. 13, 2004.

"I'm very proud of our guys and I told them to never underestimate the preciousness of winning," said Southeast head coach Dickey Nutt. "We came out focused and beat a good team today."

The Redhawks used a nice blend of man-to-man and zone defense to throw the Spartans off-balance. As a result, Southeast scored 32 points off turnovers, including 20 in the second half.

"We were really scrappy and I liked our intensity on defense today," said Nutt.

After falling behind, 18-15, with 11:18 left in the first half, Southeast went on a 22-4 run to take a 37-22 at the 1:51 mark. True freshman Marland Smith drained two of his career-high three 3-pointers to key the stretch, as the Redhawks took a 37-25 at the intermission.

Smith established a career-high 13 points and Butler added 10 to lead Southeast in the first half. The Redhawks also held an opponent under 30 points in the first half for the second time this season.

NSU star guard Michael Deloach single-handedly got his team back into the game when he had four points, a steal and one block in less than a minute to start the second half. Deloach ignited an 8-0 surge for the Spartans, who pulled to within four (37-33) at the 17:59 mark.

That, however, was as close as NSU would get.

On Southeast's next possession, Butler threw down a monsterous jam off an alley-oop pass from Pearson to spark a 13-2 run.

Four other Redhawks, including Pearson, Rae-Vonn Banks, Derek Thompson and Anthony Allison, also scored to help get Southeast a 50-35 lead with 13:52 remaining.

Pearson then took matters into his own hands, scoring 11 points in the last eight minutes to finish off the Redhawks 75-54 win.

Pearson shot 7-of-12 from the field, 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 5-of-8 from the free throw line en route to his career-high 21 points. Pearson, who scored 15 of his points in the second half, also pulled down five rebounds, dished out four assists and had one steal.

Butler made 8-of-10 field goals and 3-of-7 free throws, and recorded double-digit rebounds for the first time in his Southeast career. He is the first Redhawks player to finish with a double-double since teammate LaMont Russell had 10 points and 10 boards at Eastern Kentucky at Eastern Kentucky a year ago.

Meanwhile, Smith scored nine of his points from 3-point range as Southeast's other double-digit scorer.

Deloach led all NSU scorers with 19 points, marking the sixth time he has pitched in double figures this season. Deloach scored 67 points in the tournament.

The Redhawks shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field, while the Spartans made just 38.5 percent (20-of-52) of their shots.

Tournament-host Illinois State won the 2009 Basketball Travelers Classic. ISU beat St. Bonaventure, 80-77, to cap its perfect 4-0 record on the weekend.

Southeast opens Ohio Valley Conference play at Austin Peay (Dec. 3) and Tennessee State (Dec. 5).