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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A scoring drought by Eastern Kentucky that lasted almost seven minutes, coupled with a 19-2 run by Southeast Missouri State doomed the Colonels in a 65-49 loss in the first round of the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference tournament on Wednesday night in Nashville.

The No. 7 seeded Redhawks shot 58 percent from the field and 67 percent from behind the three-point arc. The sixth seeded Colonels made only 28 percent of their shots. Eastern concludes its season with a 15-16 record. Southeast Missouri improves to 10-21 and advances to the quarterfinals to face Austin Peay.

Two free throws and a lay-up by Spencer Perrin gave EKU a 36-33 lead with 16:40 left to play. However, the Colonels only scored 13 more points the rest of the game. When the Redhawks’ 19-2 run ended they had a 14-point lead, 52-38, with 7:57 left in the game.

Justin Stommes tried to ignite a Colonel rally with a three-pointer that cut the deficit to 11 and snapped a scoring drought that lasted 6:34, but Marcus Brister answered at the other end with a trey for Southeast and EKU never got any closer.

Joshua Jones led Eastern Kentucky with 15 points. Perrin finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Marland Smith hit six three-pointers, scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds for SEMO. Leon Powell contributed 12 points and seven assists.

Eastern set a season-low for shooting percentage and tied its season-low with 49 points. Southeast Missouri’s shooting percentage was its best of the season.

The two teams exchanged a series of runs in the first half. Southeast Missouri scored eight of the first 10 points and led 10-5 four and a half minutes into the game. EKU responded with a 15-4 run to go on top 20-14. The Redhawks followed with an 8-1 run to retake the lead, 22-21, with 4:50 to play in the opening half. From there the lead changed hands three times and was tied once before intermission. Stommes knocked down a long three-pointer as time expired to send the Colonels to the locker room down by only one, 29-28.

SEMO shot 63 percent from the field and was 5-for-7 from three-point range in the first half, but only 4-for-12 from the free throw line.