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Box Score  I  OVC Tournament Bracket  I  Post Game Quotes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Eric Stutz tied his career-high with 22 points and recorded a double-double as Eastern Kentucky beat Southeast Missouri, 84-69, in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The Colonels (24-8) will face No. 2 seed Murray State (20-9) in the semifinals at 9 p.m. ET on Friday.  A delayed broadcast of Friday’s semifinal game will air on ESPNU at 1:30 a.m. ET.

Stutz hit on 6-of-9 attempts from the field and 9-of-11 at the free throw line.  He added 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.  Orlando Williams came off the bench to score 14 points and grab seven boards.  Mike DiNunno added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Eastern out-rebounded Southeast 41-34. 

Eastern jumped out to a 16-13 lead before the RedHawks (17-16) rolled off eight unanswered to take a 21-16 advantage with 10:20 left before halftime.  However, SEMO made only three field goals, and two free throws, the rest of the half.  The Colonels went to the locker room on an 11-2 run and with a 39-31 lead

EKU scored 10 of the first 14 points of the second half to stretch the run to 21-6.  A lay-up by Tarius Johnson capped it and put the Colonels in front by 14, 49-35, at the 15:25 mark.

SEMO didn’t completely fade.  The Redhawks rolled of nine straight to get within six, but that is as close as the margin would get.  Eastern answered with another 11-4 run to go up by 12.  Southeast briefly drew within nine and the Colonels led by as many as 17.

Nino Johnson led the Redhawks with 18 points.

EKU shot 39 percent from the field but made 37-of-45 attempts from the free throw line.  Southeast also shot 39 percent from the field and made 16-of-18 at the stripe.  The Redhawks made just 3-of-22 attempts from behind the arc and went 0-for-9 from deep in the second half.

NOTES
Eastern Kentucky finished with the second best record in the conference, but the Racers received the No. 2 seed as a result of finishing first in the West Division.

Eastern is appearing in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the 11th straight season.  EKU and Murray State are now the only two teams to have qualified for each of the last 11 OVC tournaments. 

The Colonels’ No. 3 seed is their highest since winning the 2007 crown as the No. 2 seed.

Eastern’s 41 rebounds are the most in a game this season.  The previous high was 35 twice.

EKU entered the game third in the nation in free throw percentage (78.1 percent) and shot 82.2 percent (37-of-45) from the line tonight. 

Eastern is second in the nation in turnover margin (-6.2) but turned the ball over only two fewer times than Southeast Missouri tonight.