After another successful road trip, the Little Rock men's basketball team finds itself in a three-way tie for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. One of those teams, Southeast Missouri (15-10, 10-4), invades the Jack Stephens Center Tuesday night in an important league clash. The winner will stay tied atop the league with SIUE.
"We have to protect home," Little Rock head coach
Darrell Walker said. "We've played well on the road, now we have to do that the next four games at home.
Tuesday's game begins 25 minutes following the 5 p.m. women's game and can be heard on 106.7 Buzz2 with Ray Tucker on the call. The game is also streaming live on ESPN+.
The game also marks the celebration of Youth Sports Night, and the Trojans baseball team will be signing autographs between games and will be honored at halftime of the men's game for winning the OVC Championship last spring.
LAST TIME OUT
The Trojans (16-9, 10-4) finished off a road sweep last week with a 76-62 win at Morehead State, which avenged an earlier loss last month.
Little Rock outscored Morehead State 26-11 the final 10 minutes to pull out the win at Johnson Arena with a ESPNU national-television audience watching on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles (14-11, 9-5) took a 51-50 lead, their only lead of the second half, with 10:47 to play and never led again. Five minutes later, Little Rock went up 62-55 on a
Jordan Jefferson dunk and didn't look back. The Trojans pushed the lead to double digits with just under two minutes to go to seal the win.
Johnathan Lawson led all scorers with 24 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the three-point line. Jefferson came off the bench to score 14 points and nab four steals.
Isaiah Lewis chipped in 13. The Trojans shot 29-of-54 (53.7%) from the field and 8-of-16 (50%) from the three-point line. The Trojans scored 25 points off 16 Eagles' turnovers.
HONORS FOR LAWSON
Junior guard
Johnathan Lawson took home the OVC Player of the Week Newcomer of the Week honors for his performances last week. This is the second time this season the 6-7, 190-pound native swept the weekly awards. The first time came Nov. 25.
In two big road wins last week, Lawson poured in 19 points in a 74-56 win at Southern Indiana on Thursday and then erupted for 24 in a 76-62 win at Morehead State on Saturday. In the Thursday win, he dished out five assists. He also nabbed four steals against USI and 3 against MSU. Lawson, who is among the leaders nationally in minutes played, logged 39 minutes and 37 minutes, respectively, in this week's games.
The Memphis/Creighton transfer, who has two game-winning shots to his credit this season, averages 15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 44.5% from the three-point line.
NO PLACE LIKE THE ROAD?
After winning four straight OVC road games, the Trojans have the top league road record. Little Rock is 7-1 in league road games. In contrast, they are 3-2 in league home games. That is a mark, they hope to improve on with the final four home games looming the next two weeks with first place on the line.
SCOUTING REPORT: SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE
Junior guard
Johnathan Lawson's last-second shot helped beat the Redhawks, 73-71, at Carpe Girardeau, Mo., last month. The Trojans gave up a lead late, and Lawson had to play hero for the second time in a few weeks and hit a pull-up jumper with 1.1 seconds left.
The win proved to be big as both teams are now fighting for the top spot.
SEMO is 6-1 since that loss. The only blemish came a week later in a 72-68 setback and Lindenwood. They enter Tuesday's game on a five-game winning streak, including an 80-51 dismantling of Morehead State last Thursday.
Teddy Washington, Jr., a former star at Blytheville High School, leads the Redhawks with 14 points per game. Rob Martin adds 13.2 ppg followed by Brendan Terry with 10.6.
Martin led SEMO with 19 points in the first game. Washington scored 12 as did Terry and no other Redhawk was in double figures.
