SIU Edwardsville clinches first NCAA Tournament berth, beats SE Missouri 69-48 in OVC Championship

EVANSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Ray’Sean Taylor scored 20 points and No. 2 seed SIU Edwardsville beat top-seeded Southeast Missouri 69-48 on Saturday night to win its first Ohio Valley Conference Championship title and secured its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

It was also the first appearance in the title game for SIU Edwardsville (22-11), which entered with a 3-8 tournament record.

Taylor shot 3 of 9 from the floor and made 13 of 16 free throws and is now the Cougars' all-time career scoring leader with 1,952 points. He surpassed Jason Holmes (1993-1997), who finished with 1,949 career points.

Ring Malith added 12 points and Brian Taylor II scored 10 for the Cougars.

Rob Martin scored 18 points and Brendan Terry finished with 16 to lead Southeast Missouri (21-12).

Ray’Sean Taylor and Brian Taylor combined for 17 points to help SIU Edwardsville build a 35-24 lead at the break. Martin scored 10 first-half points to pace SEMO. The Redhawks opened the second half on a 14-3 run to tie it 38-all. SIUE answered with a 19-2 run, capped by a Kyle Thomas dunk, and lead 57-40 with 6:39 remaining and cruised from there.

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