Marland Smith hit six 3-pointers and had a double-double to lead Southeast Missouri State past Eastern Kentucky 65-49 Wednesday night in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
Smith finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Redhawks (10-21), who will take on No. 3-seeded Austin Peay in Thursday night's quarterfinal round at Municipal Auditorium.
Leon Powell added 12 points and Marcus Brister scored 11 for Southeast Missouri, which went on a 19-2 run in the second half to lead 52-38. Lucas Nutt, son of head coach Dickey Nutt and nephew of Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt, added 10 points.
Joshua Jones led EKU (15-16) with 15 points, Justin Stommes had 11, and Spencer Perrin 10. Stommes hit a 30-footer to pull the Colonels within one, 29-28, at the halftime buzzer and another 3 to stop a 7 1/2-minute scoring drought with 7:49 to play.
