Marland Smith scored 20 points and Tyler Stone had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Southeast Missouri to a 75-65 victory over Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday night in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament first round.
Smith went 9 of 13 at the free-throw line and hit 5 of 10 field goals for the fifth-seeded Redhawks (15-15). Southeast Missouri advances into Thursday's quarterfinal against No. 4 seed Tennessee Tech after ousting eighth-seeded Eastern Kentucky (16-16) for the second straight year.
Leon Powell added 12 points and 14 rebounds and Lucas Nutt dished out 11 assists for the Redhawks.
Jaron Jones led the Colonels with 28 points and Joshua Jones scored 17, hitting three 3-pointers apiece.
Southeast Missouri led 15-2 after a 13-0 run that included six of Stone's 10 first-half points. The Redhawks' biggest lead was 36-19 and Eastern Kentucky couldn't get any closer than five points at 56-51.
