Bennett's 18, Myers' game-winner lead Western Illinois past Tennessee State, 61-59 in OVC quarters

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Ryan Myers' clutch floater helps Western Illinois advance in OVC tourney

Ryan Myers scores a go-ahead basket in the closing seconds to win it for Western Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference quarterfinals.

Updated: Mar 7, 2024, 10:28 pm

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- — Quinlan Bennett led Western Illinois with 18 points and Ryan Myers scored the game-winning jump shot with two seconds remaining as the Leathernecks took down Tennessee State 61-59 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Western Illinois, the tournament's No. 4 seed, faces top-seeded Little Rock in the first of Friday night's two semifinal games.

Bennett also had 10 rebounds for the Leathernecks (21-11). Jesiah West scored 12 points and added nine rebounds and three blocks. JJ Kalakon shot 4 of 9 from the field, including 1 for 4 from 3-point range, and went 3 for 5 from the line to finish with 12 points, while adding eight rebounds.

The Tigers (18-15) were led in scoring by EJ Bellinger, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Christian Brown added 13 points and seven steals for Tennessee State. Jaylen Jones finished with 10 points and four assists.

Bennett scored 12 points in the first half for Western Illinois, who went into the break tied 30-30 with Tennessee State. West scored 10 second-half points for Western Illinois.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.