Hasahn French scored a career- and game-high 25 points, and Saint Louis held off a late Massachusetts rally for a 65-62 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over the Minutemen Wednesday night at Chaifetz Arena.  Saint Louis improves its records to 11-4 overall and 2-0 in the Atlantic 10 with a third consecutive victory.

French notched a season-high nine field goals (9-of-14) and a career-high seven free throws (7-of-10). He matched his career best of three steals (game-high), had a game-high three blocks and added six rebounds.

French, who has been bothered by a bad back, wasn’t sure how effective he would be.  He did know he couldn’t let his teammates down.

Northwest Missouri State senior Joey Witthus posted his second straight 30-point game as he led the No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team to a 79-59 win over Emporia State University at Bearcat Arena.  Witthus scored 32 points, including a stretch of 16 consecutive points in the second half, as Northwest improved to 15-0 overall and 5-0 in the MIAA.

Witthus went 11-of-12 from the field and drained five three-pointers.  Northwest drained 17 three-pointers in the contest.

Witthus is a transfer from Minnesota State.  Witthus started all 61 games he had appeared in for the Mavericks the past two seasons.

Head Coach Amy Eagan notched Truman victory 100 as the Bulldogs came up with a 73-51 wire-to-wire win over the University of Indianapolis on Saturday.  Eagan ties Mary Jo Murray atop the Bulldog career coaching wins list with her 100th. Murray was 100-80 in seven seasons from 1976-83.  Eagan is starting her sixth season.

Truman will attempt to give Eagan the record when they next play at the University of Southern Indiana on Thursday night in Evansville, Indiana.

Southeast Missouri’s junior linebacker Zach Hall won the 2018 Buck Buchanan Award Friday night, emerging from a group of 25 finalists that included Sam Houston State defensive Derick Roberson, the runner-up, and Montana junior linebacker Dante Olson, the third-place finisher. The trio of first-team All-Americans were honored at the STATS FCS Awards Banquet in Frisco, Texas.

“It feels great to turn this program around, but we’re not anywhere we want to be yet,” Hall said. “Every time I go out there I feel like I leave everything on the field, not just for myself, but for my teammates, family and simply the love of the game. I think that shows in how hard I play and how hard we work to get this team where it needs to be.”

Hall, from Louisville, Kentucky, posted an FCS-high 168 tackles as SEMO went 9-4 for its first winning season since 2010. The Redhawks snapped Jacksonville State’s 36-game winning streak in the Ohio Valley Conference – Hall had a game-high 15 tackles and a key blocked kick – and beat Stony Brook in the playoffs.

The 6-foot, 230-pound linebacker, named the OVC Defensive Player of the Year, contributed six takeaways – four interceptions and two fumble recoveries – and forced four fumbles. He reached double figures in tackles in 10 of 13 games, including a career-high 22 against FBS member Arkansas State – the most by an OVC player in 10 years.

Hall is the second-straight OVC player to win the award, joining Jacksonville State’s Darius Jackson from a year ago. The duo are the only OVC players to win the award which was first handed out in 1995.

Missouri State shot 54.7 percent and posted the third-best rebounding margin in school history Sunday afternoon, good for the Lady Bears’ fifth straight victory with an 88-66 decision against Evansville at JQH Arena.  The victory was win number 99 for head coach Kellie Harper

MSU improved to 6-7 overall after a 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference start for the 13th time in 27 league seasons. The Lady Bears owned a 52-20 rebounding edge, led by Jasmine Franklin’s second straight double-double with 10 points and 10 boards, while Emily Gartner (9) and Sydney Manning (7) posted career-high rebounding totals.

Alexa Willard paced the offense with a career-high 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting, including eight straight makes in the first half and a 3-for-5 showing from beyond the arc. Danielle Gitzen added 15 points and six assists, Gartner tallied 13 on 6-of-8 shooting, and Dariauna Lewis scored a career-high eight. Mya Bhinhar (5) and Manning (4) had career high assist totals, and MSU finished with 21 helpers as a team.

The victory marked MSU’s 10th consecutive MVC home win, tying for the fifth-longest streak in school history, as well as the Lady Bears’ 51st win in their last 64 overall Valley contests, and Kellie Harper’s 99th victory at Missouri State.

The Lady Bears are back in action Sunday, Jan. 13, when they host Southern Illinois.