Southeast Missouri State defeated Tennessee Tech in a classic Ohio Valley Conference Tournament final and will go to the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee Tech s Brett Thompson (5) leaps for a shot against the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks during the OVC men’s championship at Ford Center on Saturday, March 4, 2023. Ns Semo Ttu 030423 0215
By Michael Dixon on

For the first time since 2000 and only the second time ever, the NCAA Tournament will include Southeast Missouri State Redhawks. And SEMO went through a brutal test to earn that spot, prevailing in an absolutely classic game over Tennessee Tech in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament final.

The game was a tense, back-and-forth affair throughout. The Golden Eagles were clinging to a 73-72 lead in the final seconds of regulation when SEMO’s Chris Harris was fouled while shooting a three.

The Golden Eagles now trailed by two points with only 2.2 seconds to play. They also didn’t have a time-out. But given that Tennessee Tech is coached by John Pelphrey, the Kentucky player who was guarding Christian Laettner on his famed 1992 buzzer-beater, there’s a pretty good bet that the Golden Eagles had worked on this kind of play in practice. They came up with a good one.

Tennessee Tech’s Jaylen Sebree threw the ball down the court and into the hands of Diante Wood. And after Sebree capably played the role of Grant Hill, Wood did his best Laettner impersonation.

But there was one significant difference between this play and the Laettner shot that gave Duke its win over Kentucky 31 years ago. The Blue Devils were only trailing by a point. So, Laettner’s turnaround jumper from the foul line was a game-winner. On Saturday, both teams initially reacted as though Wood’s shot was a three — which would have ended the game.

But upon review, his foot was still on the three-point line. So, his dramatic shot only tied the game.

Knowing this, Tennessee Tech had to come down from its emotional high while SEMO had to get itself back up.

Most of the overtime period was competitive. Tennessee Tech’s Jayvis Harvey made a pair of free throws to tie the game with 1:18 remaining. From there, it was all Redhawks. Phillip Russell made a layup six seconds later to put SEMO up 84-82. The Redhawks shut the Golden Eagles out for the remainder of the game and went on to win, 89-82.

SEMO will be making its first NCAA Tournament trip since 2000, before most (if not all) players on the team were born. Tennessee Tech, meanwhile, was denied its first trip to the tournament since 1963, before many of the parents of the players on the team were even born.

The college basketball world loved the classic battle between the two long-struggling programs trying to reach the sport’s pinnacle.

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