The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team closed out exhibition play on Saturday with a 42-point win against Fontbonne.

Junior Isiah Jones led the team in scoring with 19 points and assists with six.

Sikeston walk-on freshman guard J.T. Jones provided a spark off the bench by almost matching his performance against Missouri Baptist by scoring 12 points with a shooting percentage of 80 percent from the field.

The point spread for most of the first half remained close due to 11.1 percent shooting from 3-point range and 50 percent from the free throw line for the Redhawks.

Southeast increased its full court defensive pressure that led to a total of 14 points off turnovers and made the score at the half 44-27 Redhawks.

The second half for the Redhawks consisted of pure domination in all components of the game with the overall point spread never getting below 17.

The point differential from the bench of the Redhawks displayed a complete team effort and how togetherness has became a key component for the team since the Redhawks are dealing with injuries early in the season.

Coach Dickey Nutt was pleased with the overall play of the team in general even while the team lacked depth due to injuries.

With this being the second collegiate game for a few of players, some of them provided major contributions in a convincing win.

"We really had no answer for their point guard and they certainly exposed us in a few areas but at the end of the day we did what we were supposed to do and won the game," Nutt said.

Senior forward Nino Johnson recorded his second straight double-double of the season with 12 points and a team high 14 rebounds. Johnson also helped establish a defensive presence for Southeast with five blocks.

Johnson's physical play is matching his verbal leadership that is demonstrated from the beginning of the game until the buzzer goes off that signals the end of the game.

The Redhawks shot 52.4 percent from the field and 34 percent from 3-point range due to a first half where they shot 1-9 beyond the arc but shot 47 percent in the second half.

Freshman guard/forward Ladarius Coleman shot 80 percent and sophomore guard Antonius Cleveland made both of his attempts from three point range.

But in addition to the great night from the field, the struggles from the free throw line continued for the Redhawks as they shot 56 percent from the charity stripe.

The play of freshman guard Marcus Wallace, Coleman, Jones and freshman forward T.J. Thomas provided some key contributions for the Redhawks off the bench and their progress from the beginning of camp through these two exhibition games has been noticed and acknowledged by Nutt.

"I think all of our four freshmen have a really good chance to be good players if they just stay with it and develop and get better and better," Nutt said. "One of these days them guys are going to turn into men."

Even while the positives outweigh the negatives for Southeast, Nutt provided an analysis of the team based on the two exhibition games with the production of newcomers due to injuries affecting the play of redshirt junior guard J.J. Thompson and lack of seniority due to guard/forward Jarekious Bradley, guard Darrian Gray and forward Aaron Adeoye being injured.

"I think it has already helped in one way because we have had three or four guys to be held out already and it didn't stop us in exhibition season," Nutt said. "So as a staff we don't take that for granted because I remember when you have 13 guys and you have four guys hurt then you down and it is very difficult to keep moving where you are but I thought it has already played a role and we will continue to make strides."

The interior dominance by Langford, Cleveland and Johnson led to several uncontested shots for the Redhawks on the offensive end and caused Fontbonne to take several contested shots due to the length and aggressive defensive pressure.

Junior guard Greg Gentry led Fontbonne in points with 14 and seven assists and Perryville High School graduate freshman forward Colin Schirmer added 10 points and five rebounds.

With six of Southeast's players scoring double digits, the team having 10 less turnovers than Fontbonne and players off the bench leading them in scoring, the overall feelings for this upcoming season are positive but always open for improvement.

"It was another great game and another test for us," Johnson said. "It was another test for us to get the young guys experienced and really get them going in offensive play. Learning this offense and dissecting what we need to kick this season off we about to start in L.A. [Los Angeles], just another learning experience and to get the jitters out for the upcoming season... the real test."

The Redhawks first regular season game will be on Nov. 14 in Los Angeles against Loyola Marymount and their first regular season game at home will be on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. against Hannibal-Lagrange.