EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Ray'Sean Taylor's 30-point performance wasn't enough as the Cougars fell to Southeast Missouri 83-68 Thursday at First Community Arena.

The loss came in front of 2,503 fans, the largest home crowd at SIUE since December 2018.

SIUE fell to 19-11 overall and 12-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Cougars can earn the No. 2 seed in the OVC tournament with a win over Little Rock on Saturday.

The Redhawks clinched the one seed for the OVC tournament and won the regular season for the first time in 25 years. SEMO improved to 20-10 overall and 15-4 in the OVC.

Desmond Polk opened the scoring :30 seconds into the game but the Cougars trailed quickly after Teddy Washington Jr. connected on a layup to give the Redhawks a five-point lead.

SEMO took a 12-point lead (30-18) with 7:15 left in the first half thanks to a drunk by Teddy Washington Jr.

SIUE cut the lead to six on a traditional three-point play by Brian Taylor II. The Redhawks then went on a 6-0 run to cap off the half and led 42-29.

Miles Thompson cut the lead to single digits on a layup which trimmed the Redhawks lead to nine.

The closest the Cougars would get was down eight early in the second half as SEMO controlled the rest of the game.

SEMO grew its lead to 15 on a Rob Martin layup with 5:45 left in the game and took its biggest lead of the game, 83-66, in the final minute.

Ray'Sean Taylor led the Cougars in scoring with 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field including 3-of-4 from three-point range. Taylor pulled down five rebounds and added two assists.

It was Taylor's fourth career 30-point game, his third this season, and the second time in three games in which he has reached at least 30 points.

Ring Malith recorded his sixth double-double this season with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 34:00 minutes of play.

Brian Taylor added nine points to go along with two rebounds and two assists.

SIUE finished 24-of-58 (41 percent) from the field and 4-of-17 (23 percent).

The Cougars connected to 16-of-21 attempts from the free throw line.

SIUE out rebounded SEMO 39-30.

SEMO was anchored by Rob Martin who led all scorers with a career-high 31 points and connected on 13-of-19 from the floor. Martin added two rebounds and three assists.

Teddy Washington Jr. tied his career-high with 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds and added three assists.

The Redhawks finished 34-of-64 (53 percent) from the field and 10-of-26 (38 percent) from beyond the three-point arc.

SEMO connected on 76 percent (16-of-21) of its free throws.

SEMO tallied seven turnovers to SIUE's 14.

The Cougars wrap up the regular season with Senior Day on Saturday against Little Rock. The tip is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.