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MOREHEAD, Ky.—Morehead State men’s basketball picked up its first win of the 2009-10 season, rolling through in-state foe Brescia, 86-51 Monday night at Johnson Arena.
Junior Kenneth Faried earned his first double-double of the year to lead the Eagles, scoring 24 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.
It was a change of pace for MSU (1-1), who opened the season last Friday at No. 4 Kentucky. This time, the Eagles were the physically bigger team and it showed with a 19-rebound edge. Brescia (0-3) kept it interesting early in first half by drilling five of their eight 3-pointers, but a 6:24 scoring drought to end the half allowed Morehead State to open a 22-point lead. That stretched into a 36-4 run the spanned halftime and put the game out of reach for the NAIA Bearcats.
“We were so excited to play the Kentucky game, so it’s always interesting to see how our team is going to respond,” MSU coach Donnie Tyndall said. “Brescia hit a couple of threes to keep it close but eventually our size and athleticism allowed us to pull ahead.”
Faried had tallied a double-double by the intermission and sophomore Terrance Hill and senior Les Simmons scored 12 and 11 points respectively. Senior point guard Brandon Shingles had seven points, seven assists and five steals, despite four turnovers.
“Brandon makes our team go,” Tyndall said. “I give him the freedom to play through mistakes.”
The Eagles shot 47.8 percent from the field, including 41.7 percent from beyond the arc in the second half to maintain the lead. Tyndall was able to clear his bench late in the game, giving MSU’s newcomers a chance to play.
“It’s always good for your young guys to get a chance to play,” Tyndall added.
Andrew Howard led the Bearcats with 15 points and Aaron Tandy had seven rebounds. Doug Denton had four assists for Brescia.
Monday marked the first of a three-game home stand by the Eagles. MSU will host Louisiana-Monroe Saturday at Johnson Arena at 7:30 pm and after a break for Thanksgiving, return to Johnson Arena to face Kent State on Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.
“Louisiana-Monroe is a very good Sun Belt team,” Tyndall said. “The biggest thing for us will be to not give up open transition buckets.
