GAME NOTES (HTML)
GAME NOTES (PDF)
MARTIN, Tenn.—Morehead State men’s basketball survived a late rally by UT Martin to open Ohio Valley Conference play with a 74-66 win Thursday night at the Elam Center. UTM cut a 13-point Eagle lead to three on several occasions, but MSU outlasted the push in the final minute.
“That’s league play on the road,” Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall said. “Any road win is a good one.”
The Eagles (2-3, 1-0 OVC) led by as much at 13 in the second half, but UTM slowly whittled away at the lead, cutting it to three on a pair of free throws by MJ Brown. MSU pushed the lead back out, reaching 10 twice, once on a 3-pointer by senior Les Simmons and once on a dunk by junior Demonte Harper. Simmons and Harper each finished with 15 points for the Eagles.
Three 3-pointers, two by Delrico Lane and one by Brown and a lay-up by Brown sparked a final run by the Skyhawks. A pair of threes by senior Maze Stallworth kept the Eagles in front and MSU sunk 7-of-10 free throws in the final minute to hold on. Simmons who was nearly perfect from the field at 4-of-5, hit four of those final seven foul shots, part of a perfect 6-of-6 night at the charity stripe.
Junior Kenneth Faried scored 19 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead the Eagles. Senior Brandon Shingles added nine assists.
The Eagles hit 45.8 percent of their shots from the field. Shingles, sophomore Steve Peterson and Kenneth Faried each joined Simmons in shooting 50 percent or better.
Benzor Simmons scored 22 points to lead all scorers and he added nine rebounds to pace the Skyhawks. Brown had 17 points and Lane scored 14. Brown and Lane scored 13 of UTM’s final 15 points to lead the late comeback charge.
“Benzor Simmons might be the most improved player in our league,” Tyndall said. “They really spread the floor with their quick guards they have.”
Morehead State committed a season-high 17 turnovers, but MSU’s defense kept the UT Martin shooters to just 32.8 percent, including a paltry 20 percent from beyond the arc.
“The one thing that concerns me is the 17 turnovers, but we defended so well that we were able to overcome that,” Tyndall said.
The Eagles will face fellow preseason OVC favorite Murray State Saturday at 8:30 pm ET. The Racers hit a shot at the end of regulation to beat Eastern Kentucky Thursday night.
