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MOREHEAD, Ky.—Senior
Demonte Harper and junior
Terrance Hill each scored 19 points to lead four of five Morehead State starters in double figures and pace the Eagles to an 84-61 men’s basketball win over North Carolina A&T Sunday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
The non-conference game was MSU’s first in the Global Sports Invitational, a round-robin travelling tournament which also includes the Eagles’ next three opponents, UNC Wilmington, Florida and Ohio State. Morehead State improved to 2-0 this season and the Aggies, who lost their season opener at Ohio State, fell to 0-2.
Hill was two points shy of equaling his career high in points after swishing six field goals, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. He also had three assists and four steals, leading the aggressive Eagle defense into forcing 23 Aggie turnovers. Harper dished out a game-high five assists and also scored on six field goals. He added six points on 6-of-8 at the line.
“The team we played today is a quality team, they’re going to win a lot of games this year. They’re athletic, they’re big and I thought our guys rose to the challenge today,” MSU coach
Donnie Tyndall said. “I thought that our press really bothered them, especially in the first half.”
MSU used a 15-3 run to open up a close game midway through the first half, taking a 16-point lead following a Harper dunk and a
Kenneth Faried layup. North Carolina A&T’s Marc Hill drilled a pair of 3-pointers to cut the lead back to 10, but Faried scored MSU’s next six points and Terrance Hill hit his own pair of triples to punctuate a 14-5 run that gave the Eagles a 21-point advantage.
Faried finished with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Ty Proffitt added 10 points to mark the second straight game Morehead State has placed four of its five starters in double figures. All five starters tallied double digits in both MSU exhibitions.
Sam Goodman had a career-high seven rebounds.
Shooting was even between the teams with each sinking 40 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line. The Eagles held a 42-34 advantage in rebounding. A physical game, both teams pressed heavily, resulting in a series of fouls, including three technicals following a scrum for a loose ball. The Aggies had four players with three or more fouls and MSU had three with three or more, including Faried, who fouled out with 11:37 left in the second half.
“Even though Kenneth wasn’t able to play except for 19 minutes, I thought our team stepped up without him. He was dominating when he played of course, but with him only playing 19 minutes, and us being able to do what we did against a quality opponent, I’m pleased,” Tyndall said.
Harper scored three straight and Proffitt followed with four consecutive points in the second half to give the Eagles their largest lead of the game, a 29-point lead with 5:17 to play. That followed the Aggies cutting the deficit down to 18, the closest they got in the second half and only the second time in the second stanza the difference fell below 20. Goodman’s layup pushed the advantage back to 20 and led to the Harper-Proffitt run that sealed the win.
North Carolina A&T had four players score in double figures, including 13 points and four assists from Marc Hill. Adrian Powell had 11 points and R.J. Buck and Thomas Coleman each had 10 points. Coleman also had a game-high 11 boards for a double-double.
The Eagles travel to Wilmington, N.C. to face UNC Wilmington for the first time in program history. The game, which tips-off Thursday at 7 p.m., is part of the GSI.
