BOX SCORE (HTML) | BOX SCORE (PDF)
MOREHEAD, Ky. – #Kenneth Faried# scored 25 points to lead Morehead State past Mountain State, 95-76, in a Tuesday night exhibition at Johnson Arena, their final tune-up before Friday's regular season opener.
Sam Goodman had 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Eagles, while
Demonte Harper had a huge night with 18 points and six boards against Mountain State, ranked second in NAIA basketball.
The Eagles open the regular season Friday night against Asbury University. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. in Johnson Arena.
Morehead State used a 12-4 run midway through the first half to build a 35-24 lead with 7:07 remaining in the first stanza. Freshman guard
Kevin Gray scored seven points during the spurt, hitting one trey. Mountain State cut the lead back to seven with 4:11 remaining, however the Eagles built a 13 point lead to close out the half.
"Obviously that team is ranked number two in the country for a reason," MSU coach Donnie Tyndall said. "They are very, very talented with three Big East Conference transfers and a Conference USA transfer and a great coach in Bob Bolen, who in my opinion is the best coach in NAIA basketball. I was proud of how hard our kids competed against a very good basketball team."
The Eagles shot 41 percent from the floor in the first period and hit 39 percent of their three-point attempts (5-13). Harper led the Eagles at the break with 12 points. The Eagles scored 14 points, off of Mountain State’s 15 first-half turnovers.
Following the halftime break the Eagles blew the lead wide open, leading by as much as 30 points with 12:42 remaining. Faried led the titanic run with nine points, slamming home two crowd-wowing alley-oops.
For the second straight game five Eagle starters finished in double figures. Aside from Faried’s 25, the list that also included
Ty Proffitt (10 points),
Terrance Hill (13 points), Goodman (14 points), and Harper (18 points). For the Eagle newcomers, Gray finished with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Morehead State shot 46 percent as a team for the game, shooting 40 percent or better in both halves. The Eagle defense forced 26 Cougar turnovers that led to 30 Eagle points.
Jamar Board scored 35 points on 7-of-12 shooting from behind the arc to lead the Cougars. Mountain State has a 3-0 regular season record early in the NAIA season.
