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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Morehead State did not begin its OVC road trip the way the Eagles would have liked to Sunday. MSU dropped a 70-64 overtime contest at Tennessee State as the Eagles could not hold on after opening the game leading 12-1.
MSU dropped its second straight game to fall to 6-5 while dipping to 2-1 in the OVC. TSU improved to 5-6 and 2-1 in the OVC.
MSU turned the ball over 22 times and shot only 6-of-15 from the line. TSU doubled up the Eagles in points off turnovers 26-13. TSU also helped its winning cause by shooting 62 percent in the second half. Kenneth Faried recorded his ninth double-double of the year and 65th of his career with 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Demonte Harper netted 19 points, while Terrance Hill scored 12.
TSU got a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds by Kenny Moore. Jaquan Nobles scored 14, while Wil Peters reached double digits as well with 10.
The Eagles shot 37 percent overall (24-of-65) and were 10-of-30 from three-point range. The Eagles outrebounded TSU 46-30, including 22 offensive boards.
The Eagles built a 30-23 halftime lead, but out of the locker room in the second half, the Tigers immediately made a run scoring the first seven to knot the contest at 30 with 16:54 remaining. A Hill trey halted the TSU rally.
A jumper by Ty Proffitt set the Eagle lead at 35-32 at the 14:17 mark, but the Tigers mounted a 10-0 run, capped by a triple from Nobles as they raced out a 42-35 lead with 11:31 left. MSU was able to trim the deficit to 45-42 after Faried’s lay-in at the 10:13 mark, but the Tigers got a dunk and jumper from Robert Covington as they pushed back out a 46-39 advantage with 9:21 left.
From that point though, the Eagles’ found their groove from distance as the put together a 12-2 run to re-take the lead after Harper’s long distance swish with 5:30 left. Hill drilled a triple to tie the game at 48-48, and then Harper knocked one down from the top of the key to give the Eagles a 51-48 advantage with a little more than five minutes left on the game clock.
The Tigers cut the game back to 54-53 with just more than minute left, but Hill knocked down another three-pointer, this one from the corner, to give MSU back a four-point lead, 57-53. However, the Tigers got two good free throws by Peters on an away-from-the-basket foul by MSU and a 15-foot jumper by him to tie the game again at 57-57 with 50 seconds left.
Hill got a look from the deep in the left corner pocket with 15 ticks left but missed. TSU then appeared to lose the ball before getting a shot off, but the Tigers called a timeout with 1.8 seconds left after a loose ball somehow managed to keep possession. Nobles launched an off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer. That hit the back of the rim but fell off to set-up overtime.
In overtime, the Eagles turned the ball over three times in the first minute. Nobles struck first with a three-pointer, but Harper answered at the 3:18 mark to tie it again at 60. Faried laid in a bucket with 2:37 left as MSU went back ahead. With the game tied at 62, Moore drilled a long triple to give the Tigers back the 65-62 advantage. Moore then hit one of two free throws as TSU led 66-62. Drew Kelly hit a pair of charity tosses to bring the Eagles to within two, at 66-64, but the Eagles could not generate another basket and TSU iced the game at the free throw line.
The Eagles will travel up the road to Clarksville, Tenn., on Tuesday to face Austin Peay at 8:30 p.m. EST.
