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MOREHEAD, Ky.—Morehead State men’s basketball survived a scare from St. Catharine, winning 77-64 in a non-conference game Tuesday night at Johnson Arena.
The Patriots (5-3) fought back from a 13-point second-half deficit to pull within four on two occasions late in the second half. The NAIA school from Springfield, Ky. kept the margin under 10 until the 4:42 mark when a layup by
Sam Goodman, who had a career-high 18 points, put the Eagles up by double digits, where they would stay for most of the rest of the game.
MSU has started the year 6-3, the best start after nine games since the 1990-91 season when current Eagle bench boss and Morehead State alum
Donnie Tyndall was a sophomore. The Eagles also won at home for the 19th consecutive time, which ranks sixth in the nation.
“We have a nice team. We felt like we could be 6-3, possibly 7-2 with the schedule we have,” Tyndall said. “We have a high ceiling for this team. Like I’ve said all year, I think once we get into mid January to late January we’ll be playing our best basketball at that time.”
St. Catharine used a 9-1 run midway through the second half to erase a then 12-point MSU lead and pull within four on a pair of free throws by Josh Peery. Morehead State’s
Kenneth Faried, who had a 20-point, 14-rebound double-double, scored three on a free throw and a layup to push the margin to seven, but Brandon Johnson sunk a triple to pull SCC back within four.
“You’ve got to credit St. Catharine,” Tyndall said. “I thought they played extremely hard. They played with a physicality and toughness that our team didn’t match.”
Goodman then came through in the clutch, scoring seven points in a 9-1 Morehead State run that pushed the lead back to double digits. A late layup by Josh Edwards got the Patriots back within nine, but they did not score again and the Eagles closed out the win by making four straight free throws.
Demonte Harper led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-15 from the field, his third 20-plus scoring game in the last four outings. He also had three assists, as did
Lamont Austin. Austin also collected four steals. Goodman was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field and Faried’s double-double was the 65th of his career.
The first half played out in similar fashion to the second, with the Eagles taking a seven-point lead on a layup by Faried, only to see that lead evaporate. St. Catharine chipped away at the MSU advantage until Justin Morris tied it at 26 on a jumper with 3:40 left in the half.
The Eagles shot a blistering 61.7 percent from the field and outrebounded St. Catharine 35-20. MSU collected 48 points in the paint and 22 points off of 18 SCC turnovers.
Tyndall’s first head coaching job was at St. Catharine. He led the team to a school-record 30-5 mark and to the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament for the first time in school history.
“I have a lot of friends and fond memories of my time at St. Catharine,” Tyndall said. “[SCC coach] J.T. Burton played for me, was a guard on that team, he’s doing and outstanding job. It’s neat to see one of your own doing so well in the business.”
Marquis Lee scored 18 points and Johnson finished with 13 to lead the Patriots. Edwards dished out a game-high five assists. Johnson, who played high school ball with former MSU standout
Maze Stallworth, also had three assists, four steals and a team-high five rebounds. Stallworth is currently a graduate manager on Tyndall’s staff.
Morehead State will travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa to face Northern Iowa, ranked 16th in the Mid-Major Top 25, Saturday. Game time is set for 8 p.m. Eastern.
