Box Score
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CHARLESTON, Ill. – In a bizarre ending of a sensational ESPNU men’s basketball game between Eastern Illinois and Morehead State Thursday night, the Eagles lost in the final second 76-75 as they called a timeout they didn’t have and EIU hit a pair of technical free throws.
Maze Stallworth hit a three-pointer with 12.4 seconds left to give the Eagles a 75-74 lead. On EIU’s possession, MSU's Steve Peterson stole the ball, but as players went to the floor to control the steal, MSU called a timeout. Since the Eagles had used all five of their timeouts already, a technical foul was issued. Tyler Laser hit both free throws with a second remaining to seal the win.
MSU fell to 17-8 and 11-3 in the OVC while the Panthers improved to 13-11 and 7-7 in the league.
“It was very disappointing, but we've gotta live with that. I didn’t think we played defense well at all tonight, and we also missed some crucial free throws,” said coach Donnie Tyndall. “We didn’t get to the line enough and then we didn’t convert. I told our kids coming out of the last huddle we didn’t have any time outs left.”
Kenneth Faried led MSU with 19 points but had his string of nine straight double-doubles halted with seven rebounds. Stallworth scored 18, and Demonte Harper had 15. The Eagles shot 52 percent but were out-rebounded 25-22. Stallworth was 6-of-8 from three-point range.
“We executed perfectly and Maze knocked that shot in,” said Tyndall.
James Hollowell scored a career and game high 23 points to lead the Panthers. EIU was 21-of-22 at the free throw line, while MSU was just 9-of-16. Laser scored 16, and Jeremy Granger tallied 10. EIU shot 58 percent for the game.
Both teams came out firing on all cylinders from the field. In the first 10 minutes, EIU was 10-of-13 for 77 percent while the Eagles were hitting 67 percent. However, the tide changed after that.
From the 10:26 mark down to the 3:55 point, EIU was only able to hit two field goals. The Panthers stayed close though as they were 6-of-6 from the free throw line during that span. At the 3:55 mark, EIU still led 36-35. The teams were locked up at 40-40 at the break.
EIU ended the first half shooting 58 percent (14-of-24) while MSU hit 54 percent. The Eagles were just 6-of-13 from the free throw line though.
EIU opened the final half on a 13-2 run to build a 53-42 margin with 13:42 left in the game.
The Eagles were still behind 59-50 but a pair of three-pointers from Harper and Stallworth brought the Eagles back to within 59-56, their lowest deficit in the final half, with 7:45 left.
MSU finally tied the game at 62 on a Harper jumper in the lane. Seconds later, Harper gave his team its first second half lead, 65-64, with just more than five minutes left. After two EIU free throws made it 66-65, the Eagles got a rebound and putback by Steve Peterson.
On EIU’s next possession, Brandon Shingles came from behind to swipe the ball from Laser. He drove it into the lane and dished it to Les Simmons for the layup and the foul. Simmons completed the three-point play for a 70-66 MSU lead with 3:46 left.
The Panthers came back to tie the game at 70, and then Laser drilled a high-arching 20 foot jumper to give the hosts 72-70 lead. The Eagles came right back on their end. Off a Shingles miss in the lane, Harper got the put-back to go, and the game was knotted again at 72 with 51 seconds left.
EIU re-gained the lead with 30 seconds left as Laser drove to the basket and got his layup to roll around and sink.
The Eagles play at Southeast Missouri on Saturday at 8:45 p.m. EST.
