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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Senior Terrance Hill led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points and the Morehead State men’s basketball team used a 27-12 advantage off the bench to register a 68-64 victory over Austin Peay in a New Year’s Eve matinee at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles improve to 7-8 overall and 1-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while the OVC preseason favorite Governors slip to 3-12 on the season and 0-2 in league action.
Hill scored Morehead State’s first seven points as the home team raced out to a 14-5 lead at the 13:48 mark of the first half. He finished the contest 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, in addition to adding five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Junior Kahlil Owens tallied 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Eagles, while senior Ty Proffitt added 10 points, four boards and three assists.
Senior Lamont Austin chipped in with nine points and a game-high five assists for MSU, while sophomore Drew Kelly yanked down eight boards.
Morehead State held a comfortable lead throughout the first half until Austin Peay used a 9-2 spurt to make it 25-25 with 1:48 on the clock before intermission. The Eagles led 27-25 at halftime.
The contest went back and forth for most of the second half. The Governors went on a 9-1 run to take a 57-51 lead with 5:26 left, but MSU put together a 17-7 game-ending spurt to answer the call.
Morehead State knocked down 50 percent from the field in the second half (11-of-22) to finish at 42 percent for the game (21-of-50). The Eagles also made 78 percent from the free-throw line after intermission to wrap up the afternoon at 82 percent (18-of-22).
The Eagles tallied 34 rebounds and just 13 turnovers, while the Governors recorded 30 boards and 12 miscues. MSU has only been out-rebounded once in the past eight games after losing the battle of the boards in six of its first seven contests this season.
Senior Josh Terry drilled 12-of-14 from the charity stripe to finish with a game-high 24 points for Austin Peay, while classmate Melvin Baker added 17 points on 7-of-13 from the floor.
APSU was limited to 32 percent from the field (8-of-25) and 11 percent from beyond the arc (1-of-9) in the first half. The Governors closed out the game at 40 percent from the floor (21-of-52) and 17 percent from long range (2-of-12).
Saturday afternoon’s contest was televised by ESPNU. The Eagles will have at least three nationally-televised tilts this season.
Morehead State begins a three-game OVC road trip on Thursday at Jacksonville State. Tip-off from Pete Mathews Coliseum is set for 8 p.m. ET. The contest will be carried by OVCSports.TV and the Eagle Sports Radio Network.
