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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Junior Marsell Holden scored a career-high 20 points on 6-of-10 from beyond the arc and the Morehead State men’s basketball team rolled to an 83-57 victory over NAIA opponent Mid-Continent (Ky.) on Sunday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
The meeting was the first ever in regular-season play between the two schools. The Eagles improve to 4-5 on the season and 2-0 at home, while the Cougars fall to 1-10 overall.
Holden tallied nine points during the first half, then added 11 more after intermission. It was his second straight career high after posting 10 points on Thursday at Kent State.
“Marsell has spent extra time in the gym and practiced well over the past few weeks,” said Head Coach Donnie Tyndall, who notched his 100th victory at Morehead State. “Marsell has always been known for making shots. That’s one of the reasons we recruited him. It was good to see him get in a rhythm today.”
Holden led four Eagles in double figures. Freshman Angelo Warner tallied 14 points and a team-best nine rebounds, while senior Ty Proffitt and junior Milton Chavis contributed 13 points apiece.
“Angelo is a tough and physical player,” Tyndall said. “He does a real nice job of rebounding for a wing player who stands just 6-foot-3. Angelo also did some nice things off the dribble today. The penetration allowed him to make some shots and get to the foul line.”
Senior Terrance Hill added a team-high five assists as MSU recorded 18 helpers on 25 field goals.
Morehead State, which drilled 41 percent (25-of-61) from the field, was +14 in rebounding (44-30) and +9 in turnovers (25-16). The Eagles also registered advantages of 47-21 off the bench, 30-13 in points off turnovers and 20-12 in second-chance points.
The game went back and forth until MSU posted a 16-3 run over the final 3:29 of the first half. The Eagles made five straight shots during the spurt to take a 10-point lead into the locker room.
“We started letting the game come to us those last four minutes of the first half and that carried over to the second half,” Tyndall said. “We turned the ball over and missed some easy shots around the rim at the beginning of the game. I guess that made some of our players tight.”
Sophomore Maurice Bynum paced Mid-Continent with 15 points, while senior Steve McBorrough pulled down a team-best six rebounds for the Cougars.
Morehead State was playing in its first home game since Nov. 17. The Eagles recently finished up a season-opening stretch of seven road games in 19 days.
MSU continues its three-game homestand on Wednesday when Missouri Valley Conference foe Illinois State visits at 7 p.m. ET.
“I looked at the computer rankings the other day and saw our non-conference schedule was the 12th-strongest in America,” Tyndall added. “We certainly hope and expect to win every game we play, but our schedule has been pretty brutal to this point in the season.
“All three games during this homestand are huge for us. We need to play well against Illinois State and South Dakota. Both are good Division I programs and we need our fans to be behind us at Johnson Arena.”
