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RICHMOND, Ky.— Morehead State men's basketball rallied from eight points down in the second half to send the game to overtime and then outmanned host Eastern Kentucky in the extra period to record a 76-68 Ohio Valley Conference win at McBrayer Arena Wednesday night.
The win guarantees at least one bye in the OVC Tournament for MSU and runs the men's winning streak to eight games. MSU also reached the 20-win mark for the third straight season for the first time in school history. The Eagles also moved into a tie for first place in the OVC standings thanks to an upset of Murray State by Southeast Missouri.
MSU's senior trio paved the path to victory, scoring all of the Morehead State field goals in overtime. Kenneth Faried led the Eagle scorers with 23 points and grabbed 15 boards, his 22nd double-double and 79th of his career. Demonte Harper also had a double-double with 21 points, 19 of which came after the first half, and a career-high 11 rebounds for his second double-double this year and third of his career. Harper scored the game-tying layup that sent the game to overtime, the second time this season he's had a buzzer-beating shot.
Faried's 15 boards leaves him just six shy of tying Tim Duncan's 1,570 rebounds and NCAA career record for players whose careers began after 1973. He also recorded five blocks Wednesday night.
Sam Goodman tallied 13 points, and Ty Proffitt rounded out four Eagles in double figures with 11. Lamont Austin had a game-high five assists and Harper and Proffitt each had four.
The Eagles dominated the glass, outrebounding EKU 42-22. That included pulling down more offensive boards than the Colonels had defensive (16-14). The result was 18 second-chance points for Morehead State.
MSU trailed 52-44 with 9:36 left in regulation, but scored six straight to make the game close again. The Eagles again found themselves down by five, 62-57, with 2:06 left, but a key Harper trey cut it to two. That score held until the waning seconds when Harper drove to the goal and put it in while getting fouled with two ticks left on the clock. He missed the potential game-winning free throw, but the Eagles already had the momentum they needed.
The teams traded buckets first in the first minute of overtime, but MSU got a defensive stop after a score and ran the advantage to 68-64 on a Goodman jumper. Spencer Perrin hit a shot at 2:18 to close to within two at 68-66, but EKU didn't score again until less than 30 seconds left. Faried and Harper each scored a bucket and Proffitt and Austin were true on late free throws to secure the win.
The Colonels’ were led by Joshua Jones with 24 points and five buckets from behind the arc. Jones also had a team-high four assists. Josh Daniel finished with 13 points and Justin Stommes scored 12. Perrin scored 11. Stommes and Jeff Johnson each had four rebounds to pace the Colonels.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair for the Eagles as Eastern Kentucky took an early 8-2 lead into the first media timeout following back-to-back treys by Spencer Perrin and Josh Daniel. But MSU weathered the Colonels' three-point barrage with help from Faried. His two-handed dunk, just outside of the second media time out, breathed life into the Eagle offense. A last second tip-in by Goodman gave the Eagles a 28-27 halftime lead.
Morehead State steps out of conference play Saturday for the ESPNU Bracketbuster game at Indiana State. Tip-off for that game is 1:05 p.m. EST.
