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COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—Morehead State men’s basketball turned a close game at halftime into a runaway Ohio Valley Conference victory Saturday night at Tennessee Tech. The Eagles shot 61 percent and outscored Tech by 13 in the final half to win 76-60 at Eblen Center.
The win catapulted MSU (17-8; 9-4 OVC) into a tie for second place in the OVC standings with Austin Peay, which lost to Murray State Saturday. It also marked the Eagles fifth consecutive win. Tech dipped to 12-10 and 8-5 in the league.
Redshirt freshman Drew Kelly lifted the Eagles to the win by scoring a career-high 21 points in 28 minutes on the floor. Terrance Hill chipped in with 17, while Demonte Harper had 10. Kenneth Faried scored 11 points and grabbed seven boards. Harper tied his season high with eight assists. Lamont Austin tied his career high in points, which was also established against Tech, with seven.
Tech was led by Kevin Murphy as the lone Golden Eagle in double figures with 13. No TTU player had more than six individual rebounds but as a whole, the hosts out-rebounded MSU 45-49.
The Eagles held Tech to 37 percent from the floor in the opening half, but led just 30-27. TTU out-rebounded MSU by two and turned it into an 8-1 advantage in second chance points, but the Eagles hit only 31 percent of their shots from the field.
MSU trailed 11-8 with 13:34 left in the first half but went on a 10-2 run, capped by a wide-open dunk from Faried, to lead 18-13 at the 7:57 mark. MSU possessed a 24-16 lead following a Kelly lay-in at 4:32, but Tech opened up a 9-2 run to creep back to within 26-25. MSU did force 10 Golden Eagles turnovers in the first half and had an 11-2 lead in points via mistakes.
In the second half, MSU led 53-46 with 9:56 left following Murphy’s free throw for Tech, but then the 10-0 run reeled off by the visiting Eagles sent them to a 17-point lead (63-46), capped by a Faried layup at 6:27. The Eagles went on to lead by as many as 20 late in the game.
The Eagles concluded with a 26-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
Morehead State returns home for its final two homes regular season games. The Eagles host Eastern Illinois Thursday at 7:45 p.m. That game will be Crazy Pants Party Night at Johnson Arena.
