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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Sophomore Drew Kelly tallied a career-best 26 points and the Morehead State men’s basketball team drilled 10-of-12 at the free-throw line after halftime to post a 57-54 win over rival Eastern Kentucky before a crowd of 3,783 on Saturday night at Johnson Arena.
“This was another great game between Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky,” MSU Head Coach Donnie Tyndall said. “I certainly feel like this is one of the great rivalries in college basketball. Every time these two teams play, it’s a battle. Both teams played extremely hard again tonight.”
The Eagles improve to 9-10 on the season and 3-3 in Ohio Valley Conference action, while the Colonels fall to 10-9 overall and 4-3 in league play.
MSU also improves to 57-9 (.864) in home games over the past five years. The schools, which are just 90 minutes apart, will square off again on Feb. 11 in Richmond.
“I have a lot of respect for (EKU Head Coach) Jeff (Neubauer) and his program,” Tyndall said. “They’re a very hard team to play against because they always control the tempo. You’re not going to speed them up, and you’re not going to force them into things they don’t want to do.”
Kelly topped his previous career best of 21 points by drilling 7-of-12 from the field and 12-of-16 from the free-throw line. The foul-line numbers were both the most by an MSU player this season.
Kelly also pulled down six rebounds and came up with a team-best four steals in 31 minutes.
Freshman Angelo Warner added 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in 32 minutes. The point and rebound totals were the most for him in a Division I game this year.
“I’m very proud of the way Drew (Kelly) and Angelo (Warner) played tonight,” Tyndall said. “Drew was terrific offensively and Angelo showed why he’s one of the top freshmen in our league.”
Morehead State recorded advantages of 24-6 in the paint, 15-2 in second-chance points and 34-20 in the rebounding department. The Eagles are now +65 on the glass over their last 12 games and have only been out-rebounded twice during that stretch.
Morehead State shot 45 percent (19-of-42) from the floor and 76 percent (16-of-21) from the charity stripe, while limiting Eastern Kentucky to a 31-percent clip (13-of-42) from the field.
“I thought we did a great job defensively tonight,” Tyndall said. “We were there on the catch and we made Eastern Kentucky take some tough, contested shots.”
The affair featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes.
The 11th tie came at the 4:09 mark of the second half. Morehead State immediately went on a 7-0 run -- on a pair of buckets by Warner and two free throws by Kelly -- but the Colonels responded with an 8-0 spurt to knot the contest at 54 with 45 seconds to play.
Kelly and Warner combined on three more free throws in the final minute, while the Eagles held EKU to a pair of missed shots.
Senior Ty Proffitt added eight points and seven boards for Morehead State.
Senior Jaron Jones led Eastern Kentucky with 15 points and six rebounds, while junior D’Mitri Riggs (13) and junior Mike DiNunno (12) also registered double figures in the scoring column.
Morehead State continues its three-game homestand on Wednesday when Murray State visits Johnson Arena at 7 p.m. ET. The Racers (18-0 overall, 6-0 OVC) are one of just three undefeated teams left at the Division I level.
Murray State, which is currently #14 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and #15 in the Associated Press poll, is the league’s first nationally-ranked team since the 1997-98 season.
The Racers will also be the first nationally-ranked men’s basketball team to ever play at Johnson Arena, which opened on Dec. 3, 1981. The last top 25 team to play in Morehead was #9 Western Kentucky on Feb. 20, 1971.
