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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Sophomore Drew Kelly tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds to power the Morehead State men’s basketball team to a 62-56 win over UT Martin on Saturday evening at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles improve to 10-11 overall and 4-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while the Skyhawks slip to 3-18 on the campaign and 0-8 in league play.
Morehead State also improves to 58-10 (.853) at Johnson Arena over the past five years and 37-4 (.902) in OVC home games during that same stretch.
“Give UT Martin credit,” Morehead State Head Coach Donnie Tyndall said. “They are a physical team and play very hard. I thought they pressured us in the first half, but we did a nice job of calming down in the second half. We slowed down, drove the basketball and got to the foul line more.
“The OVC is a great basketball league -- and tonight was a perfect example of that. There are a lot of great coaches and players in this conference who make every game difficult to win.”
Kelly’s third straight double-figure scoring effort led to his second career double-double. In six games this month, he is now averaging 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 56 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free-throw line.
Kelly was joined in double figures by junior Milton Chavis (13), freshman Angelo Warner (12) and junior Marsell Holden (11). Holden and senior Lamont Austin added five rebounds apiece, while Austin also dished out a team-best five assists.
“Drew (Kelly) is getting better and better as the season moves along,” Tyndall said. “I challenged Angelo (Warner) at halftime and he responded well in the second half. Milton (Chavis) and Marsell (Holden) were both good off the bench for us offensively tonight.”
Morehead State shot 45 percent (22-of-49), while limiting UT Martin to 38 percent (18-of-47). The Eagles connected on 77 percent (13-of-17) at the free-throw line, while the Skyhawks drilled 94 percent (17-of-18).
Sophomore Troy King led UT Martin with 15 points off the bench in just 21 minutes. He made 5-of-7 from the floor and all four of his free-throw attempts.
Morehead State led 26-23 at halftime. The Eagles opened the second period on a 17-6 run to build a 14-point cushion. The spurt featured two dunks by Kelly, one flush by Chavis, two field goals by Warner and six more points from the charity stripe.
“I thought our press began to wear on UT Martin in the second half,” Tyndall said. “We forced some turnovers and were able to play in the open floor.”
MSU pushed the advantage to 15 points at the 10:01 mark of the second half and UTM got no closer than six points, which ended up accounting for the final margin.
The Eagles posted a 34-24 rebounding advantage and are now +77 in that department over the past 14 affairs. MSU also recorded eight steals and limited itself to 12 turnovers.
Morehead State steps out of conference play on Tuesday when it travels to Norfolk State for a game at 7 p.m. ET. The Eagles return to Johnson Arena next Saturday when Tennessee Tech provides the opposition for a 3 p.m. tilt, which will be televised by ESPNU.
