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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Senior Ty Proffitt tallied a season-high 20 points and the Morehead State men’s basketball team finished the contest on an 18-4 run to post a 56-50 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles improve to 12-11 overall and 5-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference with their fourth victory in the past five games, while the Golden Eagles slip to 13-9 on the season and 5-4 in league play. MSU also improves to 38-4 in OVC home games over the past five years.
Proffitt canned 6-of-10 from the field, 4-of-7 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free-throw stripe. He also pulled down five rebounds and only committed one turnover in 32 minutes.
“Ty (Proffitt) is a very efficient player,” Morehead State Head Coach Donnie Tyndall said. “He doesn’t require a lot of shots, can knock down threes and gets to the foul line for us.
“Ty is a terrific leader -- both on and off the floor. He can play four different positions for us and has been a big part of the success we’ve had this season.”
Junior Jud Dillard gave Tennessee Tech a 46-38 advantage with a jumper at the 6:38 mark of the second half, but Morehead State answered by making four three-pointers in a span of three minutes.
Junior Marsell Holden got the long distance party started with 4:45 remaining to cut the deficit to three. Sophomore Drew Kelly then drilled a three ball in between a pair of trifectas from Proffitt.
Proffitt and Kelly each made two free throws in the last 23 seconds to help MSU close the affair on a 10-0 spurt and preserve the season-series split with TTU.
“We made some shots down the stretch, and I thought that gave our defense some energy,” Tyndall said. “Marsell (Holden), Ty (Proffitt) and Drew (Kelly) all hit crucial threes and that helped us at the other end. We got some steals, made some stops and were able to hang on for a big win.”
Kelly added 15 points -- his fifth straight double-figure scoring effort -- while freshman Angelo Warner collected team highs of six rebounds and four assists.
Murphy, two days after pouring in 34 points at Eastern Kentucky, registered 18 points in addition to game highs of 10 rebounds and five assists. Dillard added 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting for TTU.
Morehead State connected on 39 percent (7-of-18) from beyond the arc, while Tennessee Tech was limited to 18 percent (3-of-17). The Golden Eagles entered the day at 73 percent from the charity stripe, but converted on just 7-of-17 vs. MSU.
Morehead State continues Ohio Valley Conference action on Thursday when it travels to SIU Edwardsville for an 8 p.m. ET contest. The Eagles then travel to Eastern Illinois next Saturday to complete the two-game conference road swing.
“I have a great deal of respect for the head coaches at both SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois,” Tyndall added. “I’m expecting next weekend to be a couple of grind-it-out games in tough road environments. I hope we can play as well on the road as we played down the stretch today.”
