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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The Morehead State men’s basketball team used a 45-23 rebounding advantage to post a 75-59 win over Southeast Missouri on Thursday evening at the Show Me Center.
The Eagles, who snap an eight-game road skid, improve to 9-10 overall and 3-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Redhawks, who drop their fourth straight contest, fall to 10-10 on the season and 2-4 in league play. MSU has also won nine of the last 10 in the head-to-head series.
“I thought we really executed down the stretch tonight,” Head Coach Sean Woods said. “We took better care of the basketball and really dominated the glass. Those were the two keys for us.”
Junior Drew Kelly led four Morehead State players in double figures with 15 points, while sophomore Angelo Warner contributed 12, junior Bruce Reed added 10 and junior Bakari Turner tossed in 10.
Kelly’s double-figure performance was his sixth straight and 30th in two-plus years at Morehead State. Turner now has three consecutive double-figure efforts and 40 points during that stretch.
“Drew (Kelly) is just being Drew,” Woods said. “He brings us a lot of toughness and intelligence to the court. He’s really starting to come around for us -- and we need his production for us to win.”
Junior Chad Posthumus led the Eagles with 13 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end, in 25 minutes, while senior Devon Atkinson handed out six assists with just one turnover in 31 minutes.
In addition to its largest rebounding margin this year against a Division I opponent, MSU recorded an 18-4 edge on the offensive glass. The differential led to a 10-3 advantage in second-chance points.
“We played with a sense of urgency in the rebounding department,” Woods said. “Chad (Posthumus) was aggressive on the glass and Bruce (Reed) gave us some terrific minutes off the bench.”
Morehead State shot 41 percent (22-of-54) overall, 33 percent (6-of-18) from three-point range and 74 percent (25-of-34) from the free-throw line. The Eagles collected 13 assists and six steals.
Southeast Missouri shot 46 percent (22-of-48) overall, 19 percent (3-of-16) from long range and 57 percent (12-of-21) from the charity stripe. The Redhawks recorded 10 helpers and eight thefts.
Sophomore Nino Johnson paced three SEMO players in double figures with 13 points on 5-of-5 from the floor. Junior Tyler Stone added 11, while junior Lucas Nutt contributed 12 points and five assists.
The affair featured 13 ties and four lead changes. Neither team led by more than four points in the first period, but Morehead State finished on a 31-15 run over the final 11:44 of the tilt to pull away.
Morehead State wraps up its four-game OVC road trip on Saturday with a 7 p.m. ET contest at UT Martin. Live stats, audio and video links will be available via MSUEagles.com.
“Saturday’s game is very big for us,” Woods added. “We really need to sweep this OVC road weekend with Belmont and Tennessee State just around the corner in league play.”
