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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State men's basketball team opened its 2013-14 season with a 13-0 run en route to a 107-60 victory over Mid-Continent (Ky.) on Saturday evening at Johnson Arena.
"It's always great to start the season with a win," Head Coach Sean Woods said. "We were able to play a lot of guys tonight, and I was able to see what I needed to out of our newcomers."
Senior Bakari Turner led six Morehead State players in double figures with 17 points. Junior Angelo Warner and senior Chad Posthumus added 15 points apiece, while freshman Greg Dotson had 13 and juniors Billy Reader and Luka Pajkovic both contributed 10.
"We have good depth on this team, and we have several guys who can score," Woods said. "We certainly hope that pace continues when we begin playing Division I opponents this week."
The Eagles surged to a 54-21 halftime lead and held their largest advantage of 52 with 5:47 left in the game.
Morehead State recorded the upper hand in nearly every statistical category, including rebounds (53-28), paint points (70-22), assists (29-13) and bench points (57-16). The Eagles also forced 27 Cougars turnovers, which resulted in 40 points. MSU collected 27 offensive rebounds, while holding MCU to eight.
Posthumus paced the Eagles with eight rebounds, while junior Kareem Storey collected seven boards. Storey also led MSU with 15 assists, which finished just one shy of the school's single-game record. Sophomore Brent Arrington also handed out six helpers.
"Kareem, Angelo and Brent played well tonight," Woods said. "Our backcourt is one of our strengths, and those guys will help make this team go. Our team likes each other and trusts each other. You have to be pleased with 29 assists and just 10 turnovers."
Ten different Morehead State players scored, with the Eagle reserves collecting more than half of the team's total. The Eagles knocked down 50 percent (43-of-86) from the field, while Mid-Continent finished at 40 percent (21-of-52).
Junior Joe Gilmore managed 19 points and five steals for the Cougars. Senior Reggie Elkins chipped in 11 points.
The result was Morehead State's second straight 100-point effort after a 107-85 victory over St. Catharine (Ky.) in this year's lone exhibition contest.
Mid-Continent, which competes at the NAIA level, is still winless in four games this season. Morehead State, which also topped the Cougars in 2011, improves to 2-0 in the all-time series.
The Eagles return to action on Tuesday when they travel to East Tennessee State. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
"We are going to find out where we are as a basketball team on Tuesday night," Woods added. "ETSU is a good program, and they will be a very good early-season test for us."
