Collins leads late rally, as Eagles down NKU, 64-56

Box Score

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Senior guard Corban Collins led the way with 22 points as Morehead State downed Northern Kentucky on the road, 64-56. The Eagles outscored the Norse, 11-2, in the final six minutes to seal the victory.

The win moves MSU's record to 2-1 and gives them a big non-conference road win.

"We grinded out a big win, but you have to give credit to Northern Kentucky, they are a tough out, especially at home, and I thought our guys did what we needed to do to get a big win on the road," said head coach Sean Woods.

For the first 34 minutes, the Eagles trailed most of the way, as they struggled to put the ball in the basket, shooting just 35 percent on the night. But, Collins kept them close throughout and then he led MSU in their late rally.

NKU's Lavone Holland's layup with 6:19 to go, put the Norse up, 54-53. But, one minute later, junior guard Xavier Moon delivered a jumper at the top of the key, giving the Eagles a 55-54 lead that they would not relinquish. The Norse managed just two points the rest of the way.

"In the final minutes of the game, we became more solid defensively, we got stops and we limited them to one rebound," said Woods. "And we started to score on the other end through execution. We started running our offense all the way down until we got good shots and I thought Corban (Collins) was the catalyst tonight."

Collins finished the game with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting. He was 4-of-9 from three-point range and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. A game after missing the final seven minutes after fouling out in the loss to ISU, he played all 40 minutes. 

A big reason why the Eagles were able to pull away late.

"In the last game, I felt like we lost it late because we did not have our point guard. Tonight, we had our point guard down the stretch and that's a big reason why we got the result we wanted," said Woods.

Moon was second on the team in scoring with 11 points and has now scored in double figures in his last two games. Senior forward Anthony Elechi also had a big game for the Eagles as he recorded nine points and a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Miguel Dicent added nine points and senior guard Brent Arrington had eight points and six rebounds.

Morehead State returns home next week for two games at Johnson Arena. They host Marshall on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. and then Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.