Eagles gritty, but fall in tight one at Davidson, 81-77

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DAVIDSON, N.C. - After leading the majority of the way, the Morehead State men's basketball team came up just short at Davidson on Wednesday afternoon, 81-77.

With the loss, the Eagles move to 6-4 on the season, while the Wildcats move to 8-2.

"I thought our guys fought and we just made a few key mistakes down the stretch," said head coach Sean Woods. "But, I tip my hat off to my team, because they kept fighting. This is a hostile place to play and everyone knows that you don't just come in here and run away with a win. We just didn't finish and it's unfortunate, but I'm proud of our guys. We didn't finish with the win, but we showed a lot of character and a lot of grit."

Morehead State opened the game on a 10-0 run and extended the lead to 13-2 on senior guard Brent Arrington's second early three-pointer. But, Davidson mounted a 12-0 run of their own to regain the lead at 16-15. That would be the Wildcats' lone lead of the first half as sophomore guard Miguel Dicent and junior guard Xavier Moon answered with back-to-back threes to give the Eagles the lead back at 21-16.

MSU went into the locker room at half with a 37-34 lead. They shot 9-of-13 from three-point range in the half, while limiting Davidson to 2-of-10 shooting from deep. Arrington, Dicent, Moon and junior Corban Collins all had two three-pointers in the first half.

In the second half, the Eagles extended the lead to 53-45 as Arrington had six quick points after sitting out much of the first half with two fouls.

After both teams traded punches, Davidson took their first lead of the second half at 65-63 with 6:17 to go in the game on sophomore forward Peyton Aldridge's layup.

Trailing 71-67, Arrington missed a three-pointer from the wing and was then called for his fourth foul on the other end. Following the foul call, Head Coach Sean Woods was called for a technical foul, which sent Gibbs to the line for two. After making one of two, the Wildcats got the offensive rebound and sophomore guard Jordan Watkins knocked down his first and only three of the game, extending the Davidson lead to 75-67 with 3:02 to go

But, the Eagles responded with back-to-back layups by Dicent and senior forward Anthony Elechi to quickly trim the Wildcats' lead to 75-71 with 2:20 to go.

Following a scrum under the Davidson basket, with the score at 77-73, Wildcats' sophomore forward Nathan Ekwu was called for a technical foul, sending Collins to the line for two. But, Collins missed both and Elechi followed by making just one of two from the free throw line.

Gibbs then responded on the other end by knocking down his sixth three of the game, extending the Davidson lead to 80-74 with 36 seconds remaining.

After the Eagles' hot first half from three-point range, they managed to shoot just 2-of-10 in the second half. Davidson also flipped the script, shooting 8-of-11 from three-point range in the second half after struggling in the first. The Wildcats shot 16-of-22 overall in the second half.

All five starters scored in double figures for the Eagles. Dicent led the way with 16 points, shooting 4-of-7 from three-point range, while senior guard Brent Arrington had his most active game of the year, scoring 15 points and recording four steals. Junior forward DeJuan Marrero recorded his second straight double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds and was 6-of-10 from the line. Collins finished with 12 points and five assists, while Elechi had 11 points, on perfect 4-of-4 shooting.

Gibbs was the story for Davidson the entire game as he came up with big buckets every time the Wildcats needed them. He tied his career-high with 41 points, while knocking down 6-of-8 from three-point range. He also finished with 10 turnovers. 

Morehead State turned the Wildcats over 16 times and finished with 22 points off of turnovers. The rebounding numbers were even at 31 apiece, but the Eagles recorded 13 offensive rebounds and had 16 second chance points, while limiting Davidson to just six offensive boards.

After a short Christmas break, the Eagles return to action on Monday night at Johnson Arena against Green Bay. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.