Eagles mount second half rally, but fall at ETSU, 75-72

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MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State scored 51 second half points, but it wasn't enough to overcome an 18-point halftime deficit, as they fell at East Tennessee State, 75-72.

With the defeat, the Eagles have lost five of their last six games and their record moves to 6-6. ETSU also stands at 6-6.

"We struggled after the beginning of the first half and that put us in a major deficit, but I was just so proud of our guys because they just continued to fight," said head coach Sean Woods. "I told them in the locker room, look, you didn't quit. You had every reason to just give up and you didn't. We ended the game good and we need to ride that momentum into conference play."

Morehead State opened the game with a 9-4 run, shooting 4-of-6 early on. But, for the final 16 minutes of the first half, they managed to shoot just 4-of-22 from the floor, and ETSU opened a 39-21 lead at halftime.

The Eagles shot just 29 percent in the first half, while the Bucs shot 58 percent.

The second half began with MSU fighting to get back into the game as they mounted a 9-0 run to trim the lead to 42-30. Senior forward Anthony Elechi was the catalyst of the run as he scored seven of the Eagles' first 11 points.

But, ETSU answered with a 9-2 run of their own to extend the lead back to 51-32 and their largest lead of the second half was 22 points at 56-34 with 12:58 remaining.

With five minutes remaining, the Eagles' deficit was still 16, but they mounted an 8-0 run to trim the lead to 64-56 with 4:13 to go, led by junior guard Xavier Moon's quick six points. 

ETSU then extended the lead back to 11 at 69-58 with a minute to go.

Still the Eagles would not quit as they trimmed the lead back to four at 72-68 with 17 seconds remaining on Moon's third three-pointer of the game. ETSU then took ten seconds off of the clock while MSU attempted to foul and eventually made two free throws to move the lead to six with seven seconds to go.

Junior guard Corban Collins then hit a three at the buzzer to trim the final deficit to 75-72.   

Leading the way for MSU was Moon as he scored a career-high 20 points, hitting 3-of-5 from three point territory and 7-of-12 from the floor.

Junior forward DeJuan Marrero recorded his third double-double in four games, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds, five on the offensive end. Elechi scored in double digits for the third straight game, recording a season-high 15 points, while pulling down six boards.

ETSU was led by junior guard T.J. Cromer, who scored a game-high 25 points, shooting 10-of-12 from the line and 50 percent from the floor.

The Bucs outscored the Eagles, 26-10, from the free throw line, knocking down 26-of-36. MSU shot 10-of-19 from the stripe.

After shooting 29 percent in the first half and managing just 21 points, the Eagles shot 55 percent and scored 51 points in the second half. ETSU shot 59 percent in the first half and 35 percent in the second.
 
MSU now kicks off OVC play against Murray State on Saturday afternoon. They will play the first game of a doubleheader with tip-off set for 3 p.m. ET.