Late comeback by Eagles comes up short at TSU, 77-76

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NASHVILLE, Tenn.— In a battle of two of the more physical teams in the OVC, Morehead State men's basketball team lost to Tennessee State 77-76 on Saturday night at the Gentry Center.
 
The Eagles fall to 12-11 on the season and 6-5 in conference play. TSU moved their record to 17-7 overall and 8-3 in league play.
 
"They (TSU) came ready to play, hitting big shots, and we didn't hit our shots," said head coach Sean Woods. "When you have 17 turnovers on the road, you're going to struggle against a team like this, especially when they're shooting like they did tonight. I'm disappointed but our team did show some resiliency, fighting back to make this one close at the end."
 
Morehead State trailed by as much as 12 in the second half but stayed within striking distance for the majority of the evening. A furious comeback was mounted in the latter moments of the game. Trailing 70-60 with just 2:04 to play, the Eagles finished the game on a 16-7 run, with Xavier Moon hitting three three-point baskets in the final 29 seconds.
 
The Eagles pulled within two at 75-73 with five seconds remaining, before Tahjere McCall was fouled on the inbound play. He made both free throws to seal the victory. McCall finished with a game-high 23 points, hitting 15-of-16 from the free throw line.

Prior to the late rally, MSU was shooting just 3-of-18 from the three point line. They hit their last four to finish 7-of-22 from deep.
 
Junior guard Xavier Moon had a team-high 20 points and collected six rebounds. Senior guard Brent Arrington finished with 14 points and went 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. Junior guard Corban Collins added 12 points, while the point guard only turned the ball over twice against the stifling pressure defense of the Tigers. Junior forward Dejuan Marrero collected his team-leading fifth double-double of the year, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
 
The Eagles outrebounded the Tigers 33-to-31, swiping 14 offensive rebounds to TSU's eight. In 23 games, Morehead State has collected double-digit offensive rebounds in 20 of those contests.
 
Morehead State welcomes Eastern Kentucky to Johnson Arena on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET in another battle of the two east Kentucky rivals.