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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State men's basketball built a nine-point lead with less than fifteen minutes remaining but ultimately fell to Tennessee State 61-58 Thursday evening at Johnson Arena.
 
Morehead State gained its first lead since making the game's opening bucket when junior guard A.J. Hicks drilled at deep three-point shot to beat the halftime buzzer and lift the Eagles to a 29-28 halftime advantage.
 
The Eagles continued to build on their advantage in the opening stages of the final half, racing out to a nine-point advantage (41-32) with 14:48 remaining.
 
The Tigers then went on a 16-5 run of their own to pull the game back to even at 47 apiece with 6:33 to go.
 
The two teams went back-and-forth before Tennessee State grabbed the lead for good (56-54) with 1:03 remaining.
 
Junior Lamontray Harris fired up a half court heave to try to force overtime but the shot was just off target.
 
Harris led the Eagles in scoring with 13 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Morehead State did force 18 TSU turnovers and led 14-6 on points via turnovers.
 
The loss dropped the Eagles to 6-16 overall and 2-9 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Tennessee State moved to 11-11 overall and 6-5 in the OVC.
 
Morehead State continues its homestand this Saturday against OVC-leading Belmont. The Bruins enter the contest sporting an 18-6 overall and 10-1 conference record.  Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. ET.