BOX SCORE
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Eagles fought through adversity in a hard fought effort, but dropped their OVC opener against Eastern Illinois Wednesday, 91-64
Morehead State was without their head coach,
Cayla Petree, who missed the contest due to illness, and only had eight uniformed players, but still battled against EIU's full court press defense and barrage of three pointers for the majority of the game.
The Eagles received strong efforts from a trio of scorers, as they were led by graduate student
Terri Smith, who poured in 18 points, sophomore
Jada Claude who scored 16 and pulled down five rebounds, and graduate student
Tyler Moore, who connected on four three-pointers.
The Eagles used tough defense in the early phases of the game to frustrate Eastern Illinois, and a three pointer from
Tyler Moore knotted the game at 7-7 midway through the first, but a 9-2 run from the Panthers gave them a 16-9 lead at the end of the quarter.
Eastern Illinois pushed their lead out to 24-12 before the Eagles responded with 10 straight points, including five in a row from
Freddy Adams, but still went into the locker room behind 38-31, thanks to a buzzer beating three pointer from the Panthers.
Hot shooting from the Panthers in the second half finally spelled the end for the shorthanded Eagles, as Eastern Illinois outscored Morehead State 31-18 in the third quarter to put the game away.
Morehead State is back in action at Johnson Arena on New Year's Day, as they continue their OVC schedule when they take on Tennessee State. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 2:00 PM ET.
