BOX SCORE
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Senior guard Drew Thelwell scored a career-high 26 points and graduate forward Riley Minix added 19 more, combining to score 45 of Morehead State's 74 total points as the Eagle Men's Basketball took down the Mercer Bears 74-66 at home Tuesday.
Minix also added seven rebounds and four blocks and was 12-of-12 at the free throw line, and graduate forward Dieonte Miles added eight points and a career-best nine rebounds.
Morehead State out-rebounded Mercer 34-20 in Tuesday's game, paced by Miles' boards.
MSU also did a great job disrupting Mercer shots in the contest, coming away with six blocks. The Eagles won despite turning the ball over 26 times.
"We just have to do a better job at valuing the basketball," said head coach Preston Spradlin."The positive thing is that we did win and those things are very fixable. But had we had only 10 turnovers tonight, obviously the score would have been inflated and we wouldn't have had a lesson to learn. We just really have to hammer home the urgency for the appreciation of what led to those turnovers and correct it in a hurry."
How It Happened
After falling behind 8-4, Morehead State went on a 7-0 run with 16:52 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Jordan Lathon, to take an 11-8 lead. The Eagles then added five points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 38-30 advantage. Morehead State got a great contribution from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 11 of its 38 total points.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by Thelwell's three, to grow the lead to 49-40 with 15:03 to go in the contest. MSU's largest lead (12) came with 4:44 remaining. The Bears narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over and capitalized on Eagle mistakes, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 74-66 win. Morehead State made the most of seven offensive rebounds to tack on nine second-chance points out of 36 total in the period.
Game Notes
» The Eagles finished a season-best 22-of-25 at the charity stripe.
» The Eagles shot well from three point range, knocking down eight of 20 long range attempts.
» Morehead State never trailed in the second half on its way to victory.
» Thelwell and Minix carried the load for the Eagles, accounting for 61 percent of their points.
» The Morehead State defense forced 15 turnovers.
» The Eagles were active in affecting shots on the defensive end, tallying six blocks as a team.
Up Next
MSU travels to Big 10 foe Penn State on Friday for a 7 p.m. ET game.
