Morehead, Ky.-- A career scoring day by Kenny White Jr., couldn't overcome a cold finish for Morehead State, as the Eagles fell to NJIT 78-69 in Woodling Gymnasium in Cleveland, Ohio at the Cleveland State Thanksgiving Throwback Tournament.
White Jr., ended with a career-high 34 points, shooting 13-21 from the floor, including one of two from three-point range. He went 7-13 from the free throw line. The senior also led the Eagles with seven rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes.
Senior Kade Ruegsegger finished with a season-high 11 points, for Morehead State (2-4) all in the second half.
White Jr., carried the Eagles in the first half with 19 points on 6-10 shooting from the floor, including 1-2 from three-point range. He also hit six of seven from the free throw line. The Eagles had two scoring droughts in the half totaling 6:57 of game action. NJIT outscored MSU 15-0 during those two dry spells. For the half, MSU hit 37% from the floor, while NJIT shot for 38%. MSU led at the intermission 32-31.
Both teams revved up the offense in the second half. The teams traded leads, and NJIT went up 61-56 after a 7-0 run with 7:06 to play. The Eagles regained the lead 64-63 with a George Marshall three-pointer at the 4:49 mark.
However, another dry spell hit. Morehead State went four minutes without scoring, with Ruegsegger breaking the ice with a three-pointer with 49 seconds to go to trim the deficit 74-67.
NJIT (1-7) was led by Tariq Francis with 23 points and Sebastian Robinson with 21. Tim Moore, Jr., added 16 for the Highlanders.
The Eagles will return to action Friday at Cleveland State. The game can be heard on the Eagle Sports Network (flagship WIVY-96.3 FM) with Chuck Mraz and Tom Lewis on the call. It can be seen on ESPN+. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m. ET.
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