BOX SCORE
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Led by a career-high day from Kenny White, Jr., Morehead State Men's Basketball improved to 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 74-68 win over Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at Johnson Arena. White erupted for career-highs in points (25) and rebounds (17) as the Eagles won their 9th straight game in the TSU series.
MSU (6-6/2-0 OVC) did not gain the lead for good until 6:32 to go on
Steven Clay's three-pointer. The Eagles also out-rebounded the Tigers 44-27 as the Tigers entered the game with a plus-10 rebound margin. Twenty (20) of the boards came on the offensive end of the court. MSU won while only committing nine turnovers too, and White added a team-high four assists.
"It's super imperative that we protect the home court, and we did that this week (with two wins)," said head coach
Jonathan Mattox. "Kenny really showed up today. We challenged him. Be that guy every night. I was probably even more proud of the 17 rebounds because we know Kenny can score. And Jerone (Morton) had another good night. He's a special player too."
Morton scored in double figures for the second straight game, dropping in 15 points. Tyer Brelsford scored 13, including going 8-for-8 at the free throw line.
TSU led for a majority of the first half, including building its biggest advantage (20-13) with 8:27 left. But the home team chipped away and eventually took a 32-30 halftime lead as
Jalen Breazeale nailed a three-pointer as time expired in the opening 20 minutes.
The Tigers continued to hold the lead until Clay drilled a corner triple with 6:32 to go. The Eagles went on to lead by as much as seven (70-63) with less than a minute remaining.
MSU shot 39 percent but outscored the visitors 21-6 at the free throw line. TSU was led by by Travis Harper with 22 points, including 6-of-8 from long range.
MSU is off until Dec. 28 now when Alice Lloyd (Ky.) visits for the last non-conference game at Noon ET.
