Eagles Blister the Nets In the Second Half and Win by 31 Over Alice Lloyd

BOX SCORE

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- A slow start didn't faze the Morehead State Men's Basketball team Saturday afternoon in its matchup with in-state NAIA foe Alice Lloyd College. The host Eagles shot 76 percent in the final 20 minutes and scored as many points in the half as the visiting Eagles did for the entire game as MSU won 94-63 at Johnson Arena.

MSU (7-6) won its fourth straight game, remained perfect at home at 6-0 and scored 70+ for the seventh consecutive game. Morehead State nailed 25-of-33 shots in the final half, hit 56 percent overall and out-rebounded ALC 45-21. The hosts outscored ALC 63-36 in the second period. MSU has won all eight games in the series with Alice Lloyd and is now 65-0 against non-Division I teams since 1992.

"Every win is a good win. I certainly didn't want to take Alice Lloyd for granted. They are a good team, and there is a good reason they were 9-3 coming into this game," said head coach Jonathan Mattox. "We respect their coach and team. We took a little long to get going, but once we got everyone's attention, we got it going they way we wanted to in the second half. We talked about 2-3 things we wanted to do differently. We wanted to move the ball better and do a better job finishing. We also had to do a better job on the defensive end and create more turnovers, and we did that."

The home team led just 31-27 at the half and turned the ball over 11 times. But, MSU committed just two second-half turnovers and at one point was 16-of-18 from the floor (89 percent). 

Overall, five players reach double figures, including four of the starters. Steven Clay led the way with 15 points, while Kenny White, Jr., scored 14. Tyler Brelsford and Jerone Morton each netted 13 points, and George Marshall came off the bench to join them with 13 points. Morton led the rebound charge with seven, while Khouri Carvety and Trent Scott grabbed six each off the bench. 

MSU had 22 assists on 37 buckets with Scott's five pacing the unit. Morton and Brelsford had four dish-offs each that led to successful baskets. The Eagles also drained 11 three-pointers with four different players hitting multiple triples each.

MSU was only able to distance itself by as much as eight (31-23) in the first half but once the second half got rolling, the Eagles started to roll. A free throw by Carvey ended a 24-7 outburst to start the half. MSU led 55-34 at the 13:22 mark. The home team went on to push the advantage to as much as 35 and led by 30+ for the final four minutes.

Jared Strickland had 12 points to lead his team.

This marked the final non-conference game for MSU as the Eagles turn their attention toward OVC play. The lone league game across the circuit takes place on Tuesday (Dec. 31) as MSU travels to Southern Indiana for an 8:30 p.m. ET tip-off.