MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Point guard
Chase Dawson hit a go-ahead jumper with 3:59 left and scored six of his team-high 18 points in that final four-minute segment as the Morehead State men's basketball team once again rallied for a victory, this time defeating visiting Eastern Illinois 73-68 at Johnson Arena on a snowy Saturday afternoon.
Dawson's jumper with 3:59 left gave his team a 65-64 lead it never gave up. He also dropped in another jumper almost two minutes later (2:08) as MSU pushed ahead by three (69-66). The Eagles held EIU to just one made field goal in the final 5:33 as they improved to 7-1 at home and now 6-0 this winter when they score 70-79 points.
MSU, which also got a second double-double of the season from
Anouar Mellouk (12 points and career-high 11 rebounds), moved to 7-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference race and 11-10 overall. EIU, which had won five of its last six, fell to 9-12 and 5-5 in the league.
Dawson's total was just one short of his season high for points. Joining Dawson and Mellouk in the double-figure point producing club was
George Marshall with 12 and
Davion Cunningham with 10. Marshall posted his team-best 14th game of 10 or more.
Panther Presron Turner paced his team with 18 points, including hitting 4-of-5 triples. Kooper Jacobi registered 13 points. Both teams grabbed 30 rebounds, and the game was also tied on the scoreboard at halftime, 35-35. It marked MSU's first game this season being tied at the halftime intermission.
EIU surged ahead by five on two occasions midway through the final half, including a 60-55 cushion with 7:36 remaining. The Eagles led by as much as seven in the first half before the tables turned and EIU pushed ahead 28-22 with 7:02 left in the half. However, MSU erased that deficit with an 8-0 run to catapult back into the lead 30-28 before Zion Fruster hit a jumper at the buzzer to knot the game 35-all at the break.
Morehead State managed to hit 52 percent (24-of-46), and the program now boasts 53 consecutive wins when it shoots 50 percent or better. EIU was held to 36 percent but hit 20-of-24 free throws. The hosts also shot magnificently at the stripe, going 21-of-24 after hitting just 10 of 20 on Thursday night.
MSU also swatted away 10 blocked shots, a season high, and the first 10+ block game against a Division I opponent since Feb. 25, 2023 versus UT Martin.
The game wrapped up the first half of the OVC season as MSU now hosts SIUE Thursday to begin the back leg of the race. MSU rallied to defeat the Cougars on the road 73-72 on Jan. 3. In the past three seasons, the Eagles are now 24-5 in conference games in the first half of the ledgers.
