MOREHEAD, Ky. -- It ended as a classic tale of two halves for the Morehead State Men's Basketball team Thursday night as UT Martin erased a 16-point deficit to hand the Eagles a 76-68 defeat at Johnson Arena.
MSU (7-9/3-2 OOVC) led by 16 with 1:18 left in the first half but went cold in the final half, shooting just 25 percent and going 0-for-9 from distance. UTM (12-4/4-1 OVC) rallied past MSU, built an eight-point lead with six minutes left, and held on in the end to halt a 16-game losing streak against the Eagles at Johnson Arena. The last time UTM had defeated MSU in Morehead was December of 2005. UTM outscored MSU 44-25 in the second half.
MSU canned seven triples in the first half and cruised to a 43-32 lead at the break, but the Skyhawks turned the tide in the final 20 minutes. UTM hit 48 percent in the final half, while MSU was 7-of-28. UTM also outscored the Eagles at the free throw line, 18-13.
A bright spot for MSU was the play of
Jon Carroll. MSU's 6-7 power forward recorded his fifth double-double of the year with 13 points and a team-high 13 rebounds as the Eagles won the rebound contest, 33-30. MSU has more offensive (18) rebounds than defensive (15) caroms.
Freshman Vince Dawson was another spark during the first half, scoring a career-high 13 points on 4-of-4 three-pointers. But, UTM held him scoreless in the final half.
Tamaury Releford came off the bench as MSU's third double figure point producer with 12. MSU had a distinct advantage in assists, 18-7, as
Josiah LeGree led all athletes with six helpers.
Andre Bukumirovic led UTM with 18 points as five Skyhawks scored 10+. Afan Trnka came off the bench for 14 and 3-for-3 on triple shots.
MSU gained momentum midway through the opening half, leading 25-13 with 7:40 left. Dawson's three-ball with 4:09 remaining had MSU on top 33-18. The biggest cushion came with 1:18 left after Releford scored a layup.
MSU still held on to a 50-41 lead with 12:42 left in the game, but then the momentum shifted. The visitors constructed a 20-4 run to push ahead 61-54 with 7:24 left. UTM never trailed again. MSU cut it back to three (71-68) with less than a minute remaining but UTM hit all five of its free throws in the final 30 ticks to ice its road triumph.
MSU returns to action at home on Saturday when Southeast Missouri visits for a 3:30 p.m. ET.
