MOREHEAD Ky. -- Every player who saw action scored, and the Morehead State men's basketball team stayed in the hunt for an Ohio Valley Conference championship by disposing of Western Illinois 81-59 at Western Hall Saturday.
The Eagles (17-12/13-5 OVC) won their fifth in a row, while the Leathernecks fell to 5-24 overall and 1-17 in the league.
"Very solid win. I thought we played a complete game for the full 40 minutes," said head coach Jonanthan Mattox. "To go into the locker room with a big lead, we just wanted to protect against not relinquishing a lead. The first four minutes of the second half is crucial. But anytime you are plus-16 on the glass and have 14 offensive rebounds, you've got a good chance to come away with a win."
Jon Carroll led four Eagles in double figures with 17 points, while fellow big man
Tamaury Releford scored a career-high for D1 opponents with 14 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds as MSU topped WIU 34-18 on the rebound battle.
"We thought we had the advantage inside," said Mattox. "We wanted to play though those guys. They created good shots and made them."
Anouar Mellouk added 12 points, and
George Marshall scored 10 for his 19th double figure scoring game. Danny Stephens led the home team with 15 points off the bench. MSU also had 15 assists and seven steals.
Morehead State built a 43-27 lead at halftime.
The Eagles finished with a 52 percent field goal accuracy for their fourth straight game hitting 50 percent or better. WIU shot 46 percent.
The Eagles' final home game is up on Tuesday when Southern Indiana visits for a 7:30 p.m. ET matchup.
