MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State Men's Basketball is the Ohio Valley Conference Champions once again! The Eagles fought off Little Rock on the road Thursday night behind 28 points from
George Marshall and a 22-point, 13-rebound by
Jon Carroll as the Eagles claimed a 76-70 victory and at least a share of the 2025-26 OVC regular season crown.
MSU (19-12/15-5 OVC) won its seventh straight game to close the regular season, winning the program's third regular-season title in the last four seasons (outright in 2022-23, three-way tie in 2023-24). MSU also swept the season series with Little Rock, which is departing the OVC after this year.
Morehead State led for 38:16 of the night, led by 17 first-half points from their senior leader Marshall. He drilled five three-pointers - all in the first half - and finished with 28. That marked his third 20-point game in the last four. Carroll recorded his ninth double-figure rebounding game and tied his career point high for the third time this season.
The Eagles led by 16 early in the second half but had to fend off a pesky Trojan squad that ended up shooting 65 percent in the final half and making it a close call. The home team trimmed the Eagles' lead down to as low as five twice in the final two minutes. But, MSU nailed five free throws in the final 1:07 to keep its distance for the win.
Morehead State, the OVC leader in field goal percentage against conference opponents, finished with a 50 percent field goal accuracy, which marked the 10th time this season it shot 50 percent or better. Eight of those came against league foes, with a 7-1 mark in those games.
Little Rock shot 43 percent overall, but MSU held the Trojans only made 26 percent in the first half when the Eagles led 37-24 at the break. Jonathan Lawson led his team with 15 points.
The Eagles finished with a 37-32 rebound edge on the night. MSU also had a decisive 46-32 advantage in points in the paint.
MSU will now await the results from this Saturday's OVC games to determine its seeding for the OVC Tournament. If Tennessee State loses at UT Martin, the Eagles will claim the outright title and the No. 1 seed. If TSU wins at UTM, MSU will still be co-champions but will be the No. 2 seed.
