Morehead State men's basketball won its sixth straight game and claimed a victory for the first time in Pete Mathews Coliseum since 2004-05 Saturday as the Eagles held off the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 78-71.
The Eagles improved to 10-6 and 5-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while the JSU squad fell to 6-9 and 2-3 in the OVC.
Kenneth Faried registered his 10th double-double of the year with a team high 16 points and 13 rebounds. He also blocked four shots and had three steals. Demonte Harper was held scoreless in the first half but exploded for 13 second half points - his 14th game in double figures. Maze Stallworth scored 15, and Steve Peterson put in 12 points.
"I thought tonight our team was balanced. Demonte was great in the second half, Maze made some shots and Brandon Shingles ran the offense well," said head coach Donnie Tyndall. "This is a very, very hard place to play. We didn't guard them great and they shot 50 percent, but I thought a big key was only having 10 turnovers. We stayed the course and we hit our free throws late."
The Eagles trailed JSU 23-21 at the 8:51 mark of the opening half, but a three-pointer from the left wing by Stallworth put MSU on top at 8:22. Faried got open for a layup, and then Hill drained a triple to give the Eagles a 29-23 advantage at 6:33. The Eagles raised the margin to seven (31-24) after Sam Goodman grabbed a rebound near the out-of-bounds line and drove back in for an uncontested lay-in.
The Eagles led 36-31 at the break. Faried got a loose ball and slammed down a one-handed dunk with four seconds remaining.
MSU came out of the gate with energy and emotion in the first four minutes of the second half as they opened up a 10-point lead (46-36). Harper knocked down an open triple to put the Eagles on top in double digits, forcing a JSU timeout.
Late in the second half, the Gamecocks battled back and trailed the Eagles by only a 67-65 count, but another Stallworth trey gave the Eagles a five-point cushion with 2:22 left in the game. A pair of Brandon Shingles charity tosses pushed the lead out to 72-65 with 1:26 left. Shingles hit two more free throws before JSU unsuccessfully attempted an alley-oop dunk. The Eagles were able to ice the contest at the free throw line.
The Eagles shot 47 percent and were 8-of-22 beyond the arc. JSU managed to shoot 50 percent. The Eagles won the battle on the glass, 31-29.
Trenton Marshal led all scorers with 21 points and also had 10 rebounds and five assists. Nick Murphy scored 16 points, while Jeremy Bynum and Stephen Hall each had 12 points.
The Eagles return home on Thursday, Jan. 14 to host Southeast Missouri at 7:30 p.m.
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MSU Men win sixth straight game
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