Morehead State men’s basketball won its eighth straight game, knocking off Eastern Illinois, 73-51 Saturday afternoon in an Ohio Valley Conference game at Johnson Arena.
It marks the first time since the 2002-03 season that the Eagles have won eight consecutive games. Morehead State improved to 12-6 overall and 7-1 in the OVC, where it has won six straight. It also was the second straight game the Eagles established a large lead in the first half taking a 40-27 lead at the intermission.
Kenneth Faried tallied his 12th double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 22 points and 15 rebounds. Senior Maze Stallworth drilled a season-high five 3-pointers to finish with 15, Steve Peterson and Sam Goodman each tallied 10, the second straight game Goodman, a newcomer this season, tallied double digits. Brandon Shingles tallied eight assists.
Tied at four early in the first half, the Eagles opened a big lead with a six-minute, 16-2 run that was the result of a trio of triples from Stallworth. An intentional foul by James Hollowell on a made lay-up resulted in a made free throw for Faried and the ball out of bounds. Harper swished a 3-pointer for a six-point trip down the floor that gave MSU its biggest lead of the half at 17. EIU whittled the first half lead down to nine following a 3-pointer for Curry McKinney, but a pair of 3-pointers, one by Stallworth and one by Hill at the buzzer, gave the Eagles a 13-point advantage heading into the locker room.
“Maze made two threes from the left corner in the first half and really ignited our team,” MSU coach Donnie Tyndall said. “Brandon Shingles makes his teammates better. He has been very good, especially in the last half of the season.”
MSU opened the second half with eight unanswered points, holding the Panthers scoreless for four and a half minutes, opening up a 21-point lead. After trading buckets for the next eight minutes, EIU used a jumper by Shaun Pratl and a pair of freebies from Hollowell to cut the Eagle advantage to 13. That was as close as it got down the stretch, however.
Morehead State held EIU to just one player in double-figure scoring. Pratl tallied 15 points. Tyler Laser, a preseason All-OVC selection and the 10th leading scorer in the league was held to eight points, but he dished out five assists. Jeremy Granger pulled down six rebounds for the Panthers, who were outrebounded by 13. Both teams shot 43.9 percent from the field.
“We’re getting better defensively, but we still let them shoot 43 percent. Forty percent is our goal, so it was a little high than we like to see,” Tyndall said.
The Eagles conclude the current three-game home stand Tuesday by hosting incoming OVC member SIU-Edwardsville. The Cougars are currently transitioning to Division I and do not count as a conference opponent this season. Tip-off for Tuesday’s game is set for 7 p.m.
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Faried’s 12th double-double leads Eagles to eighth straight win
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