Morehead State shot 55.4 percent from the field and placed three players in double figures en route to an 81-53 win over St. Catharine Tuesday afternoon in front of 2,525 fans, including 1,200 local elementary students.
Junior Kenneth Faried led all scorers and rebounders with 17 points and seven rebounds. Senior Maze Stallworth added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and sophomore Terrance Hill scored 12 points.
The game was a reunion for Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall and St. Catharine coach JT Burton. Burton played for Tyndall at St. Catharine during the 1996-97 season, Tyndall’s first season as a head coach.
“It was kind of fun [playing against Tyndall],” Burton said. “You’re talking about a guy that taught me everything I know. He’s my mentor, so it was also kind of weird coaching against him. It was like auditioning for a big old acting job, you hope you do well.”
The Eagles rolled to a 44-25 first half lead behind 66.7 shooting and an 8-0 run midway through the half to turn a two-point MSU advantage into a 10-point lead. The lead got as high as 18 on a lay-up by Stallworth. Faried’s lay-up at the end of the half pushed the intermission advantage to 44-25. The Eagles hit 18-of-27 from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 by junior Demonte Harper. MSU committed five turnovers in the first five minutes of the half, but settled down and surrendered the ball just twice more to close out the half.
“We got better offensively and we did a better job,” Tyndall said. “When you shoot that percent, that’s real good, but more importantly, we held them to 37 percent from the field.”
Morehead State gradually increased its lead through the second half, reaching 26 on a 3-pointer by Hill with 12:23 to play, 28 on a lay-up by senior Brandon Shingles three minutes later and the final margin of 31 on a lay-up by senior Les Simmons.
“JT is a hustler and he’s going to get that program where it needs to be,” Tyndall said of his former player.
Shingles had seven assists to pace MSU and he and sophomore Steve Peterson each had six rebounds. Faried added three blocks and Simmons tallied three steals.
Brandon Johnson led St. Catharine with 14 points. Arthur Latham had 13 points and Ervin Williams scored 11. Kevin Owens pulled down six rebounds to lead the Patriots.
“I thought we played fairly well, but we didn’t guard them well,” Burton said. “They shot 67 percent in the first half, so we’ve got to get a little better there.”
Morehead State improved to 3-4 overall and will play East Tennessee State tonight (Friday) at 7:45 pm at Johnson Arena. The game will mark MSU’s final home game before Ohio Valley Conference play resumes with a Jan. 2 ESPNU game versus Austin Peay.
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Eagles roll through St. Catharine
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